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A review by sapphistoire
Cantoras by Caro De Robertis
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I'm sure like many other readers, I was inspired to pick this book up thanks to the wonderful Hsinju and Gabriella who absolutely adored this book, and I finally picked it up this month!
The novel follows five queer women living in Uruguay in the 1970s, through the dictatorship, who find a sort of refuge in a small seaside hamlet where they can truly be themselves - cantoras, slang for sapphics at the time.
Carolina De Robertis' writing is so lush and gorgeous and really lends itself to creating the beautiful refuge of Cabo Polonio, from the rocky shore to the little shack that the women find solace in. Several times while reading, I found myself wanting to go back and highlight and annotate everything it was that gorgeous. I absolutely loved getting to know all five of the women and seeing their relationships with themselves, with each other, and those outside their group change and morph as the story went on, and I got so attached to them all. In particular, the youngest of the group, Paz, really stuck out to me and I think I would definitely say that she was my favourite character in the book. Getting to grow up alongside her and seeing her grow into her queerness was so wonderful.
As gorgeous as this book was, it does take place during a dictatorship, and so I urge you to take a look at the content warnings before picking this book up. Especially at the end, I found it to be quite triggering, despite knowing what was ahead of me while reading, so please do take care of yourselves.
If I had to critique the book, I think that it honestly could have been shorter, and I think that Malena's characterisation near the end felt so unfamiliar to how she acted throughout the rest of the book (in particular towards the other women and Romina, though I do understand her actions at the end otherwise), and it sort of flung me out of the book.
Regardless, as someone who doesn't read a lot of historical fiction, especially adult historical fiction, this was truly a wonderful read that I'm already looking forward to re-reading, and I can't wait to read more by De Robertis in the future!
The novel follows five queer women living in Uruguay in the 1970s, through the dictatorship, who find a sort of refuge in a small seaside hamlet where they can truly be themselves - cantoras, slang for sapphics at the time.
Carolina De Robertis' writing is so lush and gorgeous and really lends itself to creating the beautiful refuge of Cabo Polonio, from the rocky shore to the little shack that the women find solace in. Several times while reading, I found myself wanting to go back and highlight and annotate everything it was that gorgeous. I absolutely loved getting to know all five of the women and seeing their relationships with themselves, with each other, and those outside their group change and morph as the story went on, and I got so attached to them all. In particular, the youngest of the group, Paz, really stuck out to me and I think I would definitely say that she was my favourite character in the book. Getting to grow up alongside her and seeing her grow into her queerness was so wonderful.
As gorgeous as this book was, it does take place during a dictatorship, and so I urge you to take a look at the content warnings before picking this book up. Especially at the end, I found it to be quite triggering, despite knowing what was ahead of me while reading, so please do take care of yourselves.
If I had to critique the book, I think that it honestly could have been shorter, and I think that Malena's characterisation near the end felt so unfamiliar to how she acted throughout the rest of the book (in particular towards the other women and Romina, though I do understand her actions at the end otherwise), and it sort of flung me out of the book.
Regardless, as someone who doesn't read a lot of historical fiction, especially adult historical fiction, this was truly a wonderful read that I'm already looking forward to re-reading, and I can't wait to read more by De Robertis in the future!