Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Violeta by Isabel Allende

30 reviews

chb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kwahl's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was my book club's choice for March.  I love historical fiction, and this didn't disappoint.  I was also happy to read another Allende book that held my interest.  After reading The Long Petal of the Sea, I wasn't too sure about the author's work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

miap09's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicide, and War

Minor: Rape and Abortion

beyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There’s a time to live and a time to die. In between there’s time to remember.

All I can think about is, it must be tiring to live that long.

I would recommend this book to hisfic enjoyers because in no way it is bad, but I can’t say I actually enjoyed reading this. I suspect it was because it is written in first person, but it can also be the writing.

I was not looking forward to what will happen next in the story because I am… afraid??? An understatement. Terrified??? Of what things will a character do to escalate the story because boy, do they escalated quickly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, and Police brutality

giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Cancer

sofipitch's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book holds a lot of similarities to The House of the Spirits, and a lot of Allende's other books tbh. She doesn't name the country the MC is in but it is very clearly Chile, so we get the history of Childe in the 20th century from a european descendended once wealthy family. The book even suggests that Violeta is related to the family from Allende's first book. But the characters aren't well developed, the story isn't as interesting, it's overall a mediocre book from an author who I know has written better and more interesting works. Additionally while I could tolerate the occasional socially unconcious phrase or word or sentiment in her older works, in a book published in 2022 I feel like Allende should know better, or that at least her editor or publisher would have said something, since Allende is considered to be liberal and willing to learn/update her beliefs (Although maybe not, I read the synopsis of Ines of my soul and went 😬 and put it back)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy, and War

hillysreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage

xmaiixx's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Cancer

peytonhhill's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This is a good book, but the pacing is confusing. So much happens over 100 years, and some times of Violeta's life are very detailed, while others are completely skipped over. Perhaps that is intentional, tapping into of the sporadic storytelling of a 100 year old narrator, but at times it feels jolted. Overall, I enjoyed the idea of telling the story of one life and the ways the world can change over its span. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse