Reviews tagging 'Death'

Cantoras by Caro De Robertis

22 reviews

kshertz's review against another edition

hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

What a fantastic story of women loving women in Uruguay. I learned a lot of history. I felt seen. I really love that this story exists in the world. I had a hard time following so many characters but I still definitely loved it. I think anyone who’s ever loved a woman needs to read this book!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Homophobia, and Abandonment

arieloley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

This novel spoke about heartache in a way that I didn’t know was possible. De Robertis wove in history, love, growth, triumph, fear, and so much more to create a deep emotional tangle the conveyed the need for acceptance and love in our world. The book was slow paced and had a lot of context, which made me take longer with it, but highly worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Colonisation, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Racism, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Outing, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Antisemitism

pkledgrape's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual assault, War, Death, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Rape

kclark's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

This book had so much working in it's favor: queer female characters, queer author, friendships between women, Latin American lit... so it was a surprise this flat this fell to me. 

The language in the book is SO flowery that it is just exhausting, and I love flowery, poetic prose, but this was too much. It was as if the book was struggling to make itself more impressive but came off like a college student trying to say something profound on every page of the book. An example: "The water surrounded them, each wave sloshing forward with it's own wet, singular song, offering the pull of undertow and a brief respite from gravity." It would be fine, and perhaps effective, if this language was used sparingly, but it was constant. This propensity for the over embellished also has the effect of making the sex scenes seem like they were supposed to be sordid and poetic which made it feel like a cheesy romance.

The characters sometimes felt really well developed and crafted, but then immediately lose track of that character development and slip back into seemingly formulaic character archetypes.

Were I not reading this for a summer book bingo, I might have moved on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Infidelity

qqjj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Death, and Confinement

dreareads_'s review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

"A Cantora is a woman who sings"

"Its [cantora] connotations were beautiful, but also obscene, depending on how you approached it"

This, this is one of the most beautiful sapphic stories I have read. It is the story of 5 queer women finding each other and learning to survive under the Uruguayan dictatorship of the 1970's.

It is a story of survival, friendship, love, betrayal, and political action. It is a beautiful story that takes you through the history of Uruguays & Latin Americas slow movement towards democracy and queer rights.

The relationships between the five women were heart warming. They were each strong women, who found a space where they could be happy, vulnerable, and themselves. Through the story we see these women break the barriers that have been imposed on them by society, fighting to be their true selves and for their own country.

This story made me realize how little I know about lgbt movement in LatAm. How so many fought for democracy, equality, and love. In This book I found my love for my mother tongue, Spanish, again. A language that throughout the book is often used to emphasize the beauty that exists around the world.

During this book I laughed, I cried, and celebrated the wonderment that is being a sapphic woman. A must read for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, and Suicide

fosssamantha's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

This novel is incredible and one of the best reads I've had in a long, long time. The despair of the real traumas during Uruguay's dictatorship mean that this book is full of intense and potentially triggering scenes. This is not a light read, but a read that brings the reader to deep empathy and strong connection with the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Death

solenekeleroux's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Torture, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Police brutality, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

brynngaybee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

One of the best books I've read in a while. Beautifully written with great characters and interesting subject matter. Great read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Homophobia

Minor: Antisemitism, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault