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Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Violeta by Isabel Allende

48 reviews

susan2424's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I enjoyed this novel about a woman who lived for 100 years in an unnamed South American country. The story of her life is told in the first person, as if she has written it down for her grandson, with a matter-of-fact style and tone.

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mts's review against another edition

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3.25


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j9wan's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Slow start, then interesting but just not to my taste, I struggled to get through it at times. I learnt a lot about Latin America and specifically Chile, which I hadn't looked into before.

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amkleintje's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75


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sholtie's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.0

Your grandma sits you down and tells you about every beef shes ever had and every man she ever slept with


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the_clueless_tourist's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25


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gracescanlon's review against another edition

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It's...fine.

That's the trouble, actually. It's fine. I could only read this before bed, because it kept putting me to sleep. That is, in a small way, also a compliment - Allende's prose, its rhythm, is soothing. But the book is also boring boring boring.

I've been trying to read more diverse books. Even so, Allende in general has been on my TBR, as a renowned female South American author. However, leaving the country where the book is set unnamed was frustrating to me. I've learned since abandoning this book that it's set in Chile, but as I read it, the vagueness of the location irked me. I want to know more about other places. Leaving Violeta's setting unspecified was counterproductive to that - it just wasn't a choice I liked or appreciated. I'm quite aware that that's a personal problem, and that Allende's choice was purposeful and valid, but I don't have to like it.

The amount of people in the reviews who were at all surprised as to Camilo's identity is baffling to me. It's so blatantly obvious to me that he's her grandson, or at the very least a grandson-like person in her life. Y'all need to work on reading comprehension.

Violeta seems, to me, aimless - an odd sensation, given it's the story of a woman's life that spanned throughout tumultuous times. But even 35% through the book, Violeta has only been "involved" with contemporary world events tangentially, if at all. 

Also, the older Violeta telling the story has a little personality, but her younger self has very little. Honestly, the side characters were all more interesting than she was, from Torito and the Rivases to her aunts and Miss Taylor. 

So, ultimately, I didn't care, don't care, can't care. I'll be donating or selling this book.

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emilietje's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

4.5

Wow. Ik heb dit echt graag gelezen.
Normaal schrikt historische fictie me een beetje af omdat ik bang ben dat het saai gaat zijn. Integendeel, Violeta is zo'n boek dat je meesleept doorheen een 100 jaar lang verhaal met personages die verschijnen en weer weggaan, en toch geraak je niet verward en ben je zo emotioneel betrokken met alles wat er gebeurt. Allende slaagt er telkens in om je mee te nemen terug in de tijd, ze legt het zó goed uit. Ik kan lofgedichten schrijven over hoe fantastisch ze het feminisme mengt in het leven van haar vrouwelijke personages. Echt gewoon meesterlijk. Ik hou van vrouwen en ik hou ervan wanneer vrouwen onderling gemeenschap en bescherming zoeken en vinden. Deze gaat me even bijblijven.
Shoutout to oma for buying it for me, fantastic rec <3

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mal_reads_books's review against another edition

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

3.0

I liked the storyline and the characters, though something about the narration style made me feel distant from it as a reader. I couldn’t connect with the characters or feel invested in the story as much as I would’ve liked.


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bcvogel90's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0


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