Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

21 reviews

sammymilfort's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

midnightverde's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.5

This book starts out slowly and there are many characters involved in the plot. As you read and gain insight into the lives and experiences of each character the story begins to pull you in. Once you start seeing the mysteries in the story it becomes more of a page turner. I was grateful to learn about this time period from an author who seems very interested in history and working collaboratively with the relevant people and sources to prevent inaccuracies. The book really comes together at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

martamae77's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Torture

setrahyn's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring 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

I LOVED this book! I really connected with it because I lived in the Basque country for 5 months when I was on Erasmus. The Basques often told us about hardships from Franco's regime. I am also a photographer, so there were a lot of easter eggs for me in the book in that regard as well. On top of all that, the characters were wonderful and I was amazed at how wonderfully the plot was layed out and tied up. After this, I wouldn't mind if the Author did a story on Hungarian history as well. Thanks to the Author for this masterpiece and for all her thorough research! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Cancer

heureusefemme's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

My favorite book from Sepetys so far. The cast of characters were well written and their purposes in this novel were not wasted. I loved how every character’s plot line was interconnected. Take out any of the main characters and an integral part of  The Fountains of Silence is missing. The audiobook was creative with the primary resources.  My only critique is that at times it felt like the characters were explaining plot threads that didn’t need explaining. There were also times were it felt like the book was explaining the historical time period of the novel. The first couple of times was fine but got repetitive after a while. All in all, a great history fiction book that highlights a  dark time in Spain that many do not know about. I knew about Franco but I did not know the horrific acts he committed during his reign.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

achay91's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer and Torture

scarlett_bri's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.5

“He scratched a proverb on the wall for future inmates: ‘Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, he became a butterfly.’” 

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Wow, what an amazing book! Being over 500 pages, I was a little intimated to start this but the audiobook was superb and I flew through this.

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The story begins a little slow as Sepetys begins painting a picture of 1957 Spain, controlled by the dictator Franco. She immerses you in the people, the culture, their lives and the many secrets they keep. The silent vow they take. She examins this moment in history from multiple angles, following multiple characters who help show the reader that all is not what it seems in Spain. You have the American, the maid at the hotel and her family, a grave digger and an employee at a Catholic orphanage. But something is off. Children are going missing. Orphanages are overflowing. Mothers are asking about their children and where they went. But no one is giving answers, no one is saying anything. 

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Sepetys slowly pulls back the layers of Franco’s Spain, exposing to Daniel (the naive American) what is actually going on and what all the Spanish people are enduring under the dictator. As I did not know much about Spain’s history, I found this story both fascinating and also horrifying. 

•

Sepetys is a master at humanizing history, bringing to life the words in our history books and giving voices to those who have been silenced for far too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

writingcaia's review against another edition

emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Brilliant!
A love story between an American young man with a Spanish mother that travels to Spain with his parents in 1957 during Franco’s dictatorship to do a deal regarding oil, and collaboration between the USA and Spain, and a Spanish girl working at his hotel. A girl hiding who she is, a girl with an older sister hiding more secrets and an optimist brother that wants to help his friend become a matador.
It is definitely a story of secrets, country secrets, shameful secrets, secrets that crave to be known, of people hiding who they are, who their family was, or not even knowing who you are and can be, a story of poverty and repression, of different fates and waiting.
Amazing characters, and the revelation of a secret Spain kept hidden until 2008 that happened since the beginning of the fascist government until the 80’s.
I cannot even explain how completely enveloping and atmospheric this book was while uncovering such harsh realities, impossible dreams, and love. I truly felt the Spain of the 50’s, the shame, the wretchedness, the huge gap between the Americans that there lived and supported Franco dictatorship.
As hard as the story is, it does give you hope, and I  loved it. And, recommend it to all that love amazing historical fiction stories, or generally amazing tales that happens to be inspired by true events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Torture, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

moonlit_paperbacks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Police brutality, and Kidnapping