1orne's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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emileeandherbooks's review against another edition

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0.75

“Love”? More like feverish obsession.

“Love”? More like constant infidelity. 

“Love”? More like sexual assault ( a doctor to his patient! And she’s okay with it!* ) 

“Love”? More like pedophilia. 

“Love”? More like stalking. 

This book was crap. Marquez is a talented writer but the story was gross, annoying and pointless. So pointless. I couldn’t care less about every single character. 

It’s completely sexist and so OBVIOUSLY written by a sex-obsessed man. He practically has his female characters begging for sex. *And when they’re assaulted, they’re okay with it! And even a 14 year-old girl is happy to have a 70 year-old man groom her and…you know the rest. 

Just gross. So so gross. 

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literarynixie's review against another edition

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

4.5

thoroughly enjoyed this satirical read on what is perceived as love. garcía márquez is a master at storytelling. there are definitely some triggering and problematic themes that i don't agree with, but am inclined to categorise them under sardony. 

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gabrielwerthman's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

4.5


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booksansbluess's review against another edition

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It's really boring

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evgeorge's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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ahanky's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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madelynfrank's review against another edition

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

4.0

I have so many thoughts about this book as probably a lot of people had? Was FA supposed to be gross right? Very gross. Prose is beautiful and often funny. Plot and characters all flow between each other in time which I really enjoyed. Felt very tangential like a story. Racism/sexism/pedophilia was a bummer but I guess to be expected. 

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co32minus's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

CW and expectation setting for future readers: there is a significant amount of misogynoir (derogatory descriptions and speach about black women), and pedophilia in this book. It's set in Columbia during the cholera epidemic, the main characters are rich, and it was written in the 1980s. The tone reflects that.

Aside from those criticisms overall I'd say this book was decent, I'd be curious to read it in the original Spanish where I'm sure the poetry sings louder. The writing is very fluid, ebbing and flowing from one thought to the next which creates an interesting sensation of being told this story orally, or as if it's being recounted from an old memory (which fits the themes of love and age). It was personally harder for me to read because the chapters were so long I would have to stop reading in the middle of a thought and pick up later. I didn't feel particularly compelled by any of the characters, the dynamic of their youth was interesting and
once Fermina and Florentino reconnected as older people I really enjoyed their reflections on living and what it means to love after so much of your life has passed.
But I felt pretty on edge throughout the entire thing waiting for Fermina to give consent to Florentino who was obsessed with her and didn't take responsibility for his own emotions. I also expected cholera to be a bigger factor haha, but I think th  book is more about "the time of" and not cholera. I think generally it's not my genre, I'm not a big fan of low stakes long form romance, but for those who love sustained longing you'd probably love this book (if the misogynoir and pedophilia don't turn you away.)

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julietfirth's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0


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