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A review by citrus_seasalt
Cantoras by Caro De Robertis
5.0
It’s been three months since I’ve read this, and I still don’t quite know how to summarize my thoughts on “Cantoras”. I certainly struggled in my Sapphic September post. And for reference: I barely skimmed my StoryGraph notes to jog my memory! This book has just stuck in my mind this whole time😦
What a beautiful book that lives up to its popularity. Knowing the lengths that De Robertis had gone to in order to capture the time period—and put bits of oral history into each character’s narrative—definitely enhances the reading experience. I also loved the Spanglish included throughout, language is a key part of the themes around censorship and ostracism, and I really loved how the interpretations of different terms were written. (I so badly want to be a fluent Spanish speaker because how on earth does this read when it’s translated???)
I’ve never read a book with this many lesbians part of the main cast, too. (Tbh it’s hard for me to claim the label as a masc-leaning nonbinary person, but!! I love being a lesbian!!!) There was something so queer about their sisterhood, how some of that was because a couple of them had loved each other prior and still decided to stay close (sapphics and being friends with their exes, lol), and… goodness. The way everyone tried making sure Paz found a space to be accepted when she started out as a teenager makes me SO EMOTIONAL ESPECIALLY… (don’t get me started on how she grew up to be like Flaca when she was the closest to her… lord I’m unwell…) Seeing the found family dynamic grow more complicated as the book progressed, though, was one of the most bittersweet parts of this— the first third has the nostalgia of finding a space where you truly belong for the first time, but holding onto that initial idealism and excitement becomes near-impossible the more the characters are endangered.
(AND PAZ…. DEAREST… seeing her literally grow was so wonderful to see. I loved seeing her go from a lonely teenager, to an independent young woman more confident in her lesbian identity. Perhaps I’m biased with her being a favorite, though— not only do I use the name “Paz” online, but the maturity in some of her thought processes reminded me so closely of my younger cousin.)
While this isn’t my first time reading a book by Caro De Robertis, this was the first time where I could connect to their lush writing. Every chapter fighting for survival, every fear kept in the words a character couldn’t say, every moment someone would unexpectedly find themselves unconditional love, was described so beautifully and I could feel it in the pages. (Especially in Malena’s last chapter… they nailed the depersonalization/disassociation☹️) Ugh! Devastating shit, but it also made the queer discovery and joy in those first days of living on the beach so much better.
Even though both the writing style and the emotional content were dense, I still ate up every page and quickly read this. I forgot this is barely over 300 pages! With how well-written each character is, I thought it was longer. No, my memory just failed me😅 but that’s still a testament to the quality of this writing! Goodreads user
What a beautiful book that lives up to its popularity. Knowing the lengths that De Robertis had gone to in order to capture the time period—and put bits of oral history into each character’s narrative—definitely enhances the reading experience. I also loved the Spanglish included throughout, language is a key part of the themes around censorship and ostracism, and I really loved how the interpretations of different terms were written. (I so badly want to be a fluent Spanish speaker because how on earth does this read when it’s translated???)
I’ve never read a book with this many lesbians part of the main cast, too. (Tbh it’s hard for me to claim the label as a masc-leaning nonbinary person, but!! I love being a lesbian!!!) There was something so queer about their sisterhood, how some of that was because a couple of them had loved each other prior and still decided to stay close (sapphics and being friends with their exes, lol), and… goodness. The way everyone tried making sure Paz found a space to be accepted when she started out as a teenager makes me SO EMOTIONAL ESPECIALLY… (don’t get me started on how she grew up to be like Flaca when she was the closest to her… lord I’m unwell…) Seeing the found family dynamic grow more complicated as the book progressed, though, was one of the most bittersweet parts of this— the first third has the nostalgia of finding a space where you truly belong for the first time, but holding onto that initial idealism and excitement becomes near-impossible the more the characters are endangered.
(AND PAZ…. DEAREST… seeing her literally grow was so wonderful to see. I loved seeing her go from a lonely teenager, to an independent young woman more confident in her lesbian identity. Perhaps I’m biased with her being a favorite, though— not only do I use the name “Paz” online, but the maturity in some of her thought processes reminded me so closely of my younger cousin.)
While this isn’t my first time reading a book by Caro De Robertis, this was the first time where I could connect to their lush writing. Every chapter fighting for survival, every fear kept in the words a character couldn’t say, every moment someone would unexpectedly find themselves unconditional love, was described so beautifully and I could feel it in the pages. (Especially in Malena’s last chapter… they nailed the depersonalization/disassociation☹️) Ugh! Devastating shit, but it also made the queer discovery and joy in those first days of living on the beach so much better.
Even though both the writing style and the emotional content were dense, I still ate up every page and quickly read this. I forgot this is barely over 300 pages! With how well-written each character is, I thought it was longer. No, my memory just failed me😅 but that’s still a testament to the quality of this writing! Goodreads user
lauraღ worded her thoughts a LOT better than I could’ve. Go read this, damnit!!!