Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende

22 reviews

ednareads's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, War, and Sexism

Moderate: Incest and Torture

Minor: Homophobia

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gun violence, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, Classism, Confinement, Blood, Sexual assault, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Abortion, Child abuse, and Abandonment

peggychecksitout's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Spanning the years from the 1910s through to the 1970s, The House of the Spirits tells the story of three generations of women from the Trueba family, Clara, Blanca and Alba. It weaves together a tale threaded with magical realism, personal and political upheaval, and some of the most interesting character portraits I’ve read in a while. 

This book is as magical as it is absolutely devastating. Allende's writing is mesmerising, imaginative and gut-wrenching at different turns. There’s a real juxtaposition between the magical elements presented to us—Clara’s clairvoyance, the kooky characters of her spiritualist salon, the house filled with spirits—and the incredible violence enacted both at personal and political levels (I highly recommend looking up the content warnings for this book, so you know what to expect going in). 

The personal and the political are very closely entwined in this story; it’s a multi-generational family saga for sure, but as much as it is about the Trueba family, it’s about the history of the country that they’re a part of too (though never directly addressed, through context and historical clues, it is a fictionalised depiction of Chilean history).

It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down, and the end absolutely wrecked me—you know a book is good if it leaves you sobbing—and I think this is a book that is going to stick with me for a long time. There’s a reason that this was an instant bestseller, and has gone onto become a classic. It was my first Allende, but it certainly won’t be my last. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, War, Abortion, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Addiction, and Car accident

makbrandt's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

littlebluenaiad's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

Y’all idk what to say that was traumatizing and I hated the way they described the indigenous people but overall it was pretty intriguing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Torture

Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, and Xenophobia

pagesareportals's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Sexual assault, War, Emotional abuse, Child death, Sexism, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Rape

rather_b_reading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I loved the narrative style and the weaving of different perspectives. I also appreciate the threads of events that all tie together by the end. However, though I do like magical realism and the fantastic, I had a hard time stomaching all the violence (mostly domestic and sexual with some torture) that is thrown in nonchalantly. Also, although the violence comes back to wreak havoc on the next generation it is almost always the women or the good who pay for the mistakes of the men (or more "manly" men in their lives. I might have more to say later, but for now those are my thoughts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Car accident, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Police brutality, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia

perseffable's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, War, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Murder

kittykaz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is probably what young kids have in mind when they think about adult fiction books. A lot of political talk, lots of classism and talk about rules and the consequences of ones actions. Definitely not a light read, and meant to make you think about the bigger picture and put your problems into perspective. 

I took a gamble with this - just randomly pulled it out of my parents’ bookshelf - and I think I might have to do that more often. Though I do recommend you try and inform yourself about it before reading this book, so you won’t get blindsided by all the rapeing and violence that is going on. It might take a certain type of person to enjoy this, is all i’ll say. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Vomit

They use a LOT of slurs of all kinds, mostly racial ones

studiouspoppy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Es un muy buen libro, muy interesante y plantea ideas muy progresistas para la época. Refleja muy bien el contraste de ideas por medio de los personajes, la normalización de violencia que personajes más jóvenes cuestionan. Lo recomiendo muchísimo, aunque puede ser un poco fuerte por hablar de violencia sexual y de tortura.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Rape, Homophobia, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse

Minor: Miscarriage and Racial slurs