Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquirel

Finished this on November 12, 2008. It took me only one day to get through it. This is book 36 (I think) in my 50 Book Challenge

Review:

I read this book for the first time while I was in middle school and remembered loving it. I even have called it one of my favorites. Since I have not read it in almost 15 years I decided to read it again. It did not leave the same impression on my that it left 15 years ago.

"Like Water for Chocolate" is a story that tells of the love between Tita and Pedro and the family tradition that keeps them apart. It is told almost like a fairy tale with dramatic and elaborate scenarios. The story is written in monthly format and at the beginning of the month there is a recipe. The directions to prepare the recipes are incorporated into the story.

As I was reading this story I became destructed by the instructions for preparing the recipes. I started to skip them since they had nothing to do with the storyline as a whole. It would have been better if the Esquivel had someone incorporate the preparation of the recipes in with the characters actions. Instead she would devote a paragraph or two to the preparation of the meal. Sometimes right in the middle of a scene. Luckily, the instructions were in appropriate places (when the meal was being prepared) but it still messed up the flow of the story.

I did like most of the characters but some of the personalities were extreme, like in most fairy tales. I also felt that some of the descriptions of the scenes were a little overboard and took away from my enjoyment of the book sometimes.While I like the story as a whole and think that it was well written it is no longer a favorite. Interesting how taste change over time.”