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kayaelena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
dollarsignimp's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
ajmickel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Drug abuse
gmcgowan10's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism
kimveach's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
laurenw's review against another edition
3.75
A multi-generational story about an intriguing family who appears to have drawn in every kind of trauma possible, the book is not bad, but it is chaotic. For all the claims of this focusing on a matriarchal line, and we do follow 4/5 generations of daughters, all the events in the book are framed through the perspective of 1 man, who is not a pleasant character. Obviously books can be enjoyable and still center a problematic character, but the role of Esteban (plural) throughout the story detracts from the spirit of the women this story should have been about.
Ultimately, fell flat for me, but the political background and its rich cultural depictions were its shining grace.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia
tomyelland's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Drug abuse
smuds2's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
notallbooks_mp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
karydiazc's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
This is the first book I've read of Isabel Allende and I think these words will stay with me for a long time.
The book starts comically, with fun stories about the family, with sad and almos cruel things woven in between. To be honest I had a really hard time reading the book because those first chapters seemed to go really slow and nothing seemed to be really happening, however things started to move ahead and it started to get interesting.
I must say I loved almos every character (with obvious exceptions) and found the family history and generations to be quite interesting.
I've never really been interested in politics so when that part of the books started I wasn't sure what to expect, but characters such as Clara, Blanca and Alba made it worth reading along.
Now, the last few chapters were so hard to read. Not because they were boring or anything like that, but because of how crude and realistic they were. It's so hard to think that Latin America has been going through that for many many years and along several countries. Even now, it feels kind of close, even though nothing like that is happening apenly in my country (and hopefully won't happen, at least any time soon)
As I said on the beginning, this book was wonderful to read despite everything, however I would recommend anyone who wants to get into it to first read the trigger warnings, since there are a lot and some are very graphic, specially towards those final chapters.
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism