This was an interesting love story with fun magical realism additions and a dual timeline.

Overall, I give this 3 out of 5 stars. While the overall story was good, I really struggled with this one. Again, I like my books medium or fast paced, the faster the better usually. This was a slow burn and there were times I was really bored, but then suddenly so much would be happening. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Fulgencio’s decision-making skills, despite his growth in the later timeline. Some things I did enjoy were the magical realism and the aspects of Mexican culture.

Thank you to @booksforwardpr for this gifted copy in exchange for my review!

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It is these conflicting opinions and a desire to be fair that landed me on my 3-star rating. I’ll start out by mentioning that magical realism is one of my favorite genres, and I really enjoyed those aspects of The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez. However, I do feel that this book struggled a bit to find balance between the mystical and mundane. I would almost forget that magic had even been introduced in the time that it took for the next almost outrageous thing to occur. During my reading, I cared much more about the relationship between young Fulgencio and Carolina. This, for me, made the shifts back and forth between the flashbacks and present timeline less enjoyable. I was admittedly curious if/how Fulgencio would win his love back, but I was much more interested in what drove them apart to begin with. And, truthfully, I was disappointed by that reveal. I believe that this book has a very solid foundation and that other readers may enjoy it very much. And the audiobook narrator did a fantastic job. All in all, I’m grateful for the opportunity to read this book and share my honest opinions about it. Thank you to NetGalley and Books Forward for access to this title!

This was such a bummer. I had such high hopes for magical realism set in Mexican culture. At some point in the book, it felt like the magical part of the book just disappeared. I wanted so much more.

I liked it enough but it was a little slow at parts. I’m a sucker for a long game story, though, and it reminded me in some ways of Love in the Time of Cholera. Thank you @blackstonepublishing for the audio and egalley.

Thank you to Blackstone Audiobooks and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in return for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this story but I couldn’t get into the story and magical realism.
I’d give this a try again but through the physical book. This audiobook was unfortunately, not for me.
But, there are great reviews about this book, so don’t take my word for it.

Fulgencio Ramirez falls in love at first sight with Carolina Mendelssohn, daughter of the local pharmacist. The story is set in La Frontera, a Texan border town during the 1950s. Fulgencia orients his whole life to impressing Carolina. He works tirelessly in her father's pharmacy; he strives academically and in sports. Just as the young couple seem to have a bright future together, Fulgencia torpedoes the relationship because of his toxic masculinity and a centuries old family curse. Decades later he peruses the local obituaries for the death announcement of Carolina's husband. When the day finally comes, Fulgencia attempts to win back Carolina. He must vanquish the family curse (la maldicion), and his own foolish, jealous tendencies.
The Resurrection of Fulgencia Ramirez is a magical, dramatic, romantic, vivid story which weaves together the past and the present. The writing is lush, lyrical and has a folkloric feel. The inclusion of traditional Mexican boleros was lovely. The characters grow in complexity as they weather the consequences of life, time, and their own poor decisions. Many of the characters are ghosts, which added an interesting supernatural dimension to the story and to Fulgencio's support system. I particularly liked Father William. The pacing was a slow burn for the first two thirds, but rapidly accelerated in the last third, culminating in an ending that could be called over-the-top. I was saddened that little Holly, whose role was so tragic and pivotal to the plot, was not included in the grand ending. The narrator, Johnny Rey Diaz, has the perfect accent and command of both English and Spanish, but could have used more passion in his voice, at times. Overall, a beautiful, tragic and joyful story that explores the important themes of racism, misogyny, social class, family, redemption and intergenerational trauma. In reading it, we realize that racism, poverty, misogyny and prejudice are the true maldiciones of our world. Thanks to @booksforwardpr and @netgalley for a digital audiobook.

A crossed-stars lover story full of pain, longing, love and determination.

It was a good story about Fulgencio, who starts the book with the browsing of obituaries looking for an announcement that his lovers husband has died. It gives him finally the freedom to try and win his lover back.

We're told the story from two timelines - where we learn how Fulgencio and the love of his life, Carolina fell in love and fell apart. And now, when he's trying to win her love again, but also remove the curse from his family, so he could have Carolina back.

I liked the calmness of this story. There are ghosts and adventures, and reminiscing about the past. I liked how Fulgencio accepted things as they came his way, and just moved along. Creating a life the best he could for himself. Determined to the end to have what he wants.

Though it is a long story, and a very slow burn, it did pull on my heartstrings and I did end up enjoying this quest for love.

Thank you to the publisher and Books Forward for my review copy.

3.5 stars rounded down

I struggle to review this book because I am torn on how I feel. While listening to the book I often felt a little bored. It is a slow-moving story and I found myself a bit confused at times listening to the audio of who was alive and who was dead. I also found myself very frustrated with Fulgencio frequently throughout the book, while I understand this feeling was intended and necessary for the full story it was one of those character issues that did not sit as well with me.

In retrospect I think that the story told was interesting. One of curses and true love, legends and folklore. It is the story of Mexican American's living on the border, the haves vs the have nots and creating a better life for yourself. I think for me maybe it was an expectation issue of what the story would be and how the magical realism would come into play.

The audio narration is another thing that I found I both really enjoyed and got frustrated with at times. I think the narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life but when it wasn't the characters speaking and it was more like the lyrics of the songs Fulgencio sings (in both Spanish and English) it felt a little stilted but I feel that is just the nature of trying to bring pages like that to life in audio form.

I received the audiobook via netgalley/books forward in exchange for an honest review.

This took me a little while to get into, but once I did it brought out all of the emotions. It follows Fulgencio through his life starting in his teens and goes between that and his adult life. Fulgencio has a lot to overcome in his youth including abusive parents, a racist community, and low socioeconomic status to achieve his goals of becoming a pharmacist and marrying the local pharmacist’s daughter. As he grows into adulthood he has to overcome his own worst qualities and break a generational curse to make his life better.

Trigger warnings: violence, mentions of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, casual racism

This was such an amazing story. I loved Fulgencio’s life and felt I lived, loved and lost through him and this beautifully descriptive writing. You really feel the cultural influence here, and the narrator’s voice lulls you into the magic of it all. I highly recommend this to everyone and am proud to say it has secured a space in my top reads of the year!

This was a delightful read! The author has written an emotional read about love loss and found but with a little twist! I enjoyed following along as Fulgenico tries to win Caroline's heart and as he searches for a way to break his curse. The imagination and research that went into this story was great! Using words and terms that were from that time period helped with the realistic feel and the vivid writing brings the world and the characters to life! It's a romance story with some mystery and magic realism sprinkled in! I haven't read anything else by this author but I look forward to looking into some of her other books!

Thank you Books Forward for sharing this audiobook with me in exchange for an honest review!

Enchanting from start to finish, the Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez was a book I could not put down. Mexican culture blended in with magical realism made a beautiful story come to life.

This story was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I did end up enjoying it more than I had expected!

I think the thing about this book that I didn't vibe so much with was the miscommunication trope. That's something that generally annoys me in books, and it was hard for me to continue as the characters simply let their lives fall apart without so much as talking to one another about their issues. Later on in the book, there is a reason explained for this, but it still decreased my overall enjoyment.

I really did love the Hispanic diversity and the way that Mexican culture was shown in the book. Not only did it show the beauty of Mexico, but it showed the struggles of poverty and inter-racial relationships. The way these things were showcased really raw and emotional and really just showed pure humanity.

If you enjoy second-chance romances with stories that span through time and history, this might just be the book for you!

Though I found the story interesting, I couldn't really get into this audiobook. The words of the author, which I found captivating in the eBook, didn't resonate here with me. It is why I stopped listening and chose to read this one.

I was bored out of my mind. I'm so sorry, probably going to try in the future another book by Rudy Ruiz!

I really loved the narrator of this book, and also the topic of migacal realism, and the also mexican culture that is not that used in the books.

The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez by Rudy Ruiz is a tale of doomed star-crossed lovers, revenge, and magical realism. What's not to love?

It's the classic tale of class dynamics thwarting young love with a twist. Young Fulgencio Ramirez adores Carolina Mendelssohn, but her wealthy family will not abide by a courtship. So, Fulgencio goes to make his fortune in America and become worthy of Carolina.

It's a lovely piece of Chicano literature, and the audiobook is a nice escape.

Johnny Rey Diaz narrates, and the run time for the book is 10 hours and 53 minutes.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing a copy of this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

This was such a beautiful and heart wrenching story! I couldn’t help but cheer for Fulgencio while other times he made me so frustrated. I was immediately pulled in and invested in his story. This book was so atmospheric and I loved the deep cultural and family themes. I also really enjoyed the narration. The only thing I didn’t love was the excuse of the curse to absolve him of all his wrong doing.

Sorry, I thought I would not be able to listen and review this title, but t still appears on my bookshelf on my NG app, It may be due to me sampling the start of the narrator. I will update my review once I finish listening to it (over my holiday break).

thank you

This was a book unlike any other I've read. It weaved magic and ghosts into an otherwise realistic portrayal of the life of a man who longs for his lost love, and embarks on a quest to win her back after many years of separation.

While the story jumps from one time period to another very frequently - a literary technique I know some people despise - I found it didn't take me too long to reorient myself each time it jumped.

I am not a fan of magic systems that sit completely outside of the realm of reality, so I enjoyed the way Mexican folklore gently permeated the story. At its core, this is a biographical account of a man grappling with his demons. It touches on themes of racism, assimilation, loss, religion and ageing and it did so with a gentle, poetic delivery.

I struggled a bit with the length of this book. I felt numerous times the story could have ended and I would have been satisfied with having read a quirky and tenderly written book, but it just.. kept.. going..

I enjoyed watching the characters develop on their journey, but they felt a bit folksy and one-dimensional at times. I kept waiting for Carolina to show some personality and independence but she came across as a weak passenger with no control of her own life and I had difficulty relating to her. On the other hand, Fulgencio - a haunted character with a remarkable gift - was far easier to read about.

The narrator, Johnny Rey Diaz, lent his wonderful accent to this audiobook. I felt like his tone was a bit flat for the story and I would have liked a bit more energy in the delivery, but his pronunciation was perfect.

All in all this was a colourful and interesting bookPerfect for anyone wanting to escape into a heady, enchanting world of young love, revenge, curses and journeys of redemption.