jlye's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Antisemitism, Death, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
rubl_b's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed this book; however, it was a litte long and slow. It really picked up and got interested in the last 1/3rd of the book. At that point I felt like I was really wondering what was gonig to happen next! But the first 2/3 were a little slow and hard to get through at times. Quite a few names and plot points/developments that I found confusing, maybe because it took me so long to read. However I liked the ending and though it was really well written.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Antisemitism
atamano's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Grief, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Torture, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
mcbuckelew's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Wow. Really enjoyed the twists and turns of this book. Surprisingly exciting!
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism and Homophobia
wogslandwriter's review
emotional
inspiring
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
5.0
There are few books in the world that have imprinted themselves on my soul. This book is one of them. I do not think I will ever forget this book. Rachel Kadish expertly wove the present and the past together to create a beautiful and poignant story of excellent prose. She uses third person limited along with some expository sections to tell the story. I have read many books that have tried to do what Kadish did in this book and only she has fully achieved her goal.
The paths of our three main characters: Helen, Aaron, and Esther are interwoven and unique with parallels between them all and a satisfying conclusion for each of them. Despite being fictional, I also learned a lot from the historical surroundings of the book and I look forward to doing more research on the history of the Jewish diaspora in the 17th century.
This book will change your life and you should definitely read it as soon as you can. I rented the audiobook for free from my library and it was fantastic.
The paths of our three main characters: Helen, Aaron, and Esther are interwoven and unique with parallels between them all and a satisfying conclusion for each of them. Despite being fictional, I also learned a lot from the historical surroundings of the book and I look forward to doing more research on the history of the Jewish diaspora in the 17th century.
This book will change your life and you should definitely read it as soon as you can. I rented the audiobook for free from my library and it was fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, and Genocide
Moderate: Homophobia, Blood, Death, Child death, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Vomit, Misogyny, Rape, Chronic illness, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Excrement
The book covers explicit descriptions of torture endured at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. It also covers the expansion of Jewish people in London in the 1660's, as such there is some explicit antisemitism. There is also explicit descriptions of the house fire that killed Esther's parents. There is minor alcohol drinking by most characters at one point or another.Spoiler
There is explicit stories and flashbacks of Esther's mother being an emotionally abusive alcoholic. There is a lot of death. A good portion of the book happens during an out break of the plague and four major characters die by the end of the story. Mary gets pregnant and it's mentioned only so much as in descriptions of her body and clothes. There is a violent mob scene towards the end where Esther is violently groped on screen. It's a short mention, but it is brought up later in her happy future as a reference to potential PTSD. There is also an explicit scene of Alvarro being outed as gay in front of a mob of spectators. He's dragged home by his father and then impressed upon a ship.jenniferduannfultz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Violence
foreverinastory's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
4.5
Wow this was lovely. I definitely want to read more books like this or about Jewish History in general, especially ones not tied to WWII.
Rep: Elderly disabled female MC, American Jewish male PhD student MC, Refugee Jewish female MC, blind rabbi side character, gay jewish male side character, various other Jewish side characters, including Israeli side characters.
CWs: Antisemitism, chronic illness, death, death of parents, homophobia and forced exile of gay side character, forced conversion to Christianity on threat of death, misogyny, public outing of gay character, religious bigotry, sexism, sexual content, murder of side character, terminal illness, violence, xenophobia, ableism, past mentions of torture, pregnancy of side character.
Rep: Elderly disabled female MC, American Jewish male PhD student MC, Refugee Jewish female MC, blind rabbi side character, gay jewish male side character, various other Jewish side characters, including Israeli side characters.
CWs: Antisemitism, chronic illness, death, death of parents, homophobia and forced exile of gay side character, forced conversion to Christianity on threat of death, misogyny, public outing of gay character, religious bigotry, sexism, sexual content, murder of side character, terminal illness, violence, xenophobia, ableism, past mentions of torture, pregnancy of side character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism, Pregnancy, Torture, and Murder
sheistolerable's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This would be a great choice for those who loved A.S. Byatt's Posession and want something similar! I loved the detail of the historical setting and the academic politics in the contemporary portions. At some points, the character development was over explained, especially with the character of Aaron--most people don't have as much insight into their own flaws as he seems to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Sexual assault
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