Scan barcode
shams00's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
Moderate: Child abuse and Abortion
kscallahan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Racism
Minor: War
isleofwoman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Trafficking
now_booking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a historical novel. To liken it to a popular book, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” is very much in this style (being two years younger than this book). It is historical fiction built around an older woman going back in time to talk about her life and her great loves. I’ve seen this tagged as a romance novel. It is not. It is more an epic love story, beautifully written, gorgeously composed as you can expect from Isabel Allende.
For me, when it comes to books that discuss race, I’m of two minds- in one sense, I believe that any author should be able to write whatever stories fit their vision, and if those stories are diverse, so much the better. But I also am cognizant of the fact that an author’s privilege and personal experience can colour how they tell a story. As I read and enjoyed this, as lovely as it was, I couldn’t help but wonder how this would be perceived by audiences who were part of the affected groups referenced in this novel- how would Jewish people feel or Japanese people especially those whose families had experienced incarceration. It’s the sort of thing that makes you want to read reviews from those audiences. But at the same time, you recognize that a review from one own voices reviewer is not the same as a representation of all the possible viewpoints about the book. For me, as fiction, that was based on verifiable history, I loved it.
If there are any down sides for me, I think it was Irina’s plot. The challenge there was that it felt a little thrown in on the side and forgotten for large swathes of the book. I felt like her story was so deep and heavy that it needed more pages and a little more gravity. I liked Irina and Seth’s relationship in the book but I also see how it could be said to be problematic. I feel like there was a hint of casual racism in this, not terrible and very reflective of 1930s and 1940s America but still as someone who would have been subject to racism in those times, it’s a little difficult to read. Another issue I had with this is the fact that there were quite a few historical info dumps in this. At several points in the book, dropping the thread of the story, the author would insert a bunch of history from a relevant period- not from the perspective of any of the characters, just like a commentary mid-prose. I didn’t mind because the information was relevant and provided historical context, but it felt removed from the story rather than incorporated. I liked this book a lot, but I don’t think as a family saga, it was as rich as some of this author’s other works that I’ve read.
For me what worked amazingly well with this was the language, the expression of the themes of aging, life and death, family, self-awareness, love and loss. This is a poignant book that leaves you with the feeling that love is immortal and death is not the end.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Dementia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, and Death of parent
marcella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The least charitable way to read this is a thin narrative of attraction shuffled along by a series of ghastly horrors. I found the depictions of the Japanese internment camps compelling (stripping away dignity and freedom from a huge and arbitrary group), but the
I liked the prose and the narrator, though. And I liked all the old folks with rich inner selves, living life with various degrees of independence, and learning to accept new limitations without caving into them. Perhaps some of the various misfortunes that befell the characters felt overwrought because it covered multiple long lives compressed into one book.
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
kommatator's review against another edition
abgebrochen: 19.03.2021
Rest überflogen.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Grief, Car accident, and Abortion
Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Incest
aidsywaidsy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A timely read this week to remember the dark day that was February 19, 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order requiring all people of Japanese ancestry to be sent to internment camps. An often overlooked part of US history which ironically happened while they were fighting a war to free prisoners from concentration camps in Germany.
Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia