Esquivel, Laura - Like Water for Chocolate

Tita and Pedro are in love, but because Tita is the youngest daughter of Mama Elena, tradition dictates that she can never wed so she can take care of her mother forever. Instead, Mama Elena arranges a marriage for her eldest daughter, Rosaura, and Pedro.

I'm guessing pretty much everyone knows that this is a book with foodie magical realism. When Tita cries into the batter, the guests who eat the finished dish are so affected by her grief that they vomit; when she uses the rose petals from the roses Pedro gave her, her sister Gerturdis is so inflamed by desire that she runs out naked to have sex with the first man she finds.

I really liked the foodie bits and the language. Unfortunately, I hated the characters and the general story, which is just the sort of love triangle that I absolutely detest. It was good that there were some older female characters that Tita likes to counteract Mama Elena, but I hate hate hated the way Tita and Rosaura are pitted against each other. It was even worse because though Tita is angry at Pedro for marrying her sister (seriously, WTF?), the main enemies are Rosaura and Mama Elena, and Rosaura is constantly jealous of Tita and engages in petty acts to hurt her. In my head, Rosaura and Tita team up and beat up on Pedro, because seriously! What was he thinking? Marrying one sister to be able to be close to another is such a phenomenally bad idea that I have no words!

Well, I have another of Esquivel's book, so we'll see how that one goes...