Friday, May 29, 2015

The Intriguing Life of Ximena Godoy by Graciela Limón

The Intriguing Life of Ximena GodoyWhat drew me to this novel was the promise of...I'll just quote it, "evolving rules that determine women s lives in both Mexico and America."

To be frank, except for women's sexuality, I didn't see anything about evolving women's rules or rights. There's one thing in the book that classifies as evolving women's issues: Ximena's promiscuity and exploration of liberal sex. She has sex because she wants to, with whom she wants to, and the book shows us how unacceptable this was to men who did the same. Double standard much?

Also appealing to me was the promise of revolution, but while Ximena does indeed join the revolution, it's completely without passion for the cause. I don't think she even knows what the revolution is about. She has no desire to help the working class. She just thinks it looks cool to ride around with a sombrero. While the story mentions this supposed battles she fights in, the details are relegated to her fornicating, fights with other women, and smoking weed.

She than abandons her daughter and dares to feel upset when she goes to claim her seven years later. Only then does she realize she had something precious. Beyond this, Ximena is merely a club manager. I didn't find her life intriguing at all. I actually couldn't care less about her or her life by the time I made it to 70%. I was nodding off.

 Besides the above, the story was also very telling, no showing. Borderline biography style.

Much thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital file, but it wasn't for me.







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