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almostokay's review
4.0
First of all, the translation from Spanish to English is VERY well done!
Beginning this book, you'd think you're about to read about a friendship turned rivalry between two people Serrano and El Pato when they meet at a funeral. Then as it progresses, you're inclined to think you'll hear about a lost love. But what you get with this masterpieces is a concoction of love, sex, corruption, schemes and the question of sanity that goes beyond the excessive drinking and drug use by the main characters.
Liliana Montoya is the girl of every man's dreams. She brings men, across generations, to their knees. "She reduces them to their primal state and turns them into violent and primitive-but passionate-lovers." She's the main arc of this story with her sexual appetite, her desire to be desired and her erratic behaviour and lifestyle that Serrano can't help but want to be a part of. But he finds himself afraid of how "crazy" she can possibly be when she reveals to him that she ordered one of her lover's to murder a man. As Serrano goes through the highlights of his life in pursuit of Liliana, we - as he does - finds pieces of a bigger picture that never truly comes together.
This book highlights, without demonizing, the power of a woman's sexuality and how it is never all there is to a woman. She is layered, complex, emotive and calculating without being callous. It also portrays a man's perception of women when they are and aren't theirs, how her attractiveness is sometimes overshadowed when she isn't how they want them.
The writing of the book is very matter-of-fact as the narrator only includes details he sees as necessary without circumlocutions. He portrays various sceneries perfectly without needing to describe every encounter or location excessively. Somewhere along the way mental health is laced into the story - which is befitting giving the lifestyle of Liliana and her state of mind becomes a point to ponder when he realizes that who she is is usually depends on what drug she's on.
The story is risque in every sense of the word with an inspection on what morality really is when it comes second to desire.
If you like non-traditional books, start with this one!
Beginning this book, you'd think you're about to read about a friendship turned rivalry between two people Serrano and El Pato when they meet at a funeral. Then as it progresses, you're inclined to think you'll hear about a lost love. But what you get with this masterpieces is a concoction of love, sex, corruption, schemes and the question of sanity that goes beyond the excessive drinking and drug use by the main characters.
Liliana Montoya is the girl of every man's dreams. She brings men, across generations, to their knees. "She reduces them to their primal state and turns them into violent and primitive-but passionate-lovers." She's the main arc of this story with her sexual appetite, her desire to be desired and her erratic behaviour and lifestyle that Serrano can't help but want to be a part of. But he finds himself afraid of how "crazy" she can possibly be when she reveals to him that she ordered one of her lover's to murder a man. As Serrano goes through the highlights of his life in pursuit of Liliana, we - as he does - finds pieces of a bigger picture that never truly comes together.
This book highlights, without demonizing, the power of a woman's sexuality and how it is never all there is to a woman. She is layered, complex, emotive and calculating without being callous. It also portrays a man's perception of women when they are and aren't theirs, how her attractiveness is sometimes overshadowed when she isn't how they want them.
The writing of the book is very matter-of-fact as the narrator only includes details he sees as necessary without circumlocutions. He portrays various sceneries perfectly without needing to describe every encounter or location excessively. Somewhere along the way mental health is laced into the story - which is befitting giving the lifestyle of Liliana and her state of mind becomes a point to ponder when he realizes that who she is is usually depends on what drug she's on.
The story is risque in every sense of the word with an inspection on what morality really is when it comes second to desire.
If you like non-traditional books, start with this one!
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