A review by jhalloran99
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

2.0

I feel guilty giving The House of the Spirits only two stars when the last book club book I gave two stars was Love Letters to the Dead. Isabel Allende's writing is leagues ahead of Ava Dellaira's, but I honestly didn't like the story. I have realized over the years that despite the fact that I love fantasy, I hate magical realism. Although the prose was beautiful, I didn't feel any connection or sympathy for any of the characters until Alba's suffering in the last 2 chapters. I wouldn't recommend this book to a stranger, only a very specific kind of reader would enjoy it and I think it was too long.