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

3.0

I had this recommended to me by a site that recommended books if you typed in another author that you liked (long before GR recommendations). I had typed in Barbara Kingsolver, and this book did remind me a lot of The Poisonwood Bible - the story of a domineering jerk of a father figure who thought he was doing the best for his family and the world. They even had mirroring ant scenes, although I loved how the problem was dealt with in this book. I enjoyed these characters and even enjoyed the few segments told in the Patron's voice, but the mysticism came across a little strange to me (maybe that was on purpose?). It also drove me nuts that the author kept spoiling me! It would have been one thing if it was a future told by the spirits as a part of the mysticism plotlines, but usually it was just an aside at the end of a section where the author chose to end with a spoiler from later in the book. Nice to discover a new author, though, I will read her again.