Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

16 reviews

tashtasher's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0


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clariast7's review against another edition

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

4.0


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booksanna's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was WILD, and not in the exciting way. If you like dramatic Spanish Soap Opera with an overbearing mother, personal conflicts, lustful relations, and yummy food recipes, you will love this story. The main characters journey spans many years and follows her through all of her life’s struggles. It seems like every possible and impossible thing that could happen to a human happened in this book.
Pregnancy scare, LITERAL rivers of tears, rape, assault, death(A LOT OF DEATH), murder, racism, brothels apparently, going insane, yummy beef broth soup, cheating, dark humor, a love polygon that I can’t comprehend the logistics of, kidnapping, forced marriage, babies (lots of babies), CHICKEN TORNADO, drunk serenades, arson, persistent ghosts, a quilt with dimensions of a hectare, a magical abortion, matches that light if you chew them, and so much more I can’t remember
The plot was full of twists and turns constantly keeping you on the edge of your seat. However, the plot was so wild, it was concerning.

Interestingly, this book likes to blend long descriptive chains of paragraphs with the plot of the story. For example, at one point you have a character describing how they meticulously cut onions to minimize crying, and the next the same character is getting slapped by their mother. The author really mastered mixing the 2 elements so skillfully that I was unable to tell how the plot was going to develop at all. I loved all the descriptive chains of text about food as they added a lot more uniqueness and depth to the story. The writing style was beautiful and eloquent with a lot of figurative elements. 
 
For a book that heavily relies on magical realism elements, I felt that the characters and their personalities were very realistic and representative of all the ranges of human emotions. I loved Gertrudis, she had the best character development of all
Girl went from a brothel employee to a general of the revolution and its military, best woman role model.
I also felt that the villain characters were very realistic (and nasty by the way). I could definitely picture them living in the real world. However, I felt like most conflicts could be easily solved if the characters just made thoughts for themselves instead of letting other people control their decisions.
I am very glad that Tita soon adopted this self-sufficient mindset instead of obeying every order. Although, I wish she could have done that before Mama Elena died


Just when I thought the book was becoming predictable/normal, I was horrifically surprised with the next plot twist. At some point the book became so outlandish and chaotic that the heavy topics in the book became the norm. No emotion or build up happened when any of the characters died or got hurt. The story moved right along like nothing happened.
like when the baby died, or when Mama Elena died, or when any other of the numerous deaths happened. Also, Chencha was raped, yet we didn’t even hear about any effects it had on her or TIta. It just something that occurred, and was immediately overshadowed by the next plot twist


The magical realism aspect was a very heavy presence adding more confusion and drama to the story. Although I am not a fan of magical realism, I will say that it was a lot better than the plot of the book. The magic elements really elevated the story and added a physical manifestations of our main character’s emotions. There was so much drama from the magic.
Like that one time where everyone became lustful after eating a rose cake and people were making love anywhere they could find. exact quote “Any place was good: in the river, on the stairs, in the tub, in the fireplace, in the oven of a stove, at the pharmacy counter, in the wardrobe, in the treetops. Necessity is the mother of all inventions and all postures. That day there was more creativity than ever in the history of humanity.”


Speaking of emotions, this book was full of lust.
Bruh they emphasized Tita’s body and sexuality in this book so much. Like that one time where there was a paragraph describing his lust when he saw under her skirt her ankles. It was a lot. Or any other time these characters were interacting there was a very high sexual emphasis. The love interest was so lustful that he DIED while making love with the main character. If that is not dramatic, I don’t know what id


The ending was even more wild.
I feel so bad for John. He was such a good guy, and he deserved so much better.

Overall, if you love drama, I recommend. 


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mangopassion555's review against another edition

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

3.0


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asolis's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0


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damacyroll's review against another edition

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

3.5

Like Water for Chocolate is the perfect example of magical realism blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. The fantastical nature of the everyday is highlighted in every chapter, and that alone makes the writing a joy to read. 

The strong theme of cooking, and that each chapter is based on a different recipe, was also something I enjoyed. I found myself wanting to make note of each recipe to try for myself, although without the powers of Tita's to influence whatever dish she makes my results will probably be much different. 

In terms of plot however, maybe because I can't help but it read it from a 21st century point a view, there were specific plot points that I didn't enjoy. Pedro the male lead is that specific kind of intense dominant male that I no longer find myself falling for. Tita's decisions frequently left me frustrated as I felt that they were the wrong choices, but another person just as well might find them the right ones.


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draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

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

1.0

I had to read this for my HIGHSCHOOL english class. I hated it. Asexual panic the whole way through.

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dylando349's review against another edition

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

4.5


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belladonnashrike's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love this story so much (both the film and the book). a perfect example of latine magical realism - forever one of my favorite genres. 

the way it’s written is really unique, I loved reading the recipes sprinkled throughout the romance. 

I forgot that he died post-nut like that oh my god. the deaths in this book are so fucking funny
 

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karol99's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

Hard for me to complete it because I read it in Spanish, but once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed it. It always surprised me and had me engaged in the story.

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