Reviews

Lungo petalo di mare by Isabel Allende

snugent730's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

•  incredible book about the Spanish civil war, Spanish refugees exile/descent to chile, and eventually the rise of Pinochet and two people forced to how create a life again in new places, tied together by resilience and love. This book was incredibly moving and the use of real historical figures taught me a lot about apart of history that's wrongly neglected. Themes of Displacement, political uprising, the myth of stifling dissent for the greater good, and love all weave into this novel and beckons the reader to compare to today's wars and divisive nature. This also she light on the US involvement in the rise of the ruthless military dictatorship under Pinochet to stamp out communism, and our implications in this terrible history. I love stories about the resilience of humans and I found Allende did a great job examining the differing mindsets of people on all places in the political spectrum. 

etrot28's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective fast-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

3.75

katybgriffin's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring 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

This story is beautifully woven with rich cultural and historical context.  But it’s really an epic, authentic, and deeply textured love story.  Allende gives incredible complexity and nuance to the title characters. Although the story is often about struggle and hardship, I was left with poignant feelings of inspiration and amazement for the odyssey that makes up a life, the myriad forms in which human resilience shows up in people, and the burnishing of a loving partnership into something strong, beautiful, and comforting beyond compare.  

amiablebookworm's review against another edition

hopeful sad medium-paced

4.0

The strangely detached writing style reminded me of 100 Years of Solitude, but I didn’t hate reading this one! Interesting history (made me want to learn more about Pablo Neruda). Some bits did feel like a history textbook but that didn’t bug me as much as it has in other books. 

Also unusually for me, the love story (stories?) were my favourite part - not the classic tropes but felt more genuine. Definitely rooted for the characters, even with the detachment. 

mary_binzley's review against another edition

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

3.0

eclecticreadswithash's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book begins with a family in Spain during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, and follows them on their journey into exile in Chile. Beyond that it continues to tell their family's story well into the 1990s. 

I'll start with the positives. The writing in this book is lovely. Full of emotion, carefully researched. The reader feels like they're with the family every step of the way. I was really invested in the beginning because I found the history around the Spanish Civil War really interesting - I know very little about it. 

Unfortunately, I wish it had been a deeper dive into that era. Beyond the war, and especially once arriving in Chile, it lost a lot of the historical aspect and became a very relationship based tale and it lost me quite a bit. Which was a real shame! 

ryanteston's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.5

acmarinho3's review against another edition

3.0

Gosto muito da forma como Allende conta histórias. No entanto, sinto que me conecto mais com os pormenores históricos do que com a parte romanceada. Neste livro, a situação repete-se: fiquei um pouco cansada do vaivém entre Roser e Víctor. A parte relacionada com a guerra civil espanhola e a segunda guerra mundial, bem como com o êxodo e a parte emocional relacionada é incrível. O episódio em que embarcam no Winnipeg rumo ao Chile é fenomenal. Infelizmente, no geral não fiquei totalmente conquistada.

jujudepamplemousse's review against another edition

3.0

I was immediately hooked by the story told by Isabel Allende. The first part was so enthralling. We met several characters from very different backgrounds and we could only wonder how their destiny will cross. I found particularly interesting the contrast between the Dalmau's family caught in the horror of the Spanish Civil war and the del Solar's family living in a privilege bubble and luxuriously cruising around England and France. Sadly, my appreciation decreased as I read on.

With the second part entered a character for whom I couldn't care at all. This character took a huge part in the story but, for me, didn't brought very much to it except some more dramas.

The third and last part brought again a different vibe to the story. At some point, the story transformed more into a history lesson than work of fiction. I didn't like the construction of this part. The historical facts were not smoothly blended into the story and some paragraphs were too much info-dumping.

I also found that the way the story was written made it boring. Each part of the plot was introduced or hinted before happening in the story thus taking out any surprise element.

After reading the first part I was pretty sure [b:A Long Petal of the Sea|46042377|A Long Petal of the Sea|Isabel Allende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565211383l/46042377._SY75_.jpg|69307454] would be one of my favorite book of the year but unfortunately the story told by Isabel Allende lacked consistency for me. Still, I've learned a great deal about 20th century Spain and Chile histories.

lottie1803's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0