Reviews with content warning for Death - Cantoras

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.

Content Warnings

qqjj's review

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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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dreareads_'s review

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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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fosssamantha's review

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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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solenekeleroux's review

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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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brynngaybee's review

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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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jessicaelisa's review

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dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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lmaonice's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I was initially very unsure what to rate this book. for the majority of the book I found it enjoyable but I felt a certain amount of distance from most of the characters. That is, until the last 2 chapters, in which I suddenly felt so attached that I sobbed throughout the last 30 pages or so. I think this book is a triumph, I think it balances the harsh reality of the setting with hopefulness and happy moments excellently, making it feel neither like wish-fulfillment nor torture porn. While there absolutely are horrific things happening in this book, it doesn't feel overdone for the sake of making the reader cry, it feel purposeful.

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