Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

40 reviews

chris_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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marissasa's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

4.5

This book is a wonder of a generational family story filled with magic and love. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines and perspectives which built the story up from present day and slowly revealed more about Orquidea's past and why her family is the way it is now. The writing was stunning especially when it highlighted the magical realism of miracles like
flowers blooming from skin, vines rising from the earth, a skeleton smoking a cigarette, and a door at the bottom of a lake.
I was immersed in this book and its main characters, although I do wish the book was a bit longer to give more attention and development to some of its side characters as well. The themes of generational trauma and the ties that run deeper than blood that bind us to our families were really well explored and I loved seeing the cousins protect each other without a second thought.

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melanieripple's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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issamay's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-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

5.0


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moniipeters's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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literatebird's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-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

4.0


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c_serpent's review against another edition

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

2.0

I did not finish this book at 76% because a man has grasshopper eggs hatch out of him. I cannot handle bug body horror, and want to bathe in acid now.

I'm counting it as a "read" because I suffered through 76% of it. It is very prettily written, but it's so unforgivably slow. At one point they land in Ecuador and Marimar "notices" hummingbirds around them. The hummingbirds are magic and have to do with her family and this should be something notable, but Marimar just notices them.

And that's the attitude toward magic. It's not acknowledged for what it is, or recognized as magic, or valued. It's vaguely noticed, no one does anything, and time continues to pass. 

The whole novel just felt like time passing. Nothing happened, really. Orquidea is so concerned about something "getting" her family and as the book goes on the family is being watched by someone, and they just keep living their life and doing inconsequential things. Nobody tries to confront the threat. Nobody does anything. So it feels like there's no antagonist, but there's clearly an antagonist. It has me watching the main characters and going, "are you worried or not? is somebody going to get you or not?"

This makes the book feel hazy, like a dream, but like the slowest, most boring dream of all time. 

 "But most of the plot happens in the last third of the book!" you may object. "This was intentional!"

Was it intentional? Because it's also bad writing. If you want to contend it was intentionally bad writing, I won't stop you. 

I really wanted to like this book, but none of the characters are interesting, and I'm tired by how slow it is. No actions are taken. I wanted to love you, novel! But I did not.

Two stars remain because I'm going to be thinking about how Marimar is named Mar y Mar, as in, "sea and sea," until I die. That's the coolest name ever. Three stars have been removed because I'd like to forget everything else and not remember any of it tomorrow, much less until I die.

Total score: 2/5 stars

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pejms's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.0


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jaimc's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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chasingpages1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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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