Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Crónica de una muerte anunciada

The premise is interesting, the story was nice but I just got a bit bored and dizzy with all the characters. I think this is one of those weird random books you find at a second-hand bookstore; like it's not bad, it's just kind of weird. Honestly the thing that's the most interesting about it isn't the main plot, but rather the subplots.

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lauren_710's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is such a wild ride. I found it hard to relate to the characters as I didn't find any of them massively likeable (except maybe Ángela), and I found it especially hard to sympathize at all with

Santiago

. That may have been the point however, in which case it is extremely clever to switch around the norm of feeling bad for the victim of the murder, as we discover that he is not a good person.

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klasterni_tajemstvi's review against another edition

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reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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mayo_confessionary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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chaotically_katie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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pizzajules's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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pseudoliterature's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

The power that a community has is something we don't think about very often, until a crime happens, and everyone has to confront the fact that they were not only witnesses, but accomplice to it. This book explores how a community processes their own accountability to the death of Santiago Nassar, a death that was unashamedly announced, and they let it happen.

It is such an interesting concept, because we explore a murder through those who knew it was going to happen, we see people trying to stop it, others not believing it was going to happen, others bluntly ignoring the warnings. As an audience, you see and explore the morality of a city, and how there are things that nobody could predict, we get to see how much control the participants had in the crime, as well as how every action they took affected the outcome at the end.

This is something I had to read in highschool, and I completely misunderstood the plot, and what it was trying to do. I'm glad I gave it another chance, this is also a sign for you to try and reread one of those books you can't remember what they were about, those required readings you only remember the title of.

I do have to mention, the catalyst of the plot is pure misogyny, something that leaves a bitter aftertaste because is never questioned. You could blame the time it was written, the culture, but it is part of the story. This is a warning, however, I would still recommend for you to read it.

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