I was excited to see that you finished this just a few days before I did! I share a lot of your thoughts on this; I liked how the puzzle pieces fit together and the characters were great but I think some stuff could have been trimmed for length. The ending left me with a lot of questions about where Gaspar was going to go from there and how much of an influence the Darkness was having in his actions and attitude since his anger issues seemed to mirror Juan's.
I just finished the book and regarding one of your open points: (will push down for spoilers) ... ... There's a brief part in part 3 when Juan takes Gaspar to a river to drop off Rosario's ashes. It's never specified, but it seems Juan did something to find Rosario in the Other Part and succeeded, at which point he felt comfortable to lay her ashes to rest. it's not completely satisfying, but it's implied, and I guess that was the resolution regarding finding Rosario again. could have been been better IMO. but overall a very good book! glad I read it and glad you took the time to make a spoilers review vlog for people like me to come back to later
OOOO this book sounds amazing - i'll come back to the spoiler sections at a later date. But wow i'm intrigued. I found your video because I just uploaded a new reading vlog! 💖
This IS the first video of yours I've seen, ha ha. Excellent review of an excellent book. An easy sub. I finished the book today and wanted to make my own review before watching others, so i did that and now I'm binging. The connection you explained about the photographer ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Pablo goes out with being the same guy from the petrol station in part 1 -- I totally never made the connection. D'uh. I can't believe I didn't clock that!
Ahhh I’m reading this right now too! 😍 I’m only on part 1 but I’m already kind of obsessed with the writing I think it’s so gorgeously written. And I love your hair at the beginning, so cute!! 😍
I found your take about it being "too long" interesting. It reads very American (USA) to me. The length of this book is paramount to understanding its characters, it's written so beautifully, why would you not enjoy spending time with them? I don't know if you've read "Los Detectives Salvajes" by Bolaño, an incredible book which is also very long, through which we construct the story of the two main characters through the POVS of others. I think you're just not used to the poetry of characters that go through great turmoil also experiencing the mundane. It's a major aspect of many Latin American books, and magical realism. I feel like the immediacy of the American mind tainted your view of this book. It's also not even that long lmao.
Reading this book right now so I came back to see your thoughts! I'm very intrigued so far. Unfortunately, October has been very busy for me at work, so I'm reading through it super slowly, but it's not the books fault.
Rosario's death is justified in the first part, her mom killed her. The fourth act ends with her helping Luis escape from dictatorship and it makes sense being that the fifth act talks about the bodies of the disappeared people during the dictatoship, also Betty being there makes sense. I think this is a book that needs to be read paying attention to details.
Hi Ashley!! Thank you for such committed review!! [Spoiler alert] just to give you a little bit of context of some aspects of the story. The investigation of the journalist Olga is not about the order itself. The mass grave that she is investigating is full of bodies of the "dissapeared", the political victims of the argentine dictatorship 1973-1983. A lot of graves like this where actually found in argentine after the period. So, when Olga finds an Order related victim among the people killed by the military, its a clue that shows the relationship between the order and the military regime, wich they use to cover their own cruelty in the social violence of the regime. The dictatorship in argentina was asociated with the aristocratic class of the country. The characteristics of the order is a close description of the upper aristocratic classes of argentina. You may remember that the argentine family of the order is half creole and half english. Thats becouse historicaly in argentine the aristocratic landlords where commertialy asociated with the uk, and helped to subdue the country in a semi colonial situation, and the military regimes colaborated with such state of political relations. So theres a political subtext of the novel. The power of the order is supernatural but also politically and economically engraved in argentine history and in complicity with the dictatorship. That aspect of the story extends the theme of heritage from familly issues to the social and politicall context. Can we cut our line of heritage? Can we save our sons of the burden we have inherited? And in a more wide range, can we deal with the traumas of our social history to avoid its repetition? Hope this helps a little bit with the loose ends of the story. Thank you very much!!
Really mimic your thoughts on this one-I really loved aspects of it, but felt deflated by the end. Seems somehow smaller than the sum of its parts. Would definitely read Mariana Enriquez again, I’ll try her short stories next :)
This book was really about the journey and not the destination. My favorite parts are Gaspar and his relationships with his friends, Uncle Luis, and his father, Juan. I sort of look at the horror elements as a plot device in service to examining these relationship dynamics between the characters. I thought the ending was super quick, and could almost be considered anticlimactic and made The Order look like bumbling idiots. I guess Gaspar had all the leverage at that point, because he was the only verified medium and they kind of have to follow him when he took them to the de-oxygenated swamp underworld, but the bad guys got fooled big time. Side stories of Part 2 and 5 were largely unnecessary and I would have cut those portions out. Overall, the book was memorable, and I appreciate long reads because you get so much more out of the story. I enjoyed watching your VLOG recap - keep up the good work!
I was excited to see that you finished this just a few days before I did! I share a lot of your thoughts on this; I liked how the puzzle pieces fit together and the characters were great but I think some stuff could have been trimmed for length. The ending left me with a lot of questions about where Gaspar was going to go from there and how much of an influence the Darkness was having in his actions and attitude since his anger issues seemed to mirror Juan's.
I just finished the book and regarding one of your open points: (will push down for spoilers)
...
...
There's a brief part in part 3 when Juan takes Gaspar to a river to drop off Rosario's ashes. It's never specified, but it seems Juan did something to find Rosario in the Other Part and succeeded, at which point he felt comfortable to lay her ashes to rest. it's not completely satisfying, but it's implied, and I guess that was the resolution regarding finding Rosario again. could have been been better IMO.
but overall a very good book! glad I read it and glad you took the time to make a spoilers review vlog for people like me to come back to later
OOOO this book sounds amazing - i'll come back to the spoiler sections at a later date. But wow i'm intrigued. I found your video because I just uploaded a new reading vlog! 💖
This was an epic story I was in vested it took me 2 or 3 days to read
This IS the first video of yours I've seen, ha ha. Excellent review of an excellent book. An easy sub. I finished the book today and wanted to make my own review before watching others, so i did that and now I'm binging.
The connection you explained about the photographer ...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Pablo goes out with being the same guy from the petrol station in part 1 -- I totally never made the connection. D'uh. I can't believe I didn't clock that!
Hi! Haven’t read the book but definitely interested now. ❤
Im diggin the middle part 🎉
Ahhh I’m reading this right now too! 😍 I’m only on part 1 but I’m already kind of obsessed with the writing I think it’s so gorgeously written. And I love your hair at the beginning, so cute!! 😍
Thank you!! 💕 and it’s so crazy how we’re always accidentally buddy reading 😂 I hope you enjoy it too!
I have been waiting on this ❤❤
Thanks for the in-depth review, I've been curious about this one.
Loving the new look😍
I found your take about it being "too long" interesting. It reads very American (USA) to me. The length of this book is paramount to understanding its characters, it's written so beautifully, why would you not enjoy spending time with them? I don't know if you've read "Los Detectives Salvajes" by Bolaño, an incredible book which is also very long, through which we construct the story of the two main characters through the POVS of others. I think you're just not used to the poetry of characters that go through great turmoil also experiencing the mundane. It's a major aspect of many Latin American books, and magical realism. I feel like the immediacy of the American mind tainted your view of this book. It's also not even that long lmao.
Reading this book right now so I came back to see your thoughts! I'm very intrigued so far. Unfortunately, October has been very busy for me at work, so I'm reading through it super slowly, but it's not the books fault.
Hope you enjoy it!! 🫶🏻
Rosario's death is justified in the first part, her mom killed her. The fourth act ends with her helping Luis escape from dictatorship and it makes sense being that the fifth act talks about the bodies of the disappeared people during the dictatoship, also Betty being there makes sense. I think this is a book that needs to be read paying attention to details.
Dear Ashley, you look really beautiful with the pretty eyeshadow x your beautiful anyhow but it just enhances x
Thanks, Marlene!! 🥰
Hi Ashley!! Thank you for such committed review!! [Spoiler alert] just to give you a little bit of context of some aspects of the story. The investigation of the journalist Olga is not about the order itself. The mass grave that she is investigating is full of bodies of the "dissapeared", the political victims of the argentine dictatorship 1973-1983. A lot of graves like this where actually found in argentine after the period. So, when Olga finds an Order related victim among the people killed by the military, its a clue that shows the relationship between the order and the military regime, wich they use to cover their own cruelty in the social violence of the regime. The dictatorship in argentina was asociated with the aristocratic class of the country. The characteristics of the order is a close description of the upper aristocratic classes of argentina. You may remember that the argentine family of the order is half creole and half english. Thats becouse historicaly in argentine the aristocratic landlords where commertialy asociated with the uk, and helped to subdue the country in a semi colonial situation, and the military regimes colaborated with such state of political relations. So theres a political subtext of the novel. The power of the order is supernatural but also politically and economically engraved in argentine history and in complicity with the dictatorship. That aspect of the story extends the theme of heritage from familly issues to the social and politicall context. Can we cut our line of heritage? Can we save our sons of the burden we have inherited? And in a more wide range, can we deal with the traumas of our social history to avoid its repetition? Hope this helps a little bit with the loose ends of the story. Thank you very much!!
Thanks so much for this context!!
Love your hair!
Thank you! 💕
Love the middle part on you!
I love the editing in this video too!
thank you and thank you! ❤️
Really mimic your thoughts on this one-I really loved aspects of it, but felt deflated by the end. Seems somehow smaller than the sum of its parts. Would definitely read Mariana Enriquez again, I’ll try her short stories next :)
This book was really about the journey and not the destination. My favorite parts are Gaspar and his relationships with his friends, Uncle Luis, and his father, Juan. I sort of look at the horror elements as a plot device in service to examining these relationship dynamics between the characters. I thought the ending was super quick, and could almost be considered anticlimactic and made The Order look like bumbling idiots. I guess Gaspar had all the leverage at that point, because he was the only verified medium and they kind of have to follow him when he took them to the de-oxygenated swamp underworld, but the bad guys got fooled big time. Side stories of Part 2 and 5 were largely unnecessary and I would have cut those portions out. Overall, the book was memorable, and I appreciate long reads because you get so much more out of the story. I enjoyed watching your VLOG recap - keep up the good work!
Part 5 is important because of the historical context of the book.