Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies

I really had no idea what this novel was about when I started reading it. My book club chose it as their monthly selection, so I went into it blindly. Imagine my surprise...
Like Water for Chocolate is part love story/part fantasy that delves into the lives of a Mexican family during the Mexican Revolution. Tita, the youngest of three daughters, is the victim of harsh family tradition--she cannot marry and is subject to a life of taking care of her mother until the day she dies. What a shame for poor Tita, who is desperately in love with Pedro. So Pedro marries Tita's older sister in order to stay close to Tita. What happens after that can only happen in Soap Opera Land.
Very mystical, erotic and enjoyable until the last page, Like Water for Chocolate will definitely be remembered for a long time to come. Laura Esquivel has done a wonderful job writing this exceptionally creative, imaginative tale. Now I'm off to see how the movie compares!

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel is a novel chalk-full of rich and beautiful metaphors and figurative language, magical realism and best of all FOOD! The emotion that has been poured into writing this piece is clearly evident and has created a meaningful, emotional and heartfelt journey for every reader. Watch as Tita discovers herself, learns life lessons and most importantly about passionate love.
Again, the book is centered around cooking, which is personified throughout the book and is spoken with an air of such love, passion and pride… it becomes something more than just cooking. Cooking is a vector of emotion in this book, the aroma’s, the sounds, the smells, the feelings etc. all reflect Tita’s emotions and thoughts. To reflect this further, a motif is used throughout the book: hot and cold are used constantly to compare good and bad. Mama Elena is almost always described to be frigid, chilling and cold. Whenever Tita is upset or during periods of depression; she is described to have a chronic chilling feeling in her bones. John is described to be warm, symbolizing that he truly loves her and respects her. There is another symbol related to this which will become a prevalent point towards the end of the book. Over and over again, a tiny flame is used to describe internal peace, love and passion. This is what cures Tita of the unbearable coldness. The fire is lit by people that love you and lift you up. To bring the motif of temperature and flame full circle, in cooking heat is often applied to cook something. Before the help of the flame, food is raw and inedible. With the heat, the food is turned into an emotional work of art.
It takes Tita almost the entirety of the novel to find her true self and to understand love and passion. The book is named “Like Water for Chocolate”, because it is describing boiling water. Boiling water is on the brink of boiling over, but it hasn’t and doesn’t boil over. Instead, there is turmoil inside the pot, but nothing on the outside. This is a beautiful and well-thought-out​ metaphor expressing that Tita wants so badly to stand up to her mother, but her whole life, her mother never acted as a mother to her. Tita spent so much of her life trying to get her mother's approval, even if she didn’t know it fully.
Like Water for Chocolate is a beautiful book, it is a book that withdrawals emotion within us just as it does in the book. This book will make you smile and then make you angry and then make you cry, with tears of love and sadness. It is not an easy read, emotionally… probably because the message of this book resonates so deeply within us.

Before I read this book, I had heard nothing but favorable reports of it. I was saddened upon reaching the end to find that such reviews of its quality had been very greatly exaggerated.
Before I tear into the story itself, I should point out that my disgust with the novel is not completely the fault of the author; the translation by Christiensen and Christiensen was greatly at fault as well. Their use of English was clumsy and simple, and whenever they had the opportunity to use a cliche one can be sure that they took advantage of the chance to do so. Thanks to their inept attempt at translation the novel read more like a soap opera written by a sixth-grader than a masterpiece of narration.
However, poor translation cannot excuse all of this novel's myriad faults. The integration of the recipes with the storyline detracted from the plot, and the injections of household advice seemed more like afterthoughts than anything that would flow out of a natural conversation. One almost gets the impression that Esquirel collected all the snippets of advice she could find for running a house and threw a simplistic plot over it all so that people would find the book interesting.
There is also a dearth of likeable characters in the book. By the time I got to the final page there wasn't a single character I didn't want to throttle, as each and every person portrayed in the book demonstrated a fundamental lack of common sense. Pedro constantly acts like a vain chauvanist, considering only his needs and barely giving Tita any thought at all. He even rapes her at one point in the book, yet as the narrative puts it he "throwing himself upon her, caused her to lose her virginity and learn of true love." (p158) Does this sound like true love? No.
This brings me to the issue of feminism. First, I do not consider myself a feminist--I'm a typical middle-class white male literature major, hardly in a position to campaign for the issue. One of the praises I heard most frequently for this book was that it was a very feminist novel which encouraged the liberation of women. Indeed, reading some of these reviews I can see that it's a prevelant notion, whether the reviewer liked the novel or not. Unfortunately I cannot see how this could possibly encourage anything but feminine subservience--the female characters talk of nothing except men and who they'll marry, do nothing but meekly serve their husbands (or possibly Mama Elena), and Tita--the main protagonist, of all people!--spends her days in the kitchen cooking for the household and throwing herself at the feet of Pedro, whom nobody in their right mind could love.
This book is the only novel I have ever thrown across the room in utter disgust. The beginning is weak, the plot is almost nonexistant, the ending throws women's liberation back by five decades, the recipes and other advice distract from the main narrative, and the portrayal of the characters is such that I was actually glad when each one met his or her respective end because it was one less annoyance. The translation was horrible, so it is possible this book comes across better in the original Spanish. Somehow, though, I sincerely doubt it.

I can see why people from non-Latin American countries are drawn to this book, especially those who live in places without anything "exotic" at all. But I'm sorry to tell them that this is not and should NOT be taken as representative of good Latin American literature (much as there is). Unfortunately, the corny and bad movie had good timing, just when the "latino" exotism became hot. And there you have Americans and Europeans thinking this is a good product of Mexican culture, ignoring really good writers and philosophers who don't talk about corny (I have to use this word repeatedly, since it accurately portrays the book) "erotic" recipes. The plot is well known thanks to the movie. It reads like a bad imitation of García Márquez's style, without the mastery at writing. If you want to read a good mix of food and erotism, try for instance "Under the jaguar sun", by Italo Calvino, a short story set in Oaxaca, Mexico. Or read good Latin American writers, not this fake and utterly failed exploitation of exotism for easy bucks.

As a proud third wave feminist, I am shocked that before I read this book there was a great deal of talk about it being empowering for women. Yes, spending time glued to the floor of the kitchen while being subservient and situations changing in life not because you take a stand against them but because you have a nervous breakdown and are sent away is totally forward feminism. The book is based on absolute characters with rigid qualities set into place. The main character is a woman who thinks and speaks of nothing but love and cooking. Not to mention, all of these things are going on and people often forget how young she is (17) throughout the course of the novel. Her love is thus compounded in its childishness by that fact, not to mention the sacrifice this "strong woman" makes for a stifled young man who eventually takes advantage of her. Magic realism can be done right and it's done wrong in this book. It might make for a good visual in a movie but every scene (even the magical ones) were just painful to read. There's a point when the main character's sister, so overcome by lust and passion (oh passion's a word regurgitated over and over in this story, too!) that she has the power to drive a man to gallop on his horse over to her ranch, pick her up and proceed to have sex with her, on horseback, as they ride across a field. At that point, I realized I was reading a Mexican version of Twilight or a screenplay for a soap opera.

My college lit. professor assigned this as the first book outside of our standard anthology and I am shocked that this is the kind of book she chose.

Like Water For Chocolate is an enchanting, romantic, mystical masterpiece full of raw emotions- sensuality, deception, lust and rebellion. This vibrant best-selling phenomenon complete with simple language, is the first novel by the Latin American author Laura Esquivel. This raunchy original story in monthly portions, takes you through an apocalyptic journey along with Tita, as she searches for authority and justice. As the youngest daughter of an all-female family, Tita De La Garza falls victim to the tradition which states that she is unable to wed her one true love- Pedro. Instead, Tita must tend to all her tyrannical mother's needs for the rest of her life and simply watch as her sister Rosaura romances her soul mate..... Set during the changing times of the Mexican Revolution, you'll be conveyed into a world full of rich Mexican culture. The exotic descriptions of Tita's intense culinary creations will leave your mouth watering. The images of a denied relationship between two star crossed lovers will provoke your senses, as the brand of magical realism speaks for itself. When all the ingredients are combined, the mature flavours of a thrilling ending emerge, placing the entire novel into perspective. A hearty, piquant tale for lovers everywhere.

Like Water for Chocolate takes place during the Mexican revolution, and is the story of the De La Garza family. Their story is told through recipes and home remedies, and the book is broken out into twelve chapters; each chapter is one month of the year. However, the story takes place over a twenty-year period.

I liked some of the themes in the book: finding a sense of purpose in one’s life, the things we give importance to that maybe aren’t so important, and what love really is.

If you like mystical realism this might be a book you’d want to check out.

Like Water for Chocolate is a romantic tragedy that takes place during the Mexican Revolution, at the turn of the 20th century. It was written by Laura Esquivel in 1989 and has won the ABBY award, which is given annually by the American Booksellers Association. The novel has been translated into over thirty languages and has been printed into over three million copies.
The author uses a very broad and sophisticated vocabulary and uses a lot of figurative language in her writing. The book also contains several delicious Mexican food recipes that go well with the overall theme of each chapter. Each chapter of the book is categorized into a month of the year, causing the book to take place over a span of many years. “Like Water for Chocolate” has a very dark message to it, and I feel that it is geared towards a more mature audience than myself.
This novel stars 3 daughters and their controlling mother, Mama Elena. The youngest daughter, Tita, experiences heartbreak and deep sadness when her mother forces her lover, Pedro, to marry Tita’s sister, Rosaura, rather than Tita.Tita is told that it is her job to take care of her mother, and that she must remain single for the rest of her life. Tita and Pedro long for each other, and continue to pursue eachother even after his marriage to Tita’s sister. When a tragic event strikes, Tita becomes overwhelmed with sadness and goes into a state of depression. She leaves the ranch and tries to reconnect with herself through the help of an indigenous woman and a doctor that she is staying with, named John. Tita finds her passion for cooking and begins to heal. After hearing of life changing news at the ranch, Tita decides to go back and do what is right for herself. The novel ends with hundreds of plot twists and never answered questions.
The author ensures that the reader connects with the characters of this book by incorporating strong emotions that create a heartfelt adventure for each and every reader. I would say that “Like Water for Chocolate” was definitely a hard read. The constant sadness that is expressed by each character caused me to be overcome with emotion, but at the same time I often found myself getting a bit bored while reading. The plot was a little repetitive, and I was a little bit disappointed with the ending. Another criticism that I have of the novel is that I feel like the characters were not described in enough depth. Throughout the whole book, the characters' appearance seemed to be a mystery. This made it harder for me to imagine what they looked like, but at the same time allowed me to fully focus on their personality traits.
Something that I enjoyed about this novel was how the author personified Tita’s cooking and incorporated emotion into the food that she made. The recipes symbolize the different tones of the story, and reflect Tita’s mood and emotions. Esquivel uses Tita’s knowledge and experience in the kitchen and applies it to her ability to communicate her emotions. The author conveys love, pain, lust, and many other emotions through cooking and arouses an intense sexual desire in several of the characters through the food in which Tita makes. Overall, I would rate this novel 3/5 stars, and would love to read it again once I feel that I have matured a little bit more. “Like Water for Chocolate’ deeply explores the themes of love and lust and teaches the reader about the traditional lifestyle of Mexico in the early 1900s.

Cut to the chase
unlike the novel
here's a complete breakdown of the story
Tita is perfect. ambiguously, unintentionally, uninhibitedly perfect
Mama Elena is evil. purely, threateningly, unimaginatively evil
And everyone else lacks any strong character traits, following the lead of the perky protagonist and the unbearable antagonist
the reason these characters are so unrelatable is because they are so much of one thing NO ONE IS COMPLETELY ONE THING i couldnt relate to this story worth a damn, i didnt believe this story and it did not seem real at all!
I mean the Metamorphosis where Gregor Samsa literally becomes vermin is more believable. the people are real the reactions are real EVERYTHING IS REAL EVEN WHEN A GIGANTIC COCKROACH IS THE MAIN CHARACTER!
the author Esquivel made everything TOO MUCH! i didnt believe anyone could be that naive or that ignorant or that evil without explanation! we dont know why mama elena is the way she is its never explained she has no alternate layers there is no imperfection with Tita and she is someone no one can relate to! she is not even human! Gregor is human. He is enslaved he is suffering we understand that. Esquivel crafts tita as too cocky to admit her humanity. Esquivel fails in communicating her story to me because i am not anything completely and neither is anyone else. There is none or little character developement, the characters are shallow and cliche and the views are stereotypical. Esquivel reminds me of the principal in the breakfast club
GODDAMNIT DONT MAKE ME QUOTE THE BREAKFAST CLUB!

This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever forced myself to read all the way through. I only finished it because there was something morbidly fascinating about reading the book and waiting to see if it could get any worse. Just when I thought it had hit rock bottom, it sunk a little lower. Yet, I kept praying that if the book had to be bad, at least it could be so bad its funny. Sadly, it didn't get there. It just left me depressed that the our expectations have sunk so low that a book this bad could be a bestseller.
What was so horrible about this book? Mostly the characters were pathetic, and the supernatural elements came off like a cheesy plot device. I thought the relationship between the mother and daughter (the book is so bad the characters' names have left my head) could've been interesting, but it never developed. I couldn't see why what's-his-name was such a prize that the heroine had to pine over him. And the recipes didn't make the book more interesting, they distracted from the story. Actually, that was the only saving grace of the novel.