Reviews with content warning for Classism - Violeta

Disappointed there wasn't more character development. The writing was good but it felt more like a synopsis of the events of a novel than a finished novel itself. I don't feel like I really knew any of the characters to be moved by what happened to them, least of all Violeta herself. Mostly archetypes, the people in her life all seemed to have a very unoriginal role to fill: the captivating scoundrel lover; the trainwreck addict daughter; the spoiled grandson. I don't feel like this book really broke any new ground, which it could have if it had fleshed out its characters more.

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kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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whitedaylilies's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Violeta is definitely my favourite of Allende’s books I’ve read so far. There beautiful and sad symmetry to being born at the height of the Spanish Flu Pandemic and dying during the Corona virus pandemic. Violeta’s 100 year life was one of family and turmoils and tragedy and love! I was hooked from the start and ended with tears in my eyes.

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booksonadventures's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

Violeta follows the 100-year life of the titular woman through a letter she is writing to her grandson, Camilo. From the heels of the Spanish Flu to the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Violeta's life spans a period of extraordinary historical events and upheaval.

There's no denying that Allende is a storyteller, and reading her work conjures the exact feeling of listening to my grandmother share her life story, down to the dry humor and matter-of-fact approach to historical events. While I can respect this style, much of this book fell flat in its execution. Overall, Violeta lacked emotional depth and left me grasping for any sort of connection to her character or her life.

Violeta dryly recounts everything from her father's death to her sexual escapades throughout the course of the novel, but never gives me a reason to care about her story. The novel struggled to grab my attention until nearly Chapter 20, when she began to outline the events leading up to the 1973 military coup and following Pinochet dictatorship. Even here, these events primarily hooked me due to my prior reading in the time period, because Allende moves quickly through details and declines the opportunity to expand on topics like Operation Condor and Colonia Dignidad (that could truthfully be entire books on their own).

Ultimately, Violeta does both too much and not enough, with a 100-year storyline that lacks the central themes and magical realism that make Allende's other works memorable. There are a few notable ways Allende has grown as a writer (with more respectful references to difference issues of class and race), but in the end, this book lacks heart.

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