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bestknownfor's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Took a little while to get going but I really like where it went. The character voices are so vivid and distinctive. My only complaint is I would've liked more nuance to Belinda's character. In a story full of complex and contradictory people, she felt a little too straightforward and neat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Eating disorder and Bullying
bekkah_co's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was a challenge for me at the start. The writing was dense and the bulk of the characters within the book were awful-even those I believe we were meant to like. I wish I liked Anita's character more, something I will loop back to in a moment. Jack and Nick, while genuinely awful, are awful in their own degrees. The people Anita and Raquel both surround themselves with mostly sucks.
I wish more characters had substance instead of falling into their archetypes. Jack was a cut and paste villain from a Lifetime movie. I hated it. He was someone that could have easily had depth, given the time we spent in his POV. He would have been someone easy to make not just villain shitty, but scary villain shitty It wasn't until Anita's death that we began to break away from the general "villain" vibes.
Anita was frustrating in the most understandable away. I would change nothing about her, frankly. I just wish we knew more about her art and the conflicts with the art world that she had while alive. Instead, I felt like all of her problems were caused by Jack...which is fair, given he killed her.
Raquel was equally as frustrating. She was insta-loved with Nick and I hated it. While Nick wasn't "that bad" at the start, after she was consistently belittled and continued to excuse his behavior, I was over it. I wanted more time with Raquel and her work. I wanted to see her researching Anita and bringing someone who was lost to time back. I wisht that was the focus of the book.
It wasn't until the last quarter of the book that I found myself enjoying the book for its content. I wish that this book focused more on the premise of Raqueldiscovering Anita through Belinda. I feel like this came in way too late in the narrative for the blurb to mention Raquel seeing the parallels between herself and Anita. It was mostly for the reader, not the characters. Going into this as a BOTM pick, I thought this was what it was going to be: A parallel timeline of discovery. I thought it would be Raquel's discovery leading to the unfolding of Anita's story. I wish it was that.
The ending was exceptional. It was what one would expect for contemporary fiction. It was artful and ultimately satisfying.
I wish more characters had substance instead of falling into their archetypes. Jack was a cut and paste villain from a Lifetime movie. I hated it. He was someone that could have easily had depth, given the time we spent in his POV. He would have been someone easy to make not just villain shitty, but scary villain shitty It wasn't until Anita's death that we began to break away from the general "villain" vibes.
Anita was frustrating in the most understandable away. I would change nothing about her, frankly. I just wish we knew more about her art and the conflicts with the art world that she had while alive. Instead, I felt like all of her problems were caused by Jack...
Raquel was equally as frustrating. She was insta-loved with Nick and I hated it. While Nick wasn't "that bad" at the start, after she was consistently belittled and continued to excuse his behavior, I was over it. I wanted more time with Raquel and her work. I wanted to see her researching Anita and bringing someone who was lost to time back. I wisht that was the focus of the book.
It wasn't until the last quarter of the book that I found myself enjoying the book for its content. I wish that this book focused more on the premise of Raquel
The ending was exceptional. It was what one would expect for contemporary fiction. It was artful and ultimately satisfying.
Xochitl Gonzalez is a talented writer. The writing of Anita de Monte Laughs Last is phenomenal, but I can understand how it could be difficult for some other readers.
Now, with all this being said, upon looking at reviews here and on Goodreads, it does appear that there is some controversy surrounding this novel. Apparently, the "Ana" that is mentioned in the dedication is in reference to a real artist, Ana Mendieta. Ana's own death at the hands of her husband appears to be the "inspiration" between Anita's death. However, after researching further on my own, I struggled to distinguish between fact and fiction - from their art to their shitty husbands.
Gonzalez did not consult the Mendieta estate regarding the similarities between Ana and the fictional Anita. Gonzalez centers Anita's story on being forgotten and having to be unearthed by a new generation. However, Mendieta's family has vehemently argued against Ana being forgotten.
Now, with all this being said, upon looking at reviews here and on Goodreads, it does appear that there is some controversy surrounding this novel. Apparently, the "Ana" that is mentioned in the dedication is in reference to a real artist, Ana Mendieta. Ana's own death at the hands of her husband appears to be the "inspiration" between Anita's death. However, after researching further on my own, I struggled to distinguish between fact and fiction - from their art to their shitty husbands.
Gonzalez did not consult the Mendieta estate regarding the similarities between Ana and the fictional Anita. Gonzalez centers Anita's story on being forgotten and having to be unearthed by a new generation. However, Mendieta's family has vehemently argued against Ana being forgotten.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Eating disorder
rltcoach's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I really loved this book. Extremely well-developed characters growing through some very intense topics worthy of discussion! I hope there's a follow-up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Racism
dr_aimz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Death
meg_merr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Classism, Murder, Colonisation, Misogyny, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Eating disorder
elliehoney's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Racism
twirlsandwhirls's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was so excited to read this book because I loved Xochitl Gonzalez's debut, Olga Dies Dreaming. I hear about this one and got in the hold line at my local library before it was released!
This was a harder read for me than I expected because it touched a lot on experiences I thought I'd buried, of being a Black face in a sea of white ones within my academic field and overall college experience. Of working in white spaces, of being in art museums and not hearing much about artists of color. Robert Jones Jr.'s quote on the back of the book says that this book is an "affirmation for anyone who's ever had to 'work twice as hard to get half as much.'" I felt that strongly as I read through.
The depiction of relationships between Latina artists and white ones were tough to read because there was so much that rang true about them (Raquel and Nick being from different New Yorks, for example) but more so because those relationships brought so much pain. They weren't equal or equitable. The white artists had money, power, and access in a way that exotified the Latina artists and made them look like gold diggers. I feel like I read so much about Nick Fitzsimmons and Jack Martin, more than my fill really, but I didn't need to because I'd heard of folks like them before.
Seeing Anita de Monte haunt Jack Martin and his collaborators was so cool! Imagining that ceiba tree filled with bats was riveting. I wonder what her trips to Cuba had been like before she died. What rituals had she engaged in? How did she connect to the ancestors, to nature? /spoiler> I just had to read about Ana Mendienta, the artist who the titular Anita de Monte was based on. I'd love to learn more about her and the artists she surrounded herself with since no one works in a vacuum. This was such a complicated read and a strange book in the best of ways. It was worth it for me to sit with it and work my way through the story. Hopefully in the future, a story like this will just be about Latinas existing and not having to fight for every little thing.
This was a harder read for me than I expected because it touched a lot on experiences I thought I'd buried, of being a Black face in a sea of white ones within my academic field and overall college experience. Of working in white spaces, of being in art museums and not hearing much about artists of color. Robert Jones Jr.'s quote on the back of the book says that this book is an "affirmation for anyone who's ever had to 'work twice as hard to get half as much.'" I felt that strongly as I read through.
The depiction of relationships between Latina artists and white ones were tough to read because there was so much that rang true about them (Raquel and Nick being from different New Yorks, for example) but more so because those relationships brought so much pain. They weren't equal or equitable. The white artists had money, power, and access in a way that exotified the Latina artists and made them look like gold diggers. I feel like I read so much about Nick Fitzsimmons and Jack Martin, more than my fill really, but I didn't need to because I'd heard of folks like them before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Murder
ysi06's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
blistering! the cycles! i loved how slice-of-life-y raquel’s chapters were initially, giving breath to the world. SO vivid. and then our stories intersected! delicious!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
sailormar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Classism, Gaslighting, Body horror, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Death, Toxic relationship, and Racism
spinstah's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
It took me a little while to get into this but once I did I found it really engaging. I liked the parallel structure of Anita and Raquel’s lives and thought the way the trial was handled in the narrative was perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Domestic abuse