Reviews tagging 'War'

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

20 reviews

tanisha_112's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent and War

achay91's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer and Torture

oceanwriter's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Why oh why did I let this sit on my shelf for so long?! I was captivated from start to finish. I didn't realize I knew so little about Francisco Franco's regime. Ruta Sepetys illustrated the differences between the life of an American and the life of repressed citizens of Spain marvelously. I love walking away from a historical fiction book ready to read more about a specific event or time in history. 

I'm usually wary of YA books because often I'm not too fond of the writing style or characters, but The Fountains of Silence was exceptional. I loved Ana, Daniel, Puri, Rafa... pretty much all of them. Ana and Daniel's rapport was a treat to read. I felt like I was there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent and War

Minor: Cancer and Miscarriage

smartens's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, Medical trauma, and Murder

laurenw's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infertility, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Cancer and Toxic relationship

mirroball's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Child death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, and Gaslighting

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

“He scratched a proverb on the wall for future inmates: ‘Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, he became a butterfly.’” 

•

Wow, what an amazing book! Being over 500 pages, I was a little intimated to start this but the audiobook was superb and I flew through this.

•

The story begins a little slow as Sepetys begins painting a picture of 1957 Spain, controlled by the dictator Franco. She immerses you in the people, the culture, their lives and the many secrets they keep. The silent vow they take. She examins this moment in history from multiple angles, following multiple characters who help show the reader that all is not what it seems in Spain. You have the American, the maid at the hotel and her family, a grave digger and an employee at a Catholic orphanage. But something is off. Children are going missing. Orphanages are overflowing. Mothers are asking about their children and where they went. But no one is giving answers, no one is saying anything. 

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Sepetys slowly pulls back the layers of Franco’s Spain, exposing to Daniel (the naive American) what is actually going on and what all the Spanish people are enduring under the dictator. As I did not know much about Spain’s history, I found this story both fascinating and also horrifying. 

•

Sepetys is a master at humanizing history, bringing to life the words in our history books and giving voices to those who have been silenced for far too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

serena_hien's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Excrement and Abandonment

circe813's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and War

the_clueless_tourist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexism, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Torture

Minor: War