Rating: 
Summary: long lasting
Review: Isabelle Allende brings out extreme emotions of love, death, and pain in "of love and shadows". The love story displayed in this novel enitces the soul to search deeper into the emotion called love. The tragedies cuased by the depicted regime forces the reader to face the reality of human cruelty and the stench of death. As a political tool, this book proves its stripes. As a novel it lures the reader into its web that sticks to the mind long after that last word is read.
Rating: 
Summary: Revelation of a world of pain
Review: Of Love and Shadows took me by surprise as a book that opened the eyes of an African American college student to many horrors and unspeakable crimes against humanity taking place in Chile under Dictator Pinochet. I was very pleased with the way reading at times captured my heart, by immersing me into the subject matter intimately. Ms. Allende tells the tale of lives that were taken, changed and controlled through acts of evil, evil that controlled the innocent people of a nation. The revelation of events that took place in Chile as told by Allende, lets the world know of the wrong, the torture that took place for many years. Allende does a superb job of leading the reader in, and teaching history a part of history that is sure to be remembered, especially by the families of those who were subjected to undue cruelty. Allende's informative story telling approach definitely reaches the hearts and minds of all who read Of Love and Shadows, regardless of who they are.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall Pretty Good
Review: Somewhere, in a fake Latin American country, Irene and Francisco meet and fall in love in the midst of a military dictatorship. They discover murderous plots surrounding numerous characters that at first seem inconsequential but become very important. Unfortunately at times the plot is slow moving and uninteresting, but the overall take on the book is pretty good. I wouldn't read another Allende book for pleasure though.
Rating: 
Summary: Another must read from Allende!
Review: There is no question that Allende masters the art of mixing story telling and political propaganda. We experienced that unique taste in her novel "La casa de los espiritus" and with " De amor y de sombra" she does it again. In her novel "De amor y de sombra," Allende provides the reader with a wonderful love story directly tied to the political abuse and oppression of the Latin American countries. A great narration of a young couple from different social classes and different political background united by their search for truth and justice in their country. It is in their search for that justice that they find themselves inlove and force to escape to the exile. In essence, "De amor y de sombra" is the story of thousands of Latin Americans who have been victims of the political system of the region but Allende has made of this historical fact a work of art. Great job as usual!!!
Rating:
Summary: Another must read from Allende!
Review: There is no question that Allende masters the art of mixing story telling and political propaganda. We experienced that unique taste in her novel "La casa de los espiritus" and with " De amor y de sombra" she does it again. In her novel "De amor y de sombra," Allende provides the reader with a wonderful love story directly tied to the political abuse and oppression of the Latin American countries. A great narration of a young couple from different social classes and different political background united by their search for truth and justice in their country. It is in their search for that justice that they find themselves inlove and force to escape to the exile. In essence, "De amor y de sombra" is the story of thousands of Latin Americans who have been victims of the political system of the region but Allende has made of this historical fact a work of art. Great job as usual!!!
Rating:
Summary: An original form of Laitn Literature!!
Review: This book was about a journalist Irene Beltran and a photographer named Francisco Leal. They are assigned and assignment and uncover the dark secrets of the governments military. They uncover a mine full of decaying human bodies. This tradegy brings them closer and allows them to uncover a passionate love. Afraid but presistant Irend convinces Francisco to presue the investigation. Their lifes are then put in danger, when the government learnes about their investigation. Near death, almost captured and killed they are forced to become exiles and refugees. They leave their country and in return are given a new life. This book was compelling and captivating. It took me to the world of Latin American dictorship. It showed me the cruelty and unjustices of the form of goverment that people have lived through. The preserverance of Irene and Fransisco demostrates the capability and strength of love.
Rating:
Summary: Horror And Beauty, A Perfect Balance
Review: This is the first novel that I read of Isabel Allende, and it will definitely not be my last. I began reading it as part of a class assignment, but it turned into more than that. I was not able to stop once I began. The horrible situation that these people lived in seems unreal, but it is something that needs to be told.
Isabel Allende is a captivating author that traps you in her novel. You are transmited into a world that is facinating and at the same time you are glad that you are not a part of. Without ever mentioning Pinochet, she captivates all of the emotions and fear that are present because of him. There are very strong and vivid scenes that force you to shudder with disbelief and fear. However, she seems to always bring about a balance of warmth and love after a horrible event. It seems that without these beautiful moments of relief the story would just be too unbareable. It is beautiful to be reminded that even in the worst circumstances love can be present and get you through unimaginable events. Isabell Allende has achieved all of this and much more through this novel. However, no matter what any of us say, you will not fully understand what all of the fuss is about untill you have read it. This is definitely not a novel that you want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: Horror And Beauty, A Perfect Balance
Review: This is the first novel that I read of Isabel Allende, and it will definitely not be my last. I began reading it as part of a class assignment, but it turned into more than that. I was not able to stop once I began. The horrible situation that these people lived in seems unreal, but it is something that needs to be told.
Isabel Allende is a captivating author that traps you in her novel. You are transmited into a world that is facinating and at the same time you are glad that you are not a part of. Without ever mentioning Pinochet, she captivates all of the emotions and fear that are present because of him. There are very strong and vivid scenes that force you to shudder with disbelief and fear. However, she seems to always bring about a balance of warmth and love after a horrible event. It seems that without these beautiful moments of relief the story would just be too unbareable. It is beautiful to be reminded that even in the worst circumstances love can be present and get you through unimaginable events. Isabell Allende has achieved all of this and much more through this novel. However, no matter what any of us say, you will not fully understand what all of the fuss is about untill you have read it. This is definitely not a novel that you want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: One of the weaker, repetitive novels
Review: Thsi was the last Allende novel I read in a series of six one weeka nd though the story was straightforward after House of the Spirits and Eva's Stories/Eva Luna the attempt to present the revolution one more time didn't quite fly. It was so perfunctory in places and romantically dramatic that I got the feeling that it was a piece of a larger tapestry. Not necessarily the characters as in other Allende novels but the plot. I think either House has to be accepted by her (Allende) as her political country upheaval novel or she needs to make one that brings all of these pieces together into something like War and Peace. All of these fractuous pieces littered throughout other novels reduces the turmoil of a country's political upheaval to something as banal as a romance novel.
I also didn't feel that her characters developed as well as they did in others, there seems to be a point where the women do "something", change their outlooks and then kind of shutdown in a spiritual way. There's a powerful story, a strong character that needs to be glued together from all of these piece women that drift through her novels. I never get the feeling that one of her heroines is all that incredible for her surviving, more so of a bourgeois virginity lost in the turmoil. Of them all, a weak book. What might strengthen them in their entirety is readign them as a whole, I reccommend it as a way to really get to know an authors' work. Read half a dozen of their novels in one timeframe, it really changes your opinion when you're looking at rooms in a house instead of one exciting studio if you can understand my analogy.
Rating:
Summary: At times captivating
Review: To be sure this book had an interesting plot but at times it couln't hold my attention. The description of the crimes committed by the regime was harrowing. The sex scene was powerful but was it necessary for the novel as a whole rather than Allende just showing off her ability to talk about sex? This is the only book I've read by Allende. Perhaps I'll give her another chance with a different novel she's written.
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