Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Fiebre Tropical

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Fiebre Tropical by Julián Delgado Lopera

6 reviews

finnthehuman217's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny 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 was assigned to read this book in my Gender and the negotiation of difference course. I loved this book so fucking much! It took a few years to read but Francisca is such a well written character! Her actions are driven by her desire to be validated by this girl she likes. She has a whole life where her mom is trying to get her to love Jesus and she has a grandmother who is just as gay as she is! She spends the entire first half of the book trying to get into Carmen’s pants. She has 2 moments of intimacy with Carmen and the rest is all pining. Then Carmen gets sent away to a mission in Bogotá and we come back to the main story and Francisca is dating someone who is into the same exact person she is. It’s messy. I like the moment where she meets Andrea, because Francisca is a baby queer and Andrea is only a few years older but she has experience with girlfriends, so she becomes Francisca’s voice of reason. It’s a bittersweet ending but the moment I love is when andrea is comforting Francisca at the end because it’s so intimate but not sexual at all! It’s so good!!!

Content Warnings

danaaliyalevinson's review

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emotional funny 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

4.0

I liked this one a lot. A teenage Colombian immigrant moves to Miami with her mentally ill mother and alcoholic grandmother and has her queer awakening while volunteering at the local evangelical church... as one does.

For what sounds like it could be a super heavy story, the book is written in first person and the voice of the main character is sardonic and whip smart the whole way through. Also, as some other reviews note, the narrators voice is written in some pretty unapologetic Spanglish. I don’t speak a word of Spanish, and I had no problem getting through the text. So if you’re not a Spanish speaker, don’t be daunted by that fact! It’s still very much accessible to non Spanish speakers.

My only criticism is sometimes it was more alienating than it needed to be in moments where I really wanted to sit in the emotionality of a moment. But a fun snappy read nonetheless!

Content Warnings