Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Η Ελένα ξέρει by Claudia Piñeiro

12 reviews

phalanq's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

pry this book from my cold dead hands

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Chronic illness, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

jaiari12's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Grief, Ableism, and Medical content

Moderate: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Abortion, Rape, Sexual violence, and Vomit

bethantg's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Abortion, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Cursing, Sexual violence, Death, Grief, Ableism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Pregnancy, Violence, Excrement, and Vomit

sab3467's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Suicide, Abortion, and Toxic relationship

leahb88's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Such a good read. Read from the perspective of Elena, a mother searching for answers surrounding her daughter’s death. It’s main themes are around the control women have over their bodies and other’s bodies as well as the role that religion plays. Elena’s poetic reflections about her past and her current life grappling with grief and her illness was lovely to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy and Domestic abuse

jiayuanc's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Rape, Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, Infidelity, and Abortion

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Suicide, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abortion, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Murder

medialua's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Grief, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Death

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

On the surface, Elena Knows is a novel about a woman determined to find out who killed her daughter. Within the text is a piercing exploration of complex and difficult mother-daughter relationships, disability and navigating the world and its bureaucracies with a degenerative disease, and a indictment against the Catholic church's dogma and control of women's bodies.

I loved how Piñeiro writes her characters and their interactions with each other and the world - she doesn't shy away from uncomfortable topics, opinions, or difficult characters. Her writing itself is gorgeous and I appreciated the cyclical writing of the litanies Elena employed.

I don't have Parkinson's or other disabilities that make living in our current world so difficult, but I appreciate how she explored those themes and highlighted the indignities people experience (especially those of intersecting identities such as gender and age).

Elena thinks she knows her daughter, but as the title ironically shows, she really doesn't. She seems to grasp the hypocrisies of some of her daughter's behaviour, but it takes a lot of unlearning for her to realize the mistakes she and Rita have made, and that she doesn't know Rita all that well in the end. Rita's behaviour to Isabelle - insisting she have a child and will regret the abortion decision - despite not having children herself (or necessarily the inclination) and the medical trauma of being inspected for a uterus - really highlights how pervasive the Catholic church's worldview is within Argentinian (and other) societies. In the end, the person who killed Rita was herself and by extension the society in which she lived. She's unable to face caregiving for her mother with little to no love for her remaining or support from her community. It's another way to demonstrate how society often devalues disabled lives and those of the people giving care. And yet, Elena wants to live. Her life has value.

Piñeiro packed a lot in this book and I'm looking forward to exploring more of her works. She seems to be a crime/literary crime writer tackling social issues and ethics from a perspective that I haven't read a lot. 

CW: abortion discussions, descriptions of bodily functions and disability relating to Parkinson's, medical trauma, abusive relationships, forced pregnancy, suicide, strained mother-daughter relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Chronic illness, Cursing, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Pregnancy, Ableism, Abortion, and Domestic abuse

eve81's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Ableism, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abortion