Reviews tagging 'Grief'

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

9 reviews

badmom's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

4.75

A lushly written fictionalization about the Mirabal sisters, legendary figures in Dominican Republican history. The chapters alternate from one sister’s point of view & third person narration over the course of a few decades; we are given intimate insights to the thoughts & choices of each sister - from religion to politics to love & loyalty. The mix of historical fact and imagined lives makes for a richly interesting, satisfying, magical read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexism, Grief, Police brutality, Classism, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Car accident, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Death, Infertility, Confinement, and Colonisation

deebee223's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Alcoholism

vereisnthere's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Police brutality, Sexism, Torture, Car accident, War, Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Violence, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Fatphobia and Xenophobia

ocean's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Colonisation, Body shaming, Vomit, Dementia, Eating disorder, Genocide, and Kidnapping

star_wanderer's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? N/A

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, War, Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, and Misogyny

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Grief

thebakerbookworm's review

emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

If you're a fan of any kind of historical fiction, you'll love this book!

This story follows the four Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic, during the Trujillo dictatorship. Known as "las mariposas" (the butterflies), the sisters took part in an underground plot to overthrow Trujillo and his government, and three of them were assassinated for their efforts. This book is a fictionalized narrative of their lives, from young teenagers to wives to mothers, and how they became involved with the revolution. We switch from the perspective of the surviving sister, Dede, recollecting these events in 1994, to the perspectives of Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa, in the 1950s and '60s.

I loved that we get a point of view from all the sisters—they each have such a distinct personality and I thought the author did a great job of portraying that. A lot of time passes over the course of the story, and their growth and development was also notable. I also really liked seeing each sister from the others' perspective—for instance, Maria Teresa would view Minerva a certain way and then we'd get Minerva's POV and learn her real motivations and doubts and fears. It was a good reminder that we never really know what a person is thinking or feeling, even the people we're close to.

The plot stays close to the sisters; we don't get a ton of big-picture information, but I kind of liked it that way. We only know what they know in the moment.

Reading this book, you know how the story ends. As with a lot of historical fiction about real people, you know what's coming. Yet I was still sobbing at the end. I have three sisters, and imagining losing all three of them in one act was brutal. Also, my mom was a young girl living in the DR during this time and she still remembers leaving the country via helicopter to come to the States for safety for a time. I liked learning more about the people who fought to make the DR a free country.

November 25 is now the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in honor of the Mirabal sisters, and they honestly deserve more recognition.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Torture

ha1yan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Murder, Miscarriage, Child death, Confinement, War, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

kaela_arcuri's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, and War

phoebe_phorreal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Alvarez attempts to give a human element to the story of the Mirabal sisters, told so many times in history and in legend, and mingle her voice with theirs- and does so wonderfully. The characters of the girls are perhaps the most powerful part of the narrative, though their love, losses, perils, and triumphs certainly captivate as well. 

I admit I related more to Patria and Dedé at first than Maria Teresa (Mate) and Minerva, but they all won me over by the end of this soul-baring novel of a suffering but brave and loving family, imperfect but still strongly devoted in its own way. There's a reason Mate's "I can write the saddest things tonight" is so memorable, and Alvarez captures each voice perfectly- Patria's unconventional faith; Minerva, strong and struggling; Dedé, exasperated but thoughtful; and Mate, soulful and poetic. 

This is a novel devoted to freedom, written both as a call to reflection and to action, and it truly both breaks your heart and makes you smile. I cannot recommend it enough. Read it if you're interested in Dominican history, sure, but most importantly, read it to free somebody else, as Alvarez says when she quotes Toni Morrison, even if that may be a somebody you never meet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief