Reviews

Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra

gbatts's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

oliviaeld's review

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

4.0

paterklatter's review

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funny reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

_m_a_r_a's review

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very quick read! The writing style jolts between the reality within the narrative and the fiction that is needed to write, in a way that almost makes fun of the book itself or the craft of story telling in general. Fiction is always fiction, maybe reality is fiction too if we have enough control / pre thought to it.

The theme of bonsai comes up randomly and suddenly. It’s the only clunky bit of writing in the book for me. 

This is a story for book lovers / literary heads who like to live in the stories that they are reading but this one catches you out because the story is abrupt with maybes and maybe nots of the reality of the fictional story.

oponyo's review against another edition

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challenging lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

parsnipsnap's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

anu22_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

isabelmoriartyk's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A short and sweet literary fiction novella. I really liked the metaphor of the bonsai tree. One day I'll reread this in the original Spanish.

breadandmushrooms's review

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

5.0

mangokiin's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

4.0