lcgordon's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
It's halfway through january and this might be my favorite book of the entire year.
growliegrl's review
adventurous
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
Genderqueer historical fiction!
sxtwo's review
4.0
Three things:
1. Do the scars of leaving your homeland pass down generations? Do immigrants live their whole lives, even in the best of circumstances, missing home?
2. Is having someone/s to honestly share your whole story with an almost necessary part of being a human?
3. "an obsession not with death, but with narrating your own life, because if you don't script your own way once and for all, your story will be written by someone else, and your actions will be guided by other people's dreams of who you should be rather than by the bright jagged thing you really are."
1. Do the scars of leaving your homeland pass down generations? Do immigrants live their whole lives, even in the best of circumstances, missing home?
2. Is having someone/s to honestly share your whole story with an almost necessary part of being a human?
3. "an obsession not with death, but with narrating your own life, because if you don't script your own way once and for all, your story will be written by someone else, and your actions will be guided by other people's dreams of who you should be rather than by the bright jagged thing you really are."
jaykeim's review
5.0
“Every person has a story as long as the ocean.”
“Yes! You’re right! I’ve crossed the ocean —“
“I’ve never seen it.”
“It’s beautiful. It’s terrible. It goes on and on. That’s the version of your story I want.”
Carolina de Robertis’ The Gods of Tango tells the sensual, queer story of tango - the dance and the melody between surviving and living, promise and secret, longing and surrender, outcast and belonging, pretending and telling your truth, hiding your body and showing your soul. The beautiful language was my leading partner while reading Lepa’s/Dante’s story and left me in tears after the music faded.
“She buried her desire but couldn’t kill it. The urge sat beneath her skin, like the urge to tear a scab off and damn how it heals, damn the scar it leaves, better to let the broken flesh hit air, to tell the truth of your life no matter the cost so that even if it kills you, at least, after you die, the story of your days won’t completely disappear from the earth. Just one person can do that, can, by listening, make your story exist beyond your skin.”
“Yes! You’re right! I’ve crossed the ocean —“
“I’ve never seen it.”
“It’s beautiful. It’s terrible. It goes on and on. That’s the version of your story I want.”
Carolina de Robertis’ The Gods of Tango tells the sensual, queer story of tango - the dance and the melody between surviving and living, promise and secret, longing and surrender, outcast and belonging, pretending and telling your truth, hiding your body and showing your soul. The beautiful language was my leading partner while reading Lepa’s/Dante’s story and left me in tears after the music faded.
“She buried her desire but couldn’t kill it. The urge sat beneath her skin, like the urge to tear a scab off and damn how it heals, damn the scar it leaves, better to let the broken flesh hit air, to tell the truth of your life no matter the cost so that even if it kills you, at least, after you die, the story of your days won’t completely disappear from the earth. Just one person can do that, can, by listening, make your story exist beyond your skin.”
endlesstbr's review
5.0
4.5 rounded up
This story is beautifully told! The history and setting felt completely immersive, and I very much appreciated the main character's journey and identification. There's an element I found unbelievable, but I'll see what comes up in my book club. =P
This story is beautifully told! The history and setting felt completely immersive, and I very much appreciated the main character's journey and identification. There's an element I found unbelievable, but I'll see what comes up in my book club. =P
subjectheading's review
4.0
As historical fiction, The Gods of Tango is an interesting subject with a solid execution. It was well paced and without any sections that I felt a need to skim.
For most of the book, Dante's character is defined by his relationships to other people, and considering the dangerous position that Dante occupied in early 20th century Argentinian society, it is understandable the he would avoid confronting those truths. The relationship with Rosa is lovely, and the freedom that Dante finds in it finally makes him a complete character.
For most of the book, Dante's character is defined by his relationships to other people, and considering the dangerous position that Dante occupied in early 20th century Argentinian society, it is understandable the he would avoid confronting those truths. The relationship with Rosa is lovely, and the freedom that Dante finds in it finally makes him a complete character.
silverpeach's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.0
shelfimprovement's review
3.0
A gender-bending tale set in early 20th century Argentina, it's a little weird to think that this book isn't really breaking all that much ground. It's visiting themes have been around at least since Shakespeare. But this one promised something new: the flavor or tango as an up-and-coming sensation.
I enjoyed Perla, the only other book I've read by Carolina De Robertis. That one also took place in Argentina, focusing on the Disappeared of the late 20th century. I had every intention of one day reading her first novel, Invisible Mountain, but was surprised to find this one sitting in the New Releases section at the library. I picked it up without a second thought.
Our protagonist, Leda, emigrates from Italy to Argentina to be with her husband, a political exile who took off a year prior. She sets sail after their by-proxy wedding, armed with a few articles of clothing and a violin, only to discover upon arrival that Dante has been killed. Going back to Italy isn't much of an option -- Leda's broke and sees nothing but dead ends for her back home anyway. There aren't a lot of ways to make money as a woman in Argentina and she's going to need a place to live, so she decides to pass as a man. In the meantime, Leda also discovers a passion for tango music -- at the time heavily associated with the lower classes and considered perhaps unfeminine -- and uses her violin and new male identity to pursue that passion.
The Gods of Tango is frequently described around here as "lush," and that's certainly a fair assessment; it's full of evocative descriptions of exotic locales at a very specific point in time. Unfortunately, though, I had a hard time getting into it. The first 100+ pages of the novel are more or less outlined in the jacket copy, which killed all the suspense and caused it to move very sloooowly. By the time the plot started picking up, I was already sort of checked out. As I said, the language is lush and certainly has a strong sense of place. But that sense of place sometimes overshadows the character development and the movement of the plot in a way that I didn't find engaging. I think this book would be great for readers who are looking for that kind of descriptive writing, but I don't think it was really for me.
I enjoyed Perla, the only other book I've read by Carolina De Robertis. That one also took place in Argentina, focusing on the Disappeared of the late 20th century. I had every intention of one day reading her first novel, Invisible Mountain, but was surprised to find this one sitting in the New Releases section at the library. I picked it up without a second thought.
Our protagonist, Leda, emigrates from Italy to Argentina to be with her husband, a political exile who took off a year prior. She sets sail after their by-proxy wedding, armed with a few articles of clothing and a violin, only to discover upon arrival that Dante has been killed. Going back to Italy isn't much of an option -- Leda's broke and sees nothing but dead ends for her back home anyway. There aren't a lot of ways to make money as a woman in Argentina and she's going to need a place to live, so she decides to pass as a man. In the meantime, Leda also discovers a passion for tango music -- at the time heavily associated with the lower classes and considered perhaps unfeminine -- and uses her violin and new male identity to pursue that passion.
The Gods of Tango is frequently described around here as "lush," and that's certainly a fair assessment; it's full of evocative descriptions of exotic locales at a very specific point in time. Unfortunately, though, I had a hard time getting into it. The first 100+ pages of the novel are more or less outlined in the jacket copy, which killed all the suspense and caused it to move very sloooowly. By the time the plot started picking up, I was already sort of checked out. As I said, the language is lush and certainly has a strong sense of place. But that sense of place sometimes overshadows the character development and the movement of the plot in a way that I didn't find engaging. I think this book would be great for readers who are looking for that kind of descriptive writing, but I don't think it was really for me.