Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

El viento conoce mi nombre by Isabel Allende

33 reviews

monloesco's review

challenging emotional informative sad 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? No

4.25

La prosa de Allende es simplemente mágica, adoro como me transporta con sus descripciones. Aunque siento que muchos conceptos del libro se quedaron un poco cortos en explicacion y parecieron solo mencionados por no dejar, los comentarios políticos y sociales que hace Allende son precisos y los comparto completamente. Definitivamente era el libro que necesitaba leer para seguir mi investigación de tesis, ya sea en novela o en trabajo de titulación, los temas de los que trata el libro merecen ser documentados y publicados.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Genocide

cleotheo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and War

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail

boekentrol's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Car accident

gris_zorra's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bconner3000's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation

Minor: Chronic illness, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

librabby's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Wow. What an amazing book. It is different perspectives and has different storylines weaved into one.  It's powerful  and beautifully written. Truly one of the best books I have ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Deportation

em_holliday's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, and Murder

pati89's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Deportation

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

san_dra's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

boxcar's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

A soul crushing examination of the horrors and trauma of the loss of parents. Allende connects a jewish child whose parents were murdered by Nazis with a Salvadorian girl who is separated inhumanly from her mother at the US border, never to see her again. Human cruelty and the way marginalized groups are treated are forefront. I think that Allende went a little overboard with the different perspectives, and while none are first-person or totally confined to one person, there are like four different perspective chapters, it got a little confusing. When all of the different perspectives converged, it made it worth it, but for the first 100 or so pages it felt disjointed. I really enjoyed this book and the overwhelmingly compassionate approach Allende has towards humanity. Through her fiction, this book included, she shines a light on various injustices to humans, many of which I am blind to as a white man living in Pennsylvania.

Allende is my favorite author, I think that's clear at this point. I would like to outline some gripes I have with her though, present in this book but also throughout her work.

- pedophilia and sexual abuse of children is present in nearly all of her works. This isn't to say she glorifies it! The abuse is heinous and is written in no vague terms as evil and disgusting. I think stuff like this needs to make you uncomfortable, and it certainly does! Isabel Allende was sexually assaulted by a man as a child, and I can't imagine the trauma that entails, and I don't doubt that is a huge factor in its prevalence in her works. One of my favorite thing about her as an author is how much her characters and stories are infused with her voice, her life. Reading Paula and some interviews really gave me a different understanding of her fiction, so many parallels between life and writing. As a reader, I just want one or two books where she doesn't include child sexual abuse. As an author, she can write whatever the hell she wants, and I love her for doing just that. Ya dig?

- so many characters cheat! I know monogamy isn't some morally righteous position, and it isn't something that a "good" person needs to exemplify. It's just hard for me to like a character that is virtuous in all regards except for being unfaithful to a partner. Allende herself has been open about her own infidelity/affairs, and like every other part of her and her life it finds its way into her fiction. It's often more nuanced than a man or woman simply cheating for the sake of cheating, and love strikes quickly and doesn't take heed of societal expectations, at least in the world of Allende. I suppose that gets to the core of the matter. I love how Allende portrays love as visceral, impassioned and inevitable. It's a force to be reckoned with in her fiction: her romances are more profound to me than any other author, a big part of my love for Allende. So I get behind that love, feel it and then there's infidelity! Again, it's not a bad thing, and she's absolutely smashing it at making me feel complicated emotions. It's just sometimes disappointing, you know? But, that's life. Not a critique of Allende of an author, but rather me as a reader, I suppose. 

(I hope no one reads these, I kinda write them without considering it's public.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation