Book Thoughts: Pierced by the Sun by Laura Esquivel

Pierced by the Sun by Laura Esquivel
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I generally don't give 1-star reviews unless I truly did not like a book, but this just barely gets 2 stars in my opinion, as I found it to be a shallow, rushed book that was disappointing after having enjoyed Esquivel's "Like Water for Chocolate."

Within the first few pages of the "Pierced by the Sun," we are introduced to our narrator, Lupita. She is a police officer who witnesses the assassination of a local politician, shames herself by urinating herself in response, is a recovering alcoholic who has spent time in prison for causing the death of her young son due to, in part, being drunk. Needless to say, the book starts with a murder to unravel, and what promises to be a psychologically complicated character. But that promise falls very short.

Typically, when complaining about the pacing in a book, its because it moves too slow and lacks any flow. This book is actually the opposite, where it races forward much too quickly, resulting in a plot surrounding the murder becoming almost trivial in how things are learned, and makes the entire plot feel unimportant to the story being told by the author. Such would be fine if a solid or thorough examination of Lupita occurred. But because of the fast pacing, and the short length of the book, we learn a lot about Lupita, but we never get to know her. Despite being the narrator and really the only character that any information is explored, it all feels shallow and unsubstantive.

Because of the rushed nature and the lack of in-depth exploration of Lupita's character, as readers we're left with a book that, truly, hurtles at break-neck speed toward a conclusion and resolution that is overly simplistic, secondary, and unimportant, while giving us a character that we cannot connect to, can't truly gauge any growth or development of the character, and remains insignificant as the book resolves itself. Ultimately, its disappointing, because the book had the premise and makings of something more. But it just can't escape its rush to end.

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