Review: The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa

At one point, everybody was talking about Llosa. There were numerous editions of his various books constantly coming out. My uncle recommended this one, The Bad Girl, given the fact that he's read a couple of them and he actually said that this one is the only one worth reading. Now, I don't know about all of that, but I thought this one was really good.

Its narrator is Ricardo and the story starts when he was 15 years old and leaving in Lima, the capital of Peru. He meets a girl called Lily who claims that she's from Chile and he is quickly fascinated by her. It turns out that she was lying about her name, her identity and her origin. But even though Ricardo is aware that she lied, it's too late. He is completely in love with "the bad girl". Ten years later, Ricardo is living in his dream city Paris, and he feels that his life is just starting. But he encounters his bad girl again, and in that moment their tumultuous relationship begins. Ricardo is obsessed with her, and even though she doesn't feel the same and actually treats him poorly, he can't stop loving her. 

I don't like giving too much of the plot away, because I feel it disturbs the feel of the book and ruins the experience for someone who is planning on reading the book. It might seem that this is a love story, but that's the thing with Llosa, he doesn't really fit into any genres. This book is heavy with political thematics concerning Ricardo's native country Peru. And the love story isn't really it. It's a story about obsession. This book is haunting. It's kind of sad and heavy, but in its way is quite rewarding. It's a page-turner. The thing I loved the most was the description of Paris which were so real and made me go back in time when I visited this gorgeous city. I really enjoyed it and I would recommend this book.