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nannahnannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Representation:
- the main characters are all (Afro-?)Dominican
- one of the two sisters is also a lesbian/bi
- a secondary character is a lesbian/bi
Camina from the Dominican Republic and Yahaira from New York have just learned that their father has perished in a plane crash. They had no idea each other even existed until the crash unearths truths about their father and changes how they see him, the rest of their family, each other, and themselves.
I don’t read (or find?) novels in verse all that often, but when I do they tend to be some of my favorites. Words are chosen with such care, and I tend to read the books slower to savor them. While I initially struggled with the poetry here, the author reading from the text cleared that up pretty quickly. The opener, too, is especially gorgeously written, where Camina talks about the mud that makes up her island.
I also read that initially the book was written in one sister’s PoV instead of both, which makes sense because one is much stronger than the other’s and their voices are very similar. But Camina’s chapters give me such a great sense of place and emotion. The secondary characters of her world are fleshed out, despite the few words that are allowed to them. Camina’s aunt, her Tía, particularly stands out. But Yahaira’s girlfriend, Dre, is also strong and remains well defined many days after finishing the novel.
Even though my opinion is overall positive, there’s a few things I dislike about Clap When You Land, though they’re mostly small. For a book with a fairly small word count compared to others in its category, there is a large amount of typos, which stood out even more so because of it. Sometimes the Spanish peppered into the English conversation becomes jarring to read, because there's lines of dialogue like, ”Pero if this is what he wanted, then take him back. But we won’t be the ones there to see him buried,” (“pero” and “but” mean the same thing). But complete lines of dialogue written in Spanish don’t have that same jarring effect, and I’m glad they aren’t translated.
And then there are just some other nitpicky things that I wish aren't included due to personal opinion, like Dre taking issue with the way Yahaira was coming out, me wishing the girls were a little bit more critical of their cheating father, and me wishing the book spent more time on Yahaira and Camina’s relationship after they finally met.
But overall it's a beautiful, poignant book dealing with a lot of heavy themes.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Stalking, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape
also: adultery, sex traffickingspark_879's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Stalking, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Pedophilia
kbairbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Classism, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
rorysreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Stalking, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Trafficking
jazminnnnnnn's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Minor: Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, and Rape
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Abandonment
Moderate: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
Minor: Trafficking and Vomit
nishana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
corabookworm's review
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Grief
foreverinastory's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rep: Dominican-American lesbian female MC, Dominican female MC, BIPOC sapphic female side character, Dominican and Dominican-American side characters.
CWs: Death of parent, sexual assault, grief, death, stalking, infidelity, sexual violence, sexual harassment, pregnancy & birth on page, sexism, violence, parental abandonment, plane crash (not on page but discussed), misogyny, racism, xenophobia. Moderate: medical content, cancer, cursing, pedophilia, rape, panic attack. Minor: Drug use, trafficking, vomit, police brutality, blood.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Stalking, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Racism, Death of parent, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Rape
Minor: Drug use, Police brutality, Vomit, Trafficking, and Blood
martapsalvado's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
Minor: Abandonment and Pregnancy