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jonhartman's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
killa2022's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
guadaeb4's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
nerdmommy's review against another edition
The telenovela follows the novel very closely. The book is well-written, but I was not in the mood to read it anymore. I was about halfway through it when I stopped reading.
library_whisperss's review against another edition
I was really excited to read this book but I didn’t know it was based off a reporters pov. & at first I was okay with that but i feel like it’s not talking about Teresa too much which is how I thought it would go. I’m not gonna give up on it entirely but for now it will be a dnf
twstdtink's review
3.0
A young Mexican girl moves up in the ranks of the drug world unintentionally. This book is full of the "how to's" and "why's" of the industry. So much so, I almost marked it as "educational". Although the story is interesting, it was also a bit too descriptive at times and I never quite took an interest in the main characters.
abarr3ra's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book in Spanish sooo I have no idea if its different then the English version but I am obsessed with Teresa Mendoza (main character) they have a telenovela (soap opera) that is also AMZAZING to watch!
jakewritesbooks's review
4.0
I’ve been slumping lately due to stress at work and have mostly been hewing to light fiction (see Daisy Darker). I didn’t expect to connect with Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s literary crime novel when cycling through what I wanted to read next but the writing hooked me from page one and away we went.
This is an interesting book. It’s good, very good. I’m not sure it’s great but I don’t want to dwell on that. I’ll focus on what I liked: it’s absolutely a retelling in some respects of The Count of Monte Cristo, but I also feel like it’s close to Scarface too. Not tonally (thank God) but similarly to that kind of person rising from a bad background to find purpose, and one true purpose.
It certainly helps that Teresa is a more interesting character than Tony Montana. The strength of the book is Pérez-Reverte diving deep into her inner monologue, her rumination on her life that has led her to become this major drug transporter in Spain and her business-or-else attitude to survive it all. Being a literary crime novel, the writer never reverts to stereotype so everyone from the Russian mobster to the Sinaloan drug baron to the money laundering lawyer gets the full, complete human treatment. It made all the stakes feel real and elevated this from what would have otherwise been a semi-entertaining, pulpy read.
The downside here is two-fold: The journalist angle of the man chasing Teresa is interesting though I’m not sure it works. It basically functions as the writer’s inner monologue for how he views his creation. I’ve said before that the best books are the ones that trust the reader to discern what’s being spelled out. It’s not bad from a reading perspective but I don’t think the book needed it.
Also, while I learned a lot about who Teresa was, what she became, and what she thought about it all, there’s still too much of an emotional distance from her. I’m kinda rooting for her but I don’t know why then I’m not sure I want to, and on and on until the book’s (unsatisfying) conclusion.
Still, it’s very good. One of the best things I’ve read all year. If you’ve seen previews for the USA television show, it’s probably not much like that, though I think Alice Braga is perfectly cast (again, going off previews here). But it’s worth a shot if you like rich writing and/or literary crime stories.
This is an interesting book. It’s good, very good. I’m not sure it’s great but I don’t want to dwell on that. I’ll focus on what I liked: it’s absolutely a retelling in some respects of The Count of Monte Cristo, but I also feel like it’s close to Scarface too. Not tonally (thank God) but similarly to that kind of person rising from a bad background to find purpose, and one true purpose.
It certainly helps that Teresa is a more interesting character than Tony Montana. The strength of the book is Pérez-Reverte diving deep into her inner monologue, her rumination on her life that has led her to become this major drug transporter in Spain and her business-or-else attitude to survive it all. Being a literary crime novel, the writer never reverts to stereotype so everyone from the Russian mobster to the Sinaloan drug baron to the money laundering lawyer gets the full, complete human treatment. It made all the stakes feel real and elevated this from what would have otherwise been a semi-entertaining, pulpy read.
The downside here is two-fold: The journalist angle of the man chasing Teresa is interesting though I’m not sure it works. It basically functions as the writer’s inner monologue for how he views his creation. I’ve said before that the best books are the ones that trust the reader to discern what’s being spelled out. It’s not bad from a reading perspective but I don’t think the book needed it.
Also, while I learned a lot about who Teresa was, what she became, and what she thought about it all, there’s still too much of an emotional distance from her. I’m kinda rooting for her but I don’t know why then I’m not sure I want to, and on and on until the book’s (unsatisfying) conclusion.
Still, it’s very good. One of the best things I’ve read all year. If you’ve seen previews for the USA television show, it’s probably not much like that, though I think Alice Braga is perfectly cast (again, going off previews here). But it’s worth a shot if you like rich writing and/or literary crime stories.
mcfade28's review
3.0
Teresa is the girlfriend of a drug smuggler. When he gets murdered in the opening pages of this novel, she flees for her life. In the next 600+ pages she turns to a life of crime herself and far surpasses her dead partner.
This was well written but unfortunately it just wasn't really for me. Something about the kind of dispassionate removed writing style didn't agree with me.
This was well written but unfortunately it just wasn't really for me. Something about the kind of dispassionate removed writing style didn't agree with me.