afisher121's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Suicide
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Police brutality, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, War, and Hate crime
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Grief, and Lesbophobia
nannahnannah's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“Cantora” is now an old-fashioned word in Spanish meaning singer, but it has another (also old-fashioned) meaning: a woman who is attracted to other women. In this novel spanning four decades, five cantoras find each other under a Uruguayan military dictatorship, form a close friendship, and inspire future cantoras.
Representation:
- almost every character is Uruguayan
-one of the five MCs (Romina) is biracial and Jewish
- every MC is sapphic; all but one (La Venus, who’s bisexual) is gay
Carolina De Robertis’s writing is consistently beautiful, even if it’s also exhaustingly long-winded. The story’s focus is less on its plot (which is light and slow) and more on the five central characters themselves, their interactions with each other, and their interactions with the two major settings: their city and Cabo Polonio, the beach where they first vacation to and become a tight found family.
I’m not much bothered by the sluggish pacing or the wordy writing--especially when it’s this lovely--but the dialogue does become a little stilted. But then again, I think the book suffers the most when it vanishes altogether. I was so surprised at the amount of backstory in the second half, and that’s saying something, because I was also surprised at the amount of backstory present in the the first. But the first act is told through each main characters’ alternating PoVs in what I'd describe as being fairly “immediate” when compared to the better half of the second act, which consists almost entirely of summaries.
There is also character “development” that happens completely off page; for example, Paz, the youngest of the main five, ages the most dramatically in the time skip from the first and second act because she's sixteen at the beginning of the book--and she becomes almost unrecognizable. This change isn’t summarized, either. She’s just changed. But maybe this is something that’s common in fiction that spans multiple generations, and because that’s not a genre I read very often, it's strange to me.
Okay, but I have to give compliments where compliments are due: trauma is handled extremely well. The majority of these characters have their own trauma, each unique, each painful, each handled superbly. Even when I kind of wish it wasn’t, like with Paz, who was groomed by an adult when she was about thirteen years old. On one hand, I’m amazed at how realistic and unbiased the author handled this situation, because Paz herself doesn’t see what happened to her as abusive. She sees it rather as a kind of lesbian awakening, largely due to the way she was groomed, while her (adult) friends are horrified by what happened to her. Though I wish Paz’s opinion changed when she got older (because if not, that could be how those situations happen again, but with Paz in the opposite role), I admire the way the risk taken here.
I also appreciate how the author made it so the novel never really picks sides or has biases when it comes to fights between the main characters--especially when these fights are about things like cheating, things that usually do pick one side. It never becomes a morality lesson or a character blatantly preaching to another. So I appreciate that, even though personally I have such strong feelings about it that it was difficult to sit through the fights without wanting the book to take sides.
There were a few other things that bothered me, like some over-the-top descriptions of certain characters that go on and on, the biphobia, and the almost fetishistic descriptions of the indigenous Guaraní character, but overall this was a beautiful and heartbreaking book I'm glad to have read.
Representation:
- almost every character is Uruguayan
-one of the five MCs (Romina) is biracial and Jewish
- every MC is sapphic; all but one (La Venus, who’s bisexual) is gay
Carolina De Robertis’s writing is consistently beautiful, even if it’s also exhaustingly long-winded. The story’s focus is less on its plot (which is light and slow) and more on the five central characters themselves, their interactions with each other, and their interactions with the two major settings: their city and Cabo Polonio, the beach where they first vacation to and become a tight found family.
I’m not much bothered by the sluggish pacing or the wordy writing--especially when it’s this lovely--but the dialogue does become a little stilted. But then again, I think the book suffers the most when it vanishes altogether. I was so surprised at the amount of backstory in the second half, and that’s saying something, because I was also surprised at the amount of backstory present in the the first. But the first act is told through each main characters’ alternating PoVs in what I'd describe as being fairly “immediate” when compared to the better half of the second act, which consists almost entirely of summaries.
There is also character “development” that happens completely off page; for example, Paz, the youngest of the main five, ages the most dramatically in the time skip from the first and second act because she's sixteen at the beginning of the book--and she becomes almost unrecognizable. This change isn’t summarized, either. She’s just changed. But maybe this is something that’s common in fiction that spans multiple generations, and because that’s not a genre I read very often, it's strange to me.
Okay, but I have to give compliments where compliments are due: trauma is handled extremely well. The majority of these characters have their own trauma, each unique, each painful, each handled superbly. Even when I kind of wish it wasn’t, like with Paz, who was groomed by an adult when she was about thirteen years old. On one hand, I’m amazed at how realistic and unbiased the author handled this situation, because Paz herself doesn’t see what happened to her as abusive. She sees it rather as a kind of lesbian awakening, largely due to the way she was groomed, while her (adult) friends are horrified by what happened to her. Though I wish Paz’s opinion changed when she got older (because if not, that could be how those situations happen again, but with Paz in the opposite role), I admire the way the risk taken here.
I also appreciate how the author made it so the novel never really picks sides or has biases when it comes to fights between the main characters--especially when these fights are about things like cheating, things that usually do pick one side. It never becomes a morality lesson or a character blatantly preaching to another. So I appreciate that, even though personally I have such strong feelings about it that it was difficult to sit through the fights without wanting the book to take sides.
There were a few other things that bothered me, like some over-the-top descriptions of certain characters that go on and on, the biphobia, and the almost fetishistic descriptions of the indigenous Guaraní character, but overall this was a beautiful and heartbreaking book I'm glad to have read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Homophobia, and Torture
also: cheating, cissexism, biphobia, nazism, electroshock "therapy", child grooming, and CSAdreareads_'s review
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.
"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.
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
biblio_gabriella's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
11/19/20 (initial thoughts): In my 22 years of being alive, I have never once cried over a piece of fiction until today. Carolina de Robertis has accomplished the impossible...
12/21/20 (second read):
"It seemed, at times, that this was the only way the world would be remade as the heroes had dreamed: one woman holds another woman, and she in turn lifts the world."
12/21/20 (second read):
"It seemed, at times, that this was the only way the world would be remade as the heroes had dreamed: one woman holds another woman, and she in turn lifts the world."
I initially wasn’t going to write this review. I was going to leave it at the two-line review above, because I thought that was all that needed to be said. But now, after having read this book a second time, I’m going to let it all out. So, why did Cantoras make me, a notorious non-crier, SOB like you’d never believe, days and even weeks after the first read? As it turns out, I’m kind of a detached reader. I feel things as I read, of course, but there’s this wall in me that prevents me from taking on the characters’ emotions as my own. I can shut a book and marvel at its brilliance, can place the book on my Favorites shelf, but I don’t really lose myself in the book’s world. I’m no stranger to touching books. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Lilac Girls, The Kite Runner, The Miseducation of Cameron Post…each of these books could have made me cry. So, what is it about Cantoras that finally cracked me? Why this book? Well, I finally have an answer, which can be found in the first chapter.
The first chapter, aptly titled “Escape,” introduces us to the five women, each incredibly distinct, who have taken up residence in my heart and will never leave.
Flaca (21): She’s the leader, the one who started it all, La Pilota. Her confident swagger can’t hide the heart that’s too big for her chest. She does everything she can to keep the family together.
Romina (22): She’s at once the voice of reason, pessimism, and passion. I wanted to hug her, to shake her, to laugh with her. At times I loved her, at times I hated her, and at times I felt for her so much that my heart physically ached.
Anita “La Venus” (27): She’s a free spirit trapped in a life she doesn’t want. Despite everything, she sparkles and makes me think of bright colors. She’s the oldest but has the youngest soul. She is “art” personified.
Malena (25): The one who takes up the most space in my heart, who occupies the #1 spot on the list of Characters Gabriella Would Die For. She’s guarded and prickly, but she’s achingly perceptive and empathetic. She may be quiet, but as they say, still waters run deep.
Paz (16): She’s the youngest, but she’s far from naïve. She’s a dreamer, a hustler, and everything in between. Her vulnerability twisted my heart, made me protective, made me want to fight the world for her.
Each of these women needs respite from the oppressiveness that is 1977 Montevideo, Uruguay. Due the unshakeable friendship of Flaca and Romina, this group of five queer women takes a journey to Cabo Polonio, a remote cape, where they are free to be themselves for a week. Aside from Flaca and Romina, no one really knows one another, but their common goal unites them instantly.
"They’d been forming a kind of family, woven from cast-offs, like a quilt made from strips of leftover fabric no one wanted. They wanted each other. They had to stay woven. They could not fray."
In Chapter One, their bond ignites like crackling flame. They’re finally able to be themselves, take off their masks; the five-way bond is titillating. Carolina de Robertis weaves a five-way lifeline, using words in the most exquisite way possible, bringing these characters to life for me. Somewhere in this chapter, while I didn’t realize it at the time, my detachment floated away, forever lost to the ocean near Cabo Polonio. These characters became my friends, my family, my heart. From then on, their triumphs and their heartbreaks became my own. I wanted to step through the pages, travel to another time and place, look each woman in the eye and say, “I will do everything in my power to make sure you stay happy like this, that the lights from your first visit to Cabo Polonio never fade.”
My idealized visions were impossible, of course, since this is a novel about the harsh realities of dictatorship, prejudice, and the ways we can hurt the ones we love. And oh god, the realities are harsh. Certain events felt like someone was twisting a knife through my heart; I had no idea that I would ever be able to experience pain like that from a piece of fiction. It was so painful that, during the first days post-read, parts of me regretted reading the book. But oh my god, a part of me knew I was done for before even finishing that first chapter. That I would go down with the proverbial ship (the ship being this whole book). And all that beauty, that beautifully healing ending, made it so, so worth it.
(4/23/21: I'm unhinged and I made a meme because sometimes I use humor as a coping mechanism.)
My feelings for this book wouldn’t have been possible without Carolina de Robertis’ divine use of language. I have never read a book in which words are used so exquisitely. The opening paragraphs are omniscient; we’re on the outside, watching something incredible take flight. But soon we’re in close third person that moves seamlessly from character to character in a way that never feels like head-hopping. There are some very long sentences in this book – the kind that take up half a page – but they’re never overlong. They end exactly where they should, and each comma, each word, is so artfully placed that the sentences flow, reflect your own thoughts. And don’t even get me started on the metaphors and symbolism, which can be devoured and analyzed for hours. Seriously, it needs to be read to be believed.
This book made me feel so deeply, so wholly, that it can’t not be my favorite book of all time. Reading it has made me grow as a reader, as a thinker, as an empathizer, and as a human. This isn’t a book for everyone; it explores some very heavy topics. But if you’re up for it, if you’re in the mood to feel a queer literary story with every cell in your body, then Cantoras may be the perfect book for you.
Tl;dr (aka my reading experience summed up in Spongebob gifs (because sometimes this guy expresses emotions better than I do)):
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Rape
Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Excrement, and Miscarriage
Spoiler
Malena's death completely and utterly destroyed me. I love her so much and ???? AHHHHHbeleng's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Pedophilia, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma
jet's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Suicide
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