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gggina13's review against another edition
5.0
I love Raquel Vasquez Gilliland's writing, specifically the way her characters are unapologetically weird as hell. Moon has the family curse that kicks in for women whenever they have sex for the first time, she's into tarot cards and other natural spiritualism, collecting nature photography to create her own tarot deck... Her sister is an influencer that bases her platform on purity and religious culture, her mom is like actually clinically insane, her dad isn't around, and her mom has a CLEAR favorite in her skinny, beautiful sister Star. The difference in the treatment of the two is really stark.
Star's an influencer, as I said, and she gets invited on a summer-long tour with other influencers to kind of just promote the app they're on (technically it's called FotoGram lol but c'mon, it's insta). The girls' mom says Star can go but only if Moon goes too and works as the merch girl. Moon is kind of like wtf?? but doesn't wanna take the opportunity from Star, plus there's a decent check involved, so she's down.
They get there, the creator of FotoGram is on the tour with them, they're all living in a big, big tour bus, every time they stop Moon and the other merch person get out and set up the merch table and peddle merch while the influencers meet and greet their fans. The other merch person is Santiago, who is actually the brother of the creator of FotoGram! And he's hot! Too bad he and Moon got off on a horrible foot and he's wildly grumpy to her lol.
They do end up having a decently amicable relationship, with Santiago teaching her how to cook, for example. She also kind of ends up having to hang out with him as Star is kind of being a brat and only gets worse over the course of the book.
Moon has had sex a few times in her life, and her sister really shames her for it. It goes against her little purity culture vibe, but also their mom is kinda superstitious and mean and is a real cunt about it too, so Star is also being force fed this as the truth, too. You won't believe how awful their mom was about it... guess you'll have to read to find out that part!!!
So part of the course of the book is just situations where Moon unlearns things that have been drilled into her head. She unlearns that sex makes you a bad or ruined person, she unlearns things about the family "curse", she unlearns the fact that she's the ugly and fat and unwanted sister, and unlearns that she doesn't have any kind of talent, marketable or otherwise. It's a true coming of age story that is peppered with Moon's humor and occasional lack of reaction to really surprising things.
But of course, we also have Moon and Santiago's love story, which is so sweet. It's very slow burn, and dislikers-to-friends-to-dislikers again-to-lovers... you get the picture, it's all over the place for a while, which is so realistic to being a teenager and having complicated feelings for a boy lol.
And there's CUTTING OFF THE TOXIC MOMMMM!!! *chef's kiss*
Representation: quite a lot, Moon is Mexican-American, she's fat, she has both past trauma in relation to her father's leaving and current trauma because of like... her family lol specifically her mom but the dynamic between her and Star is upsetting too. There's disability rep from Santiago, as he is missing a hand due to a car accident. He talks a few times about how it effects him, mostly mentally in regards to the way others treat him. I believe he's also Mexican-American, but if not, he's definitely Latinx. I'll update if I find out otherwise. There's also some sapphic side characters.
Overall, this is a really readable story with suchhhh a great voice. It might not be for everyone, because it's a little on the weird side, but if you're a little weird, I hope you'll love it. :')
Star's an influencer, as I said, and she gets invited on a summer-long tour with other influencers to kind of just promote the app they're on (technically it's called FotoGram lol but c'mon, it's insta). The girls' mom says Star can go but only if Moon goes too and works as the merch girl. Moon is kind of like wtf?? but doesn't wanna take the opportunity from Star, plus there's a decent check involved, so she's down.
They get there, the creator of FotoGram is on the tour with them, they're all living in a big, big tour bus, every time they stop Moon and the other merch person get out and set up the merch table and peddle merch while the influencers meet and greet their fans. The other merch person is Santiago, who is actually the brother of the creator of FotoGram! And he's hot! Too bad he and Moon got off on a horrible foot and he's wildly grumpy to her lol.
They do end up having a decently amicable relationship, with Santiago teaching her how to cook, for example. She also kind of ends up having to hang out with him as Star is kind of being a brat and only gets worse over the course of the book.
Moon has had sex a few times in her life, and her sister really shames her for it. It goes against her little purity culture vibe, but also their mom is kinda superstitious and mean and is a real cunt about it too, so Star is also being force fed this as the truth, too. You won't believe how awful their mom was about it... guess you'll have to read to find out that part!!!
So part of the course of the book is just situations where Moon unlearns things that have been drilled into her head. She unlearns that sex makes you a bad or ruined person, she unlearns things about the family "curse", she unlearns the fact that she's the ugly and fat and unwanted sister, and unlearns that she doesn't have any kind of talent, marketable or otherwise. It's a true coming of age story that is peppered with Moon's humor and occasional lack of reaction to really surprising things.
But of course, we also have Moon and Santiago's love story, which is so sweet. It's very slow burn, and dislikers-to-friends-to-dislikers again-to-lovers... you get the picture, it's all over the place for a while, which is so realistic to being a teenager and having complicated feelings for a boy lol.
And there's CUTTING OFF THE TOXIC MOMMMM!!! *chef's kiss*
Representation: quite a lot, Moon is Mexican-American, she's fat, she has both past trauma in relation to her father's leaving
Spoiler
which is actually his death, but she doesn't even call it by name til halfway through, because it seems a little like she's avoiding talking about it to avoid making it realOverall, this is a really readable story with suchhhh a great voice. It might not be for everyone, because it's a little on the weird side, but if you're a little weird, I hope you'll love it. :')
matilynkay1's review against another edition
5.0
I think this is one of the most beautiful and heartfelt things I have read. The way complicated topics are addressed is touching and unique.
mbhoppe13's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nanduh's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.5
apierlessbridge's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
This book was so hard to get through but ultimately so powerful and beautiful and healing. the catharsis at the end is so perfect. I absolutely adored moon and santiago and the journey they both went on. star and everyone else (except Tía not so much)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship
jwinchell's review
5.0
This is an absolutely beautiful YA novel about loving yourself so that you can be in honest relationship with others. Moon is the photographer for her sister Star’s social media page, where she has oodles of followers for her brand of beautiful chastity. They go on an influencer tour, Moon as the “merch girl” and she meets grumpy Santiago, the “merch boy” who is the brother of the social media platform’s founder. Ensue food, arguments, flirting, and an authentically romantic story. It’s sex positive and I would put this at 10th grade and up. I know this just won an award, which is why I put it on hold. The characterization is everything. So good. So so good.
pantsreads's review against another edition
5.0
One of the first books I've read in a long time that was able to keep my attention—and keep me up past my bedtime! Adorable, empowering, and magical.
You can find my full review at the Forever Young Adult Instagram.
You can find my full review at the Forever Young Adult Instagram.
bookishly_laura9813's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0