Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

11 reviews

madelynfrank's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I have so many thoughts about this book as probably a lot of people had? Was FA supposed to be gross right? Very gross. Prose is beautiful and often funny. Plot and characters all flow between each other in time which I really enjoyed. Felt very tangential like a story. Racism/sexism/pedophilia was a bummer but I guess to be expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Death, Classism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Dementia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, War, Medical content, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child death, Colonisation, and Racism

co32minus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

CW and expectation setting for future readers: there is a significant amount of misogynoir (derogatory descriptions and speach about black women), and pedophilia in this book. It's set in Columbia during the cholera epidemic, the main characters are rich, and it was written in the 1980s. The tone reflects that.

Aside from those criticisms overall I'd say this book was decent, I'd be curious to read it in the original Spanish where I'm sure the poetry sings louder. The writing is very fluid, ebbing and flowing from one thought to the next which creates an interesting sensation of being told this story orally, or as if it's being recounted from an old memory (which fits the themes of love and age). It was personally harder for me to read because the chapters were so long I would have to stop reading in the middle of a thought and pick up later. I didn't feel particularly compelled by any of the characters, the dynamic of their youth was interesting and

once Fermina and Florentino reconnected as older people I really enjoyed their reflections on living and what it means to love after so much of your life has passed.

But I felt pretty on edge throughout the entire thing waiting for Fermina to give consent to Florentino who was obsessed with her and didn't take responsibility for his own emotions. I also expected cholera to be a bigger factor haha, but I think th  book is more about "the time of" and not cholera. I think generally it's not my genre, I'm not a big fan of low stakes long form romance, but for those who love sustained longing you'd probably love this book (if the misogynoir and pedophilia don't turn you away.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Stalking

Moderate: Classism

Minor: War and Alcohol

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

Was anyone going to tell me there’s a

pedophilic relationship

in this or was I supposed to find out on my own? Genuinely left a disgusting taste in my mouth reading this. 

And why was there so much casual racism and bigoted language throughout the book? It was physically painful in a book that otherwise had a gripping prose (but was problematic, I smell misogyny). 

I don’t want to rate this because I feel so conflicted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Dementia, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Classism, Cursing, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual violence, and Stalking

becksus's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

This was tough. I like the way it was written and the world with it's various characters, as it reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude (which I enjoyed). I even liked Fermina Daza to an extent. But God, I hate Florentino Ariza. What a creepy sad man (and a pedophile too!). I was not rooting for him to get "the girl", so it was a weird experience to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: War

Minor: Death and Grief

mgraceoliver's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Death, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, War, Murder, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

cait's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, War, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Classism, Dementia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Incest, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Racism

amkclaes's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective slow-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

4.75

this is an absolutely beautifully written book about a completely disturbing, obsessional love - it's about love, sure, but the way that love can find many forms and require different things from one another, and the pitfalls of "love" that removes you from reality. Florentino is a sad, creepy character, he only finds relationships with vulnerable, lonely women as he pines for the one high society woman that rejected him. Fermina is a totally average rich woman, that García Márquez uses to comment on the obliviousness, the pettiness, and even the casual racism of that class, while also, through her relationship with Urbino, showing how society traps women and the pros and cons that marriage can have for a woman in her position. the book is so subtle and insightful when portraying human relationships and social structures, it's all in a gesture or a look, and the descriptions are stunning. 
i have to say the storyline with the young girl perplexed me. maybe i'm making excuses for the author, but to me Florentino is such an antipathetic character, and he's at his absolute lowest base state, and to me that storyline shows the true harm he inflicts on the world through his self absorption. he makes his raggedy old self the center of this child's life,

and ultimately drives her to her death

because he is unable to extract himself from his lifelong obsession with Fermina and confront the reality of his life, that it has passed by and that he is old now.
one task of authors is to reflect our society, it its ugliness too, and he does that brilliantly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Suicide, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, and Misogyny

strabbyfieldz's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0

i would've adored this book were it not for the bit about América Vicuña and all the other uncomfortable or wrong elements like the racism (I could be wrong but man, some of the descriptions of the Black characters felt anti-Black and also one of the main protags was like fairly racist???). Regardless of messaging or whatever with América, it felt pointless, uncomfortable as heck and rendered the touching(??) love story of the main protagonists much less easy to root for freely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death, War, Racism, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Homophobia, Animal death, Dementia, and Misogyny

jennalynn48's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, and Death

darkmattersoybean's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide