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ksorianotaylor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
i always find the experience of a book seeming boring/not great in the beginning but then you stick with it and it’s actually amazing to be sooo satisfying. and that was my experience. definitely like water for chocolate vibes!
i didn’t super love eliza (or joaquin) but to me they were the vehicle for a fun story. if you make it through eliza’s suffocating family and the first half of the book in valparaiso, the gold rush in california is a rollicking adventure. (also cw so much racism—i believe it is to give evidence of how cruel it was back then but it’s still jarring.) also on that note i think tao’s storyline was a bit of a stereotype.but i really loved his and eliza’s relationship. and i loved eliza as a cowboy?!
and i don’t know why the quickness of the ending and the allusions to stories that get left untold didn’t bother me, i felt like i got enough of each story.lol sorry jacob todd
i didn’t super love eliza (or joaquin) but to me they were the vehicle for a fun story. if you make it through eliza’s suffocating family and the first half of the book in valparaiso, the gold rush in california is a rollicking adventure. (also cw so much racism—i believe it is to give evidence of how cruel it was back then but it’s still jarring.) also on that note i think tao’s storyline was a bit of a stereotype.
and i don’t know why the quickness of the ending and the allusions to stories that get left untold didn’t bother me, i felt like i got enough of each story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
melauffredou's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Trafficking
Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, and Violence
bibeanenergy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
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
4.0
A great read. Allende's prose is beautiful and intriguing, and the characters seem to work their way into your heart quietly and firmly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime and Racism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Murder
starofash's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
3.5
okay, i have a lot of thoughts about this book
it starts off incredibly slow and a bit all over the place. this book has a ton of side characters and it talks about a lot of them in the first part. it takes away from the story in my opinion because there are two options. the childhoodbof the main character, eliza sommers, isn't particulary linteresting, so either you get information about a much cooler character, or you stay bored, reading pages and pages of stuff that feels like it isn't actually relevant to the story.
then, eliza meets joaquín andieta, her lover, and the action begins to slowly come in until finally, the thing promised by the blurb happens: joaquín goes off to california, and eliza soon follows.
the second she makes that decision, it feels like a new book. (i spent three months to get to that point and finished the book in one day afterwards.)
of course, it still has too many side characters and allende does still talk about other characters than eliza, but now it's mainly tao chi'en, a chinese doctor with a super interesting background story or her, and that is such a relief because tao is an amazing character who helps eliza get to california and she gets a lot of character development there. also, the characters introduced in california are much more interesting than those in chile.
the ending has a hopeful undertone, but it feels very flat, i didn't really like it. also, i had that feeling where the amount of questions still open and pages left just doesn't align.
tl;dr: the book has too many side characters that get too much attention, but the main characters & the characters introduced in california are amazing. start & ending weren't that good, but the middle honestly makes up for it by having interesting themes and character development, making the mc actually enthralling.
it starts off incredibly slow and a bit all over the place. this book has a ton of side characters and it talks about a lot of them in the first part. it takes away from the story in my opinion because there are two options. the childhoodbof the main character, eliza sommers, isn't particulary linteresting, so either you get information about a much cooler character, or you stay bored, reading pages and pages of stuff that feels like it isn't actually relevant to the story.
then, eliza meets joaquín andieta, her lover, and the action begins to slowly come in until finally, the thing promised by the blurb happens: joaquín goes off to california, and eliza soon follows.
the second she makes that decision, it feels like a new book. (i spent three months to get to that point and finished the book in one day afterwards.)
of course, it still has too many side characters and allende does still talk about other characters than eliza, but now it's mainly tao chi'en, a chinese doctor with a super interesting background story or her, and that is such a relief because tao is an amazing character who helps eliza get to california and she gets a lot of character development there. also, the characters introduced in california are much more interesting than those in chile.
the ending has a hopeful undertone, but it feels very flat, i didn't really like it. also, i had that feeling where the amount of questions still open and pages left just doesn't align.
tl;dr: the book has too many side characters that get too much attention, but the main characters & the characters introduced in california are amazing. start & ending weren't that good, but the middle honestly makes up for it by having interesting themes and character development, making the mc actually enthralling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury
smileyblue's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Death and Sexual content
with_hart's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Slavery, Trafficking, and Pregnancy
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia