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spikeanderson1's review against another edition
2.0
The writing of this book is quite good, and it reads decently well as historical fiction from an area and perspective that I have never seen: Mexico, Jewish, 18th century. However, the writing just does not hold my interest in terms of style- but that is just me. It reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver, or that book, The Name of The Rose. Certainly well written, worthwhile, you learn something...but just not for me.
lindsayb's review against another edition
3.0
I really loved the premise...it has a lot going for it, but it just feels like there's too much missing. No substantial character development. This could easily have been twice as long. For historical magical realism taking place in northern Mexico, I would suggest [b: Like Water for Chocolate|6952|Like Water for Chocolate|Laura Esquivel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550721459l/6952._SY75_.jpg|1172473], [b: The Hummingbird's Daughter|91289|The Hummingbird's Daughter|Luis Alberto Urrea|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344268741l/91289._SX50_.jpg|88082], or, for a little bit of an update, [b: So Far From God|312435|So Far from God|Ana Castillo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1365396350l/312435._SX50_.jpg|1949237].
ciararenaud's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury
lindsayb's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
octavia_cade's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this! It has a perfectly lovely length, too, whereas a lot of the more famous examples of Latin American magical realism go on far too long for my tastes. Here, magic and concision are blended extremely well, and I liked the fragmentary nature of it, and the broad focus on a number of different characters, some of whom are only tangentially connected to the main story. There's also an interesting sort of fusion going on with the religious influences here, which helps I think to tie the story together. (I can see from the other reviews that some people find this book a little too fragmentary for them, but being an atheist my perception of spirituality tends to have a hard divide between "religious" and "not", and so the mix of faiths represented here may appear more cohesive, narratively, from an outside perspective than might otherwise be the case). Anyway, I guzzled this down in one sitting, putting off the work I should have been doing instead, and I am not remotely sorry. This was a pleasure from start to finish.
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