cath518's review against another edition
Did not like the writing style where every other chapter is the author interviewing people about Teresa Mendoza.
giselav's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book that I didn't mind reading, but I don't believe I would ever reread it or even recommend it to a friend.
Pérez-Reverte's Teresa is a character with the potential to be great. She's interesting and powerful, with a strong storyline revolving around her. And yet! And yet!
One of Teresa's main characteristics is that she is cold. She's detached from everything in her life, including life itself. She seems to cling to existence for no apparent reason other than that's all she's ever done. Her detachment reaches even the reader. Throughout 520 pages of this book, at no point did I feel connected to Teresa. Maybe it's because I can't relate to her story as a Mexican drug lord, but frankly I doubt anyone can relate to that.
I've read some other reviews about Pérez-Reverte drawing close parallels to Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. As I've not read that book, I can't comment on this comparison, although I will say Pérez-Reverte's random odes to literature spread across the text always felt a little odd to me, as they were supposed to come from Teresa's string of consciousness and there's only so much I can do to believe she cared that much about the power of a good book.
I also gotta admit I disliked the ending. I won't spoil anything, but it just didn't feel like an adequate ending for such a long book.
Finally, I disliked how the story sometimes switched to the POV of a journalist writing a biography on Teresa Mendoza. I felt like it contributed little to the story and I disliked how judgemental the journalist was. If I don't know a character, why should I care for their opinions on someone else's clothes and drinking habits? These bits just felt out of place to me.
Overall the book is quite well written and interesting, but something about the human component felt amiss to me.
Pérez-Reverte's Teresa is a character with the potential to be great. She's interesting and powerful, with a strong storyline revolving around her. And yet! And yet!
One of Teresa's main characteristics is that she is cold. She's detached from everything in her life, including life itself. She seems to cling to existence for no apparent reason other than that's all she's ever done. Her detachment reaches even the reader. Throughout 520 pages of this book, at no point did I feel connected to Teresa. Maybe it's because I can't relate to her story as a Mexican drug lord, but frankly I doubt anyone can relate to that.
I've read some other reviews about Pérez-Reverte drawing close parallels to Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. As I've not read that book, I can't comment on this comparison, although I will say Pérez-Reverte's random odes to literature spread across the text always felt a little odd to me, as they were supposed to come from Teresa's string of consciousness and there's only so much I can do to believe she cared that much about the power of a good book.
I also gotta admit I disliked the ending. I won't spoil anything, but it just didn't feel like an adequate ending for such a long book.
Finally, I disliked how the story sometimes switched to the POV of a journalist writing a biography on Teresa Mendoza. I felt like it contributed little to the story and I disliked how judgemental the journalist was. If I don't know a character, why should I care for their opinions on someone else's clothes and drinking habits? These bits just felt out of place to me.
Overall the book is quite well written and interesting, but something about the human component felt amiss to me.
lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
4.0
If it wasn't for the last 40% or so, that I found a bit slow at times, I would have given this book 5 stars.
The writing was beautiful, drawing me into the edge-of-a-knife world of drug trafficking, with its ruthless rules and strange codes of loyalty and honour.
Teresa Mendoza, the protagonist, was very intriguing indeed. It was very fascinating being inside her mind.
Sometimes it felt like she felt things way too deeply and others like she was alienated from everything, including herself.
The parts when she talked about all the Teresas she had been and lost, particularly the one watching her from mirrors and shadows only strengthened that idea.
I guess that represented her naiveté and innocence. And even happiness itself. She saw and did too much to simply lead a normal life.
andrea_perez28's review against another edition
4.0
La historia atrapa muchísimo! Tiene de todo; amor, violencia, drama, acción. Me gustaron los personajes, me gustó el retrato del mundo del narcotráfico, muy apegado a la realidad según mi opinión.
Tereza Mendoza sin duda es la estrella, como se pretende obviamente pero me gustó el personaje, su fuerza, su determinación, su inteligencia, su instinto, y al mismo tiempo; su debilidad, sus defectos, sus fallas. Le doy 5 estrellas por lo rápido de la historia pero al mismo tiempo, por la profundidad, por los detalles, por la forma de narración. Me gustó la idea del periodista desentrañando el pasado de Teresa. Me gustó el plot twist, no lo veía venir. Me gusta que no romantiza la idea de ser narco, que siempre está presente el peligro y lo despiadado que puede llegar a ser. Fue una sorpresa este libro.
Tereza Mendoza sin duda es la estrella, como se pretende obviamente pero me gustó el personaje, su fuerza, su determinación, su inteligencia, su instinto, y al mismo tiempo; su debilidad, sus defectos, sus fallas. Le doy 5 estrellas por lo rápido de la historia pero al mismo tiempo, por la profundidad, por los detalles, por la forma de narración. Me gustó la idea del periodista desentrañando el pasado de Teresa. Me gustó el plot twist, no lo veía venir. Me gusta que no romantiza la idea de ser narco, que siempre está presente el peligro y lo despiadado que puede llegar a ser. Fue una sorpresa este libro.
kaisu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.0
kecb12's review against another edition
4.0
I watched the show before reading this book, which I normally don’t like to do, but in this case, I’m glad I did. The book is nothing like the show (with one or two minor exceptions) and I wouldn’t have read this book without having seen the show first.
Teresa is such an interesting, complex, rich character. I really appreciated the way the author showed her growth over the course of the book. And I also appreciated that she still seemed human. There was a complicated grayness to her that rang true, even though my life looks nothing like hers. I felt a human connection with Teresa, which means Perez-Reverte did his job as an author. Overall, this book was a slow burn with a very exciting ending, and the parallel stories of Teresa and the first person narrator made for a full picture of who this Queen of the South is and why she is the way she is.
Teresa is such an interesting, complex, rich character. I really appreciated the way the author showed her growth over the course of the book. And I also appreciated that she still seemed human. There was a complicated grayness to her that rang true, even though my life looks nothing like hers. I felt a human connection with Teresa, which means Perez-Reverte did his job as an author. Overall, this book was a slow burn with a very exciting ending, and the parallel stories of Teresa and the first person narrator made for a full picture of who this Queen of the South is and why she is the way she is.
miakio's review against another edition
3.0
Don't expect to go into it and be like the show. The book is completely different. It was a good read although at points very slow.
laiamorgan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
jandi's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorites from Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Teresa Mendoza is one of his most accomplished female characters, a strong and unlikely heroine. Hard to put down once I started it. The mix of Mexican slang throw in the mix made me smile as well.
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Re-reading a favorite. I had been thinking about this book after I got hooked on the soap opera (the one with Kate del Castillo, far more faithful to the book than the US version), and I was also thinking a lot about [b:The Count of Montecristo|12512180|The Count of Montecristo|Alexandre Dumas|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|391568] - this book is very openly a retelling of Edmond's story. And yes, the queen still holds up well! Teresa's growth from a terrified narco-girlfriend on the run after her Güero falls from grace into the queen of drug transportation in the Mediterranean sea is so satisfying.
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Re-reading a favorite. I had been thinking about this book after I got hooked on the soap opera (the one with Kate del Castillo, far more faithful to the book than the US version), and I was also thinking a lot about [b:The Count of Montecristo|12512180|The Count of Montecristo|Alexandre Dumas|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|391568] - this book is very openly a retelling of Edmond's story. And yes, the queen still holds up well! Teresa's growth from a terrified narco-girlfriend on the run after her Güero falls from grace into the queen of drug transportation in the Mediterranean sea is so satisfying.