Reviews tagging 'Death'

Cantoras by Caro De Robertis

28 reviews

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

kclark's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

This book had so much working in it's favor: queer female characters, queer author, friendships between women, Latin American lit... so it was a surprise this flat this fell to me. 

The language in the book is SO flowery that it is just exhausting, and I love flowery, poetic prose, but this was too much. It was as if the book was struggling to make itself more impressive but came off like a college student trying to say something profound on every page of the book. An example: "The water surrounded them, each wave sloshing forward with it's own wet, singular song, offering the pull of undertow and a brief respite from gravity." It would be fine, and perhaps effective, if this language was used sparingly, but it was constant. This propensity for the over embellished also has the effect of making the sex scenes seem like they were supposed to be sordid and poetic which made it feel like a cheesy romance.

The characters sometimes felt really well developed and crafted, but then immediately lose track of that character development and slip back into seemingly formulaic character archetypes.

Were I not reading this for a summer book bingo, I might have moved on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Infidelity, Grief, and Death of parent

qqjj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and Outing

allwaysbecoming's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This novel is incredible and one of the best reads I've had in a long, long time. The despair of the real traumas during Uruguay's dictatorship mean that this book is full of intense and potentially triggering scenes. This is not a light read, but a read that brings the reader to deep empathy and strong connection with the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

solenekeleroux's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

brynngaybee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

One of the best books I've read in a while. Beautifully written with great characters and interesting subject matter. Great read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Homophobia, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism

jessicaelisa's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Torture

lmaonice's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I was initially very unsure what to rate this book. for the majority of the book I found it enjoyable but I felt a certain amount of distance from most of the characters. That is, until the last 2 chapters, in which I suddenly felt so attached that I sobbed throughout the last 30 pages or so. I think this book is a triumph, I think it balances the harsh reality of the setting with hopefulness and happy moments excellently, making it feel neither like wish-fulfillment nor torture porn. While there absolutely are horrific things happening in this book, it doesn't feel overdone for the sake of making the reader cry, it feel purposeful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

lexi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

There are a lot of potentially triggering topics in this book, but it never felt like "torture porn" to me. It wasn't there to shock, it was there because these are real experiences people have.

tatianaisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Gaslighting