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Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman
21 reviews
simbareadss's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Emilia Fontana is the second born Fontana daughter and therefore cursed to live her life alone. The family curse of second born daughters never being lucky with love and never marrying seems to ring true.
However, when Great Aunt Poppy calls with a proposition of a all-expenses paid trip to Italy with her cousin, Lucy, who is also a second born daughter to try to break the curse, neither Emilia nor Lucy can pass up the offer.
As they travel to Italy, both girls begin to think that their Great Aunt Poppy is holding on to a fairy tale. She plans to meet her great love on the steps of a church in Italy on her 80th birthday like they had previously promised 49 years ago. She tells a story of her first and only true love Rico (or Erich) the German man who escaped East Germany before the Berlin Wall was erected. She shares how she and Erich had a fabulous love that came to an end when Erich had to return home to help his ailing father and could not return because the Berlin Wall was erected.
Both Lucy and Emilia are faced with confronting their families secrets, their personal struggles with love, and navigating a difficult family dynamic.
Throughout her life, Emelia had a best friend, Matt, who showed interest in her, but she never pursued him due to the curse. Her previous ex that she loved was injured in a car accident that she attributed to the curse. From then on she resigned herself to living a small life in Bensonhurst, Pennsylvania where she was born and raised. She had an epiphany while in Italy after falling for the romantic gestures of a random Italian man (who ended up ghosting her) that she really did love Matt and decided that when she returned she would attempt to pursue him. However, when she did return she realized that her cousin who had been watching her apartment ended up falling in love with Matt. Between this and Great Aunt Poppy's stories and encouragement, She found her inner voice and power to stand up to her overbearing Nonna.
Meanwhile, her younger cousin Lucy has been trying to find love in all the wrong places in order to prove that the curse isn't real. She had been stifling her sexuality and instead deciding to sleep with any seedy man that would give her attention. Also, while in Italy, Lucy had an epiphany that she is a lesbian and fell in love with a woman who is the sister of the man Emelia slept with. She becomes much more secure in herself and after returning to Bensonhurst she decides to tell her family of her new partner. Her mother doesn't respond to this initially but overall it seems that it will have a positive outcome.
I really appreciated Great Aunt Poppy and Erich's love story being slowly unraveled throughout the book. I think it was a very beautiful, but challenging love story that I could relate to. I wished there was more!
I think how all of the Fontana family had treated their second born daughters was awful. I especially think how Rosa treated her own sister was awful, but I do understand that miscarriage can be so difficult to navigate and it may have been a response to her grief. Additionally, being a single mother during that time was also extremely challenging socially snd economically, so the hopeless feelings that Poppy felt were also heart wrenching.
No no poppy begs, Lucy and Amelia to keep the secret until after Rosa has passed. Within 6 months, Rosa does pass and the seeker can finally be revealed to everybody. Before passing, Rosa and Poppy did reconcile over FaceTime. Poppy dies 4 months after. Erich and her were together for 10 months which seems an injustice.
In the end, Lucy gets the girl and her dream job of being a barber, Amelia's father marries the lady he's been listing after, Amelia writes Poppy's story and it is on its way to being published and she believes finally that she is worthy of love. She ends up being gifted the apartment where Poppy and Erich fell in love and the lawyer that she met months ago becomes a love interest.
Admittedly, I was pretty lukewarm on the entire book up until the last 100 pages. Then I couldn't put it down! I feel like my own grandmother was more like Nonna.
"Those who cannot win hearts with love often control people with fear."
"Soft heart is a Keen observer of the truth."
"Que será, será..."
However, when Great Aunt Poppy calls with a proposition of a all-expenses paid trip to Italy with her cousin, Lucy, who is also a second born daughter to try to break the curse, neither Emilia nor Lucy can pass up the offer.
As they travel to Italy, both girls begin to think that their Great Aunt Poppy is holding on to a fairy tale. She plans to meet her great love on the steps of a church in Italy on her 80th birthday like they had previously promised 49 years ago. She tells a story of her first and only true love Rico (or Erich) the German man who escaped East Germany before the Berlin Wall was erected. She shares how she and Erich had a fabulous love that came to an end when Erich had to return home to help his ailing father and could not return because the Berlin Wall was erected.
Both Lucy and Emilia are faced with confronting their families secrets, their personal struggles with love, and navigating a difficult family dynamic.
Meanwhile, her younger cousin Lucy has been trying to find love in all the wrong places in order to prove that the curse isn't real. She had been stifling her sexuality and instead deciding to sleep with any seedy man that would give her attention. Also, while in Italy, Lucy had an epiphany that she is a lesbian and fell in love with a woman who is the sister of the man Emelia slept with. She becomes much more secure in herself and after returning to Bensonhurst she decides to tell her family of her new partner. Her mother doesn't respond to this initially but overall it seems that it will have a positive outcome.
I really appreciated Great Aunt Poppy and Erich's love story being slowly unraveled throughout the book. I think it was a very beautiful, but challenging love story that I could relate to. I wished there was more!
No no poppy begs, Lucy and Amelia to keep the secret until after Rosa has passed. Within 6 months, Rosa does pass and the seeker can finally be revealed to everybody. Before passing, Rosa and Poppy did reconcile over FaceTime. Poppy dies 4 months after. Erich and her were together for 10 months which seems an injustice.
In the end, Lucy gets the girl and her dream job of being a barber, Amelia's father marries the lady he's been listing after, Amelia writes Poppy's story and it is on its way to being published and she believes finally that she is worthy of love. She ends up being gifted the apartment where Poppy and Erich fell in love and the lawyer that she met months ago becomes a love interest.
Admittedly, I was pretty lukewarm on the entire book up until the last 100 pages. Then I couldn't put it down! I feel like my own grandmother was more like Nonna.
"Those who cannot win hearts with love often control people with fear."
"Soft heart is a Keen observer of the truth."
"Que será, será..."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
cyndi1966's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Car accident
emeryboyd's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A little slow to start but the pace picks up about 3/4 of the way through. The growth of Emilia throughout was inspiring and emotional. This book made me cry more than once.
Content Warnings
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Grief
amberjackonski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Kidnapping
mildlypretentiousreader's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany promises to be a lighthearted yet whimsical book about unraveling the true story behind the Fontana Second-Daugther Curse as well as looking beyond strenuous family ties--all while set behind the angelic and captivating backdrop of an Italian summer. If you are looking for that kind of book, promptly tuck this book away and look elsewhere.
The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany might have been one of the most disappointing and boring books I have read to date.
In the Italian-American Fontana family, a curse was placed on all second-born daughters of Fontanas in which they are destined to never find lasting love. Over two hundred years later, this curse remains steadfast--no Fontana second-born daughter has had meaningful love. Two cousins, Emilia and Lucy, happen to be in that bunch. Their great-aunt, Poppy (a fellow second-born daughter), swears that if the three of them return to Italy, the curse will be broken. Deeply skeptical, both Emilia and Lucy reluctantly agree. Little do the two cousins know, Aunt Poppy's Italian past provides for an ulterior motive for their return to Italy. Thus, the story ensues... filled with a number of love interests, old and young, past and present, and thrilling experiences.
All the characters, except Poppy, were one-dimensional at best. Most were flat and felt more like filler characters rather than key components of the story. For instance, our main protagonists: Emilia and Lucy, are both tiresome. Emilia, who is almost 30 years old, is pushed around by her family and bends at their every will. Lucy is written off as a spoiled, annoying, and hypersexual young adult. Neither of the two girls is given any chance to grow into their selves. Both are incredibly flawed as well to the point where it seems almost comical. Emilia regularly slut-shames Lucy for being more provocative than herself, while Lucy enjoys being inconsiderate to her elderly Aunt Poppy. Neither is likable, and both of their developments make me cringe.
The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany might have been one of the most disappointing and boring books I have read to date.
In the Italian-American Fontana family, a curse was placed on all second-born daughters of Fontanas in which they are destined to never find lasting love. Over two hundred years later, this curse remains steadfast--no Fontana second-born daughter has had meaningful love. Two cousins, Emilia and Lucy, happen to be in that bunch. Their great-aunt, Poppy (a fellow second-born daughter), swears that if the three of them return to Italy, the curse will be broken. Deeply skeptical, both Emilia and Lucy reluctantly agree. Little do the two cousins know, Aunt Poppy's Italian past provides for an ulterior motive for their return to Italy. Thus, the story ensues... filled with a number of love interests, old and young, past and present, and thrilling experiences.
All the characters, except Poppy, were one-dimensional at best. Most were flat and felt more like filler characters rather than key components of the story. For instance, our main protagonists: Emilia and Lucy, are both tiresome. Emilia, who is almost 30 years old, is pushed around by her family and bends at their every will. Lucy is written off as a spoiled, annoying, and hypersexual young adult. Neither of the two girls is given any chance to grow into their selves. Both are incredibly flawed as well to the point where it seems almost comical. Emilia regularly slut-shames Lucy for being more provocative than herself, while Lucy enjoys being inconsiderate to her elderly Aunt Poppy. Neither is likable, and both of their developments make me cringe.
At its core, The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany attempts to be a feminist novel. However, all it does is project sexism and internalized misogyny. Lucy is continuously oversexualized. As we learn later on, Lucy is actually gay, but still her romantic and sexual relationships with people feel incredibly rushed and unrealistic.<spoiler/> Again, Emilia is a fan of slut shaming.
To make it worse, Emilia's entire character arc revolves around her becoming more feminine and confident about men. According to many of the book's characters, that's what makes a woman a woman. To me, this thinking is incredibly stupid. Why is womanhood defined as just femininity and men? What about women who dress more androgynous or masculine? What about the women who are not into men? Or who are into multiple genders?Essentially, the entire thesis of The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany is that having men falling at your feet = being a confident woman. Yet, Lucy ends up gay. That just seems antithetical to the whole plot, does it not?<spoiler/>
To make it worse, Emilia's entire character arc revolves around her becoming more feminine and confident about men. According to many of the book's characters, that's what makes a woman a woman. To me, this thinking is incredibly stupid. Why is womanhood defined as just femininity and men? What about women who dress more androgynous or masculine? What about the women who are not into men? Or who are into multiple genders?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia
filipacarvalho's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Was this book over the top? Subtle as a brick? Completely predictable? Yes. Did I still love it? Absolutely!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
thereadingsaint's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
rebeccarudisill's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
Minor: Miscarriage
amandalawrance's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I saw reviews that applauded how vivid the author made Italy through their writing and that is what initially led me to reading it. It was great though and there were parts that really hit home for me so I felt such a deep connection to this book. Definitely made me cry more than once.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Homophobia