joreliz12's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

I will read anything Raquel Vazquez Gilliland writes because itโ€™s always so lyrical, emotional, and just beautiful. This book somehow perfectly combines a sweet, funny romance with an emotional story about the main character recognizing the abuse sheโ€™s faced in her life and learning to love herself. Such a good story, would highly recommend, but definitely check the content warnings.

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elliehoney's review

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emotional hopeful sad 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

3.0


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half_bloodreader's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I'm loved, I'm fat, I'm beautiful. 

๐ŸŒ›YA Magical Realism
๐ŸŒœ Mexican-American plus-size rep
๐ŸŒ› Colombian-American amputee rep
 ๐ŸŒœThemes of trauma, religion, grief, abuse, self-love & acceptance, sexuality, identity, all kinds of prejudice, fatness and the joy, connection & healing power of food/cooking
๐ŸŒ› It's also about nature & how wonderful the universe is amidst the human cruelty
๐ŸŒœ Lyrical writing 

My dad didn't think Star and Moon were as pretty as Estrella & Luna, because, honestly, they're not.

As an Iberian who speaks both Portuguese & Spanish: agreed. This is a joy I get that many of you may not experience. Whenever Moon speaks, thinks or searches words in Spanish, many times so similar to my own native language, I am already hearing them & feeling them on my tongue in double. Ivy, hiedra, hera. Beautiful, breathy, magical. 

This is the story of How I Fell in Love with Moon Fuentez. She is connected to her roots, trying to learn more. She's a photographer who sees the simple pleasures, the beauty in nature, my little witch, and she feels the difference between how a word feels in different languages. Like me. She is witty, funny, free spirited. And lonely, insecure, carrying a lot of childhood trauma. Despite all that, she is still unapologetic - I love her for it. 

I always ask the plant before taking. And I always thank it too. Just like Tรญa taught me. I don't care how that sounds. Plants have been here for 6 zillion years longer than us. That makes them sacred in my book.


Her abusive mother is the extremist religious type. Moon's relationship with her perfect twin sister is also complex. I can't honestly forgive Star for everything she's done, always diminishing her sister. I kept calling out crocodile tears.

 Santiago & Moon's romance could be described as enemie-friends-lovers, but it hit different. Their dynamic is affected by the insecurities they carry due to living in their siblings shadows. 

This book hurts, then spreads a soothing balm on your heart. 

Cw: sl*t shaming

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imstephtacular's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5


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nitya's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Read for MLIS elective

This destroyed me in the best of ways, I don't know if I can write a coherent review.

Wish a certain character hadn't been redeemed so early/easily though. I don't care that they're family, what this person did was FAR more unforgivable. (Then again I hold epic grudges.)

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sofitzgibbons's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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hansenmr42's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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


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lelder301's review

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dark emotional inspiring 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

Rep: Columbian mc, Fat mc, disabled mc, sapphic side character
 
This book gets dark, but you almost don't notice it is until you're explaining it to your friend at 11 pm and stop and realize how fucked up the plot actually is

The inner monolog of Moon, the main character, is insightful at the best of times and annoying at the worst. She is highly self-critical, and goes through the same character arc multiple times. Weirdly enough, in the context of this book that's not a criticism. 

While I was often annoyed by Moon and her insistent self hatred, I found it frustratingly realistic. Her body image issues and her sexuality were handled well, though did get repetitive. 

This book really excelled in its discussion of the darker topics it portrayed. The abuse Moon suffered felt fleshed-out and unfortunately very real. The religious trauma was also portrayed very well. I won't spoil every topic, but for each one the author took care to be accurate.

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amandathebookishlibrarian's review against another edition

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3.0


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k_overt's review

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I think this was a beautifully written book. The author has done a great job of showing her culture. I enjoyed reading the book even though it had a lot of drama and a lot of trauma mentioned. The humor of the characters broke a lot of the tension without dismissing the pain of the characters. I think it related to me personally because I use humor as a way to deal with traumatic events. It also does a great job of showing the Narcissistic parent and how they treat the golden child as well as the scapegoat child. And how neither are really truly loved.  It has a slow burn enemies to lovers. Mainly the book is about a self love journey and how to jump out of your shell even if you could lose everything. 

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