Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe, by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

28 reviews

morainjay's review

emotional lighthearted 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying

caitlinemccann's review

emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Injury/injury detail, and Body shaming

Moderate: Sexual content, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide and Racism

bialves's review

dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

One cute book that talks about serious matters. I was waiting for a very light book, but it had some dense stuff. Their relationship with her body had a huge impact on me...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Bullying, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

shector1's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/injury detail, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Suicide, Infidelity, and Sexual content

brim010's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

alliei's review

emotional

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Gorgeous. Absolutely amazing. 

I love Moon’s character so much. How her mind works, her love for what she does, and how she understands it aaasskskwkd. 

I wish I had this book when I was younger. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia and Vomit

toffishay's review

emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? No

3.75

A really powerful, emotional read. The style of writing is so beautiful; you can really tell that the author is also a poet. I love Moon and Santiago, the exploration of them as characters and them together. Moon is an awesome character too, so quippy and fun. The book also explores really important themes of depression, emotional abuse, physical abuse, insecurity, and identity. How religion can harm us and opening ourselves up can save us. What brings the book down for me is that there are just so many themes being explored. It makes for a really intense read when so much is happening. Definitely check content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Injury/injury detail, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Racism, Outing, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

technicallyaly's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

I loved almost everything about this book. 

Moon Fuentez is an incredibly charming protagonist. I love how she loves, and how she sees the world, and how she feels pain and anger and forgiveness. She feels so real to me; she has a special place in my heart.
In turn, I also adore Santiago —

Spoiler

a boy reeling from an accident, surrounded by influencers and models who thinks Moon is the most beautiful women in any room. I also just love a boy who has passions, bonus points that that passion ends up being cooking.

Gold stars all around, solid character design.

The progression of their relationship was great, from butting heads and personal jabs, to grudging coworkers, to reluctant friends, to something so genuine and touching. It felt organic and it's what made me fall in love with this book.

There are some things I take issue with;

Spoiler

personally, I am not a fan of the ~third act misunderstanding/breakup~, and this was no different. Santiago and Moon had developed their relationship so much up until that point, and I *know* Santiago was dealing with this own insecurities that we weren't always privy to thanks to Moon's POV, but the whole Moon following Andro online thing felt so trivial, especially to have such a huge relationship ending fight over. It felt like the stakes were thrown off, and I found it a little harder to believe their ending. 

Moon's resolution with her sister Star also felt a little flat to me, but also it felt right. In Moon's shoes, I wouldn't be so graceful, but her reactions felt very in line with who her character was growing to be. It made sense in the world, even if I disagreed with how it was handled.

Complicated feelings aside, I still loved this read. The language was beautiful and poetic (without sounding pretentious), and even though I have minor issues with the ending, the lead in / build up is so great, it eclipses everything. My feelings towards this book are overwhelmingly positive. 4.5/5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Misogyny

panickat123's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I adored this book. Plus size character who overcomes her own insecurities and learns to stand up for herself while finding love? Sign me the hell up. Cherry on top that she’s Mexican too. Just adore. Some very heavy topics in this also so please read triggers if you want to know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/injury detail, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Grief

Minor: Toxic friendship and Racism

theromanticace's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Fatphobia, Injury/injury detail, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Outing, Sexual content, Racism, and Medical trauma