Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Η Ελένα ξέρει by Claudia Piñeiro

22 reviews

pyronautphea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Body shaming, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Ableism, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Religious bigotry, Dementia, and Alcoholism

stellarkai's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Ableism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abortion and Sexual assault

viictoriaa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

este es un libro perfecto, cada palabra tiene su significado y su propósito. claudia piñeiro es una genia y ojalá pudiera abundar más pero es que las palabras no me dan

increíble y si sigo analizando, se pone cada vez mejor. espero verla ganar un nobel de literatura fr fr, todos sus libros se volverán clásicos

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Chronic illness, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Mental illness, and Child death

teainthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Rape, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Religious bigotry

mecmccann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 

I haven’t walked away from a book saying, “wow, wow, wow, that was a good book” in a long time. But I did with this one. 
 
 Elena is a Parkinson’s patient, and her daughter Rita is her caretaker. But one rainy day, Rita is found hanging, dead, in the church belfry. The police have ruled it a suicide, but Elena disagrees, it was raining that day, and Rita would never go into the church in the rain. She is determined to find her daughter’s murderer. “Elena Knows” follows Elena through a day, as she trembles through her relationship with her daughter, their relationships with religion, and how their individual values impacted those around them. 
 
 This book is about mother-daughter relationships, caregivers, and religious dogma. Rita takes care of her mother, but resents her for how she presents herself, even though Elena is disabled and declining rapidly. Through this story, as you watch Elena struggle, you simultaneously root for her to find out what happened, while considering that Rita was not kind to her mother or to those around her. Before her death, she made Elena go to the hair salon because she didn’t like how she looked since she could no longer do her hair, and she would yell at her for drooling. Throughout her day, Elena attempts to utilize other people’s bodies to find out what happened the day Rita died, from the police to the taxi driver, until she is confronted with someone Rita once impacted. These events lead up to a climax where Elena is forced to confront the effects of Rita’s worldview on outside individuals. 

 

This book was so culturally relevant, not only in Argentina, but in the United States as well. As feminism is overcome by evangelism and religious dogma, we can see the parallels between how we use other people’s bodies to achieve our own personal agenda in this book and in the world. “Elena Knows” is a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Suicide

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

allapaz's review against another edition

5.0

holy shit, I'm gonna have to sit with this one for a bit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

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

raphynette's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, Suicide, Grief, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Excrement, Medical trauma, and Child death

Moderate: Vomit

larissakoedood's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Child death, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Abortion and Rape