Point of View

Julia narrates the novel in the first person, with no in-world explanation for the storytelling. Although Julia does keep journals, the novel is not written in the style of a journal and never claims to be excerpted from Julia’s writing. Due to this completely limited perspective, the reader can have no independent insight into other characters outside of dialogue unless Julia gains it as well. This can make her an unreliable judge of other characters: Juanga is a good example. From the moment Lorena becomes friends with him, Julia describes him as “so annoying that it’s almost impossible” (126). All of his dialogue comes across as vapid and sex-obsessed, and Julia uses this as evidence to dismiss him as a person. After Lorena reveals Juanga’s difficult home life, all of Julia’s complaints disappear, and Juanga’s dialogue immediately becomes more varied. Most...