lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
5.0
I confess this is my first Isabel Allende book and what a way to start. I loved it, despite of all the pain it brought me, since I couldn't help going through all the stages of grief along with this family and feeling deeply every excruciating emotion.
After all, this is a sort of tribute of a mother to her dying daughter, a part of Allende's grieving process. In here we have writing as a way to exorcize one's demons at its finest.
Obviously, it couldn't possibly be an easy journey.
But let me start in the beginning by explaining this book's purpose - Paula, Isabel Allende's eldest child, is gravelly sick with porphyria and quickly falls into a deep coma, from which she will never wake.
Allende refuses to acknowledge her daughter might never recover, thus why she decides to write what is happening around her, so that Paula doesn't feel lost when she eventually wakes up.
It all becomes bigger than the letter it was supposed to be and the story progresses into a tale of the family's history until the present moment.
I must say that theirs is quite a fascinating family with a story full of ups and downs, where love, betrayal, danger, death and all the details that are part of a great novel are present.
Indeed, in the moments where she wasn't focused on the heartbreaking tragedy that befell her daughter, the author was quite able to amuse and entertain me in the same way it would surely happen, were I reading one of her novels.
Unfortunately, this wasn't just a novel. I cried or was near tears so many times at the unfairness of all of it.
A mother shouldn't have to see her daughter wasting away like that and a young woman with a bright future ahead of her shouldn't have her life and dreams taken away from her in such a way.
boxcar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
My questions are answered, Allende’s life is as unbelievably rich and magical as her writing, perhaps vice versa. Absolutely devastating, to the same degree and beyond the others. The bare truth that is this book, a memoir and autobiography at once, only amplifies the effect. I came to know a whole host of characters who are real people. By the end, I am not sure if i am reading this memoir or if I have been written into it.
andrea_perez28's review against another edition
5.0
Mi querida Isabel, me sentí tan unida a ella, a su dolor que me sentí como si ya fuera madre y no lo soy. Solo he leído de ella Retrato en Sepia y hace tiempo Amor pero siento que la conozco de siempre y que es una autora que ha estado siempre conmigo. Fue una historia desgarradora, profunda y personal. Sentí la historia mía, sentí su familia como la mía, me dolió su patria, su gente, su familia, sus antepasados. Me maravilló Isabel, su mente es única y preciosa, me encanta su empatía con todo lo de su alrededor, su fuerza, su determinación, su forma de ver y sentir el amor. Es mi año de Isabel Allende definitivamente, no sé cómo no la descubrí antes. Digo con completa seguridad que es mi autora favorita. Me siento un poco cruel diciendo que este libro me enamoró cuando trata acerca del dolor, la pérdida, el sufrimiento. No imagino pasar por algo así, este libro es una joya, es una obra muy valiente y que merece admiración.
res81278's review against another edition
4.0
really liked it. I love her style of writing and the family history is incredibly interesting.
menniemenace's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
I feel like a garbage person writing a not-so-nice review about this. I really didn't like it, though.
This is 80% Allende talking about her life and 20% about the deterioration of her daughter's health condition.
If the book was solely about Paula it would have been much better. The parts about Allende's life felt... pretentious. She's a rich connected person narrating her life as she was a proletariate. It didn't sit right with me.
She had a really interesting life, though. And I really hope she finds peace.
I feel like a garbage person writing a not-so-nice review about this. I really didn't like it, though.
This is 80% Allende talking about her life and 20% about the deterioration of her daughter's health condition.
If the book was solely about Paula it would have been much better. The parts about Allende's life felt... pretentious. She's a rich connected person narrating her life as she was a proletariate. It didn't sit right with me.
She had a really interesting life, though. And I really hope she finds peace.
sburnes's review against another edition
4.0
Hola amig@s!
En esta ocasión les comparto una lectura que hice por sugerencia de mi amiga Blanca Solis. Gracias por prestarme tu libro ;)
¿Que les cuento de Isabel Allende?, pues ya saben que escribe de una forma que te hace sentir en la atmósfera que relata. En este caso, es la escritura que realizó para sobrellevar la enfermedad de su hija. Es una obra triste, donde nos cuenta cómo es el acompañamiento de un ser querido que está muy enfermo. Con una escritura en dos tiempos, te enteras de la vida de Isabel con todos los detalles de su vida (en ocasiones me sorprendió su sinceridad) y de la vida de Paula mientras estuvo en el hospital.
Una biografía que no te será indeferente.
En esta ocasión les comparto una lectura que hice por sugerencia de mi amiga Blanca Solis. Gracias por prestarme tu libro ;)
¿Que les cuento de Isabel Allende?, pues ya saben que escribe de una forma que te hace sentir en la atmósfera que relata. En este caso, es la escritura que realizó para sobrellevar la enfermedad de su hija. Es una obra triste, donde nos cuenta cómo es el acompañamiento de un ser querido que está muy enfermo. Con una escritura en dos tiempos, te enteras de la vida de Isabel con todos los detalles de su vida (en ocasiones me sorprendió su sinceridad) y de la vida de Paula mientras estuvo en el hospital.
Una biografía que no te será indeferente.
martinaj's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
thereaderinshades's review against another edition
5.0
Excelente lectura, conmovedora y sobretodo humana