Reviews

Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

moon___dude's review

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

This is a longgg and detail heavy book but so worth it. A story of family, love and betrayal, and growing up.

kimberly_b's review

1.0

I really didn't like Caramelo. I respect what Cisneros was trying to do, but I feel disingenuous rating it more than one star (did not like it). The story was bloated, but the writing was what I struggled with the most. Cisneros writes in a stream of consciousness way that doesn't always feel like she's imparting necessary information. The high points of the story are buried in the absolute excess of words. I suspect that the editor didn't cut much, if anything, from this story. I know enough Spanish to where the untranslated Spanish didn't bother me. I did think the comments throughout the novel about the awkwardness of Spanish phrases was odd. Here is an example:

-Es que tengo sleepy. I have sleepy, Father.

Oh yeah, there are no quotation marks in the entire novel! Just dashes. Anyway, there are a lot of instances where Lala points out the strange wording of Spanish sentences when they're translated to English. I mean, English would seem awkward when translated to Spanish. I just didn't get the constant mentioning of it, especially from a native Spanish speaker.

I would have completely abandoned this book if it wasn't my book club pick for November.

alquemist's review against another edition

funny reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

doctabird's review

2.0

I felt like this book was one long list, with a little bit of story thrown in there. It's been a while since I read the House on Mango Street, so I don't know if this is just Cisneros's style, but the endless lists were starting to drive me crazy.

shhh_tamis_reading's review against another edition

Interesting format but didn’t hold my interest enough to continue 

nchaidez's review

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

nikkic66's review

5.0

The book was marvelous! The way Cisneros pieces her story together is wonderful! At first, the novel appears to be just snippets of stories of Celaya's family but as the story continues those snippets seem to come together and the reader has a better understanding of the family. Cisneros did a marvelous job in not only piecing her story but her usage of language--both english, spanish, mixed spanish, etc.--was phenomenal. She truly represents a girl in between cultures!

coco_loco33's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

happinessbooked's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

lexlibris's review against another edition

I know this invented Latino-American lit but every Latino-American novel/memoir of the last 20 years ripped this off so completely that I was bored & annoyed by it. Sorry that’s not very mi gente Latino of me 🥴