baconbre 's review for:

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
5.0
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
If you like 100 years of solitude here is a book for you. I loved the structure of the book, it feels like a book written in the margins of a cookbook. Now I feel this is story that is more of a cautionary tale. Kinda like an extreme version of if you live your life based off of what others expect/traditional standards you are setting yourself up for emotions to boil over.
Like how it took so long for Tita to say she hated her mom and never loved her. Only by admitting that did she free herself from her mom's ghost. Do I like Pedro? No. Do I think he's problematic? Yes. But I feel like its ment to show he's not perfect he has flaws that one shouldn't have. Like don't be like him and be afraid to push for who you ACTUALLY want to marry. The absurdity of his logic makes for a crazy read. I think the point is they are all flawed, and with her niece Tita helps make her life not crazy and messy. Tita shows how by having one or two people stick up and actually give a shit for a child makes a hell of a difference. It shows how progress can be made and how hard it is to break family traditions. And how far people will go and accept stuff just to not have neighbors know what's going on. Again I think this is more a cautionary tale of how letting others control your life and make big decisions for you boils over in the end.
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