Reviews

And once again, for some reason I find myself enjoying Allende despite the fact that almost every other book I've read with the elements of her novels have bombed for me. Is it the way she puts them together? The excuse that most of her works are older? The third person omniscient? Or just cope over discovering her in high school and loving her then?

Either way, we had fun. I was a little disoriented by the choice of a male protagonist,

so the reveal that Isabel was the narrator and also a secret hero in her own right just really tied the whole thing together

. A few elements were convoluted, but a few were set up and paid off so nicely that they made me giggle.

With the lack of real chapter breaks and typical Allende-esque "page-long paragraphs" thing, I don't think this book is for everyone. Yet somehow, it's for me. And cope or no cope, I liked it for what it was.

izzylou801's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

2.5

lbird's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

antonellarc's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

readwithollie's review against another edition

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Not a good fit at the time and the narrator's first person quips in the second act were jarring and ill done.

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