People need to watch this knowing that the story is told through dramatic elements associated to Latin telenovelas. If you don't like telenovelas AT ALL, if you've never seen a telenovela, or do not even know any telenovela actors (and trust me, there are many good ones) then the style of this show will be difficult to swallow.
Is it sentimental? Yes. But can we accept Bolivar's early life was full of sadness? His parents died when he was young, his sisters forced to marry relatives they didn't love before turning 15, his teachers left him, his grandfather died soon after he was left under his custody, he did not get along with his last guardian (his uncle Carlos). His oldest sister was forced to marry a crazy cousin and his own wife died within a year of their marriage. Bolivar indeed promised (and kept his promise) to never remarry after Maria Teresa's death. So even though the show seems dramatic and over sentimental, there is substantial historical evidence that life in the colonies have enough material for what we now call dramatic or sentimental.
This series is fairly well documented. They incorporate interesting historical events and achievements into the storyline such as the Balmis Expedition, which was the first vaccination expedition in the history of humanity! They managed to tie this story because the Balmis expedition sailed from La Coruña financed by King Carlos IV around the date when Bolivar married María Teresa del Toro (they married in that city and sailed to Caracas around the years of the expedition).
If you want to watch an entertaining show, full of passionate storylines but from which you can also learn some history on the liberation of the americas... this is a fun show to go! It's not for everyone though and I know the aesthetics will be hard for people who have never associated themselves with Latin culture, but maybe try to be more open minded and relaxed about the style and you'll find great things in it. The acting of young adult Bolivar is great, as well as the actresses playing his sisters, his friends Matea, Dionisio and Hipólita (who were his slaves and family), and his most famous lover, Manuelita Saenz. The first episode does not do justice to how the series as a whole develop, you should skip that first episode completely!
