Like Water for Chocolate : : a Novel in Monthly Installments, With Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies

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Translation of: Como agua para chocolate.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Delicious Magical Realism submitted by Sara W on June 21, 2011, 9:16am This novel sweeps the reader along rapidly, keeping them enthralled without giving them a chance to say "wait, what?" at the myriad magical realism elements that emerge. The descriptions of food and love are divine and the overall emotion expressed hits the exact right note.

mesmerizing submitted by krathje on August 2, 2017, 8:30am I was mesmerized by this tale of forbidden love and familial strife. Beautifully written in installments, as though for a monthly magazine.

Adventurous and passionate! submitted by stefaniek1524 on July 1, 2018, 5:20pm One of my favorite examples of magical realism, and the movie is quite lovely too!

Charming submitted by Jinxyluis on August 21, 2019, 11:35am This book’s distinctive style charmed me immediately; each chapter begins with a recipe and fades from the description of the preparation into the evolving story of the life of the narrator’s Aunt Tita. Tita, as the youngest daughter of her mother, Mama Elena, is fated to never marry and spend her life taking care of her mother into her old age. Tita rages against this unfair fate, questioning the wisdom of this family tradition which leaves the youngest daughter with no family to take care of her in her own old age. And to whom will she pass down the family recipes and home remedies she learns from the beloved family cook Nacha? To complicate matters, since he cannot marry her, Tita’s love, Pedro, chooses to marry her sister in order to be near to her.

I loved Esquivel’s narration, and the over-the-top imagery and magical elements - flooding caused by tears, and the way Tita’s emotions become infused into her food and affect the people who eat it. In a classically ‘me’ move, I never really bought into the Tita/Pedro romance, which made a lot of the story surrounding their love hard to get invested in. I’m not sure whether their interest in each other was really meant to be based flimsily on nothing (which makes some sense given they fall for each other at a young age, and maybe they are more in love with the idea of each other than actually aware of each other’s personalities) or if it was meant to be a strong romance that just occurred too much off-screen for me to feel it. Despite that qualm, I was quite immersed in this novel’s unique style and evocative imagery.

A nice read. submitted by LauraMarie on July 15, 2020, 10:47am The writing in this novel is beautiful, but I did feel disconnected from the characters. Overall, I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Intrigued submitted by cayluebeck on July 19, 2020, 12:54pm I was intrigued by the previous reviewers' positive response to this book, in addition to the almost classic status, this novel had reached. Unfortunately, the story fell short to me, it felt overdramatic, confusing and unsatisfying. I liked the main character Tita's relationship with food, but at times felt the metaphors did not translate well or felt ridiculous. The final chapter's change in point of view confused me and I was ultimately left unsatisfied with the ending. That being said I enjoyed the "monthly installment" style of the book and the sister Gertrudis.