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tennnnny 's review for:
The House of the Spirits
by Isabel Allende
i was hoping to love this book but it just kind of fell flat for me. i am a big fan of intergenerational stories, and when i look up book recommendations, this is usually one of the first to pop up.
unfortunately, i found it to be a really slow read. i didn't like the narrative style, which switched from 1st person (esteban trueba's perspective) to 3rd person omniscient. [unimportant?] spoiler (?): the 3rd person narrator turns out to be one of the other characters, which we find out in the epilogue, but it came off as very predictable and on-the-nose to me.
don't get me wrong, this book wasn't bad by any means. i enjoyed the portrayals of generational trauma/familial cycles/similarities, and the subject matter was interesting. i liked the exploration of different political ideologies, how people come to hold their views, and how/why they may change/evolve over time. the themes of disillusionment of your country/government/people is very relevant today.
overall, had my expectations been lower, i probably would have liked this book more. not bad, but not great.
unfortunately, i found it to be a really slow read. i didn't like the narrative style, which switched from 1st person (esteban trueba's perspective) to 3rd person omniscient. [unimportant?] spoiler (?): the 3rd person narrator turns out to be one of the other characters, which we find out in the epilogue, but it came off as very predictable and on-the-nose to me.
don't get me wrong, this book wasn't bad by any means. i enjoyed the portrayals of generational trauma/familial cycles/similarities, and the subject matter was interesting. i liked the exploration of different political ideologies, how people come to hold their views, and how/why they may change/evolve over time. the themes of disillusionment of your country/government/people is very relevant today.
overall, had my expectations been lower, i probably would have liked this book more. not bad, but not great.