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leahkarge's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Violence, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Classism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Antisemitism, War, and Police brutality
sarahelem's review
Take note: this book is very trigger heavy.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Minor: Deportation, Colonisation, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Gun violence, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Incest, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Infidelity
readbycarina's review
- 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? No
3.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, War, Misogyny, Death, and Abandonment
Minor: Police brutality, Grief, and Body shaming
litliz's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Medical content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Ableism, Deportation, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, War, Excrement, and Xenophobia
vale_reading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Rape, and Misogyny
Moderate: Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
talonsontypewriters'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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Grief, Incest, Gun violence, War, Alcohol, Child death, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Car accident, Colonisation, Excrement, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Vomit, Ableism, Abortion, Antisemitism, and Drug use
Smoking. Strangulation/suffocation. Colorism, antiblackness.kyahs'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Minor: War, Hate crime, Death, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Violence
charlotte03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Misogyny, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Police brutality
annfernandez's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really loved Cruz's writing here, I just found it to hit the emotions right on the head for most of the book, and aside from some...interesting word choices, there are passages I don't think I could willingly forget because they hit home so perfectly.
I find it so interesting how Cruz created all these interesting dynamics involving Ana, her family, even some of the friends she does make, and yet the character I arguably know the least about...is Ana. I've just spent 300 pages in her mind, and I can't list a single personality trait. I know she both misses and does not miss her family, that she's afraid of her husband, I even know that she does care about appearances, and yet I'm not entirely sure whether she's a self-absorbed person, if she carries grudges, none of that.
But my biggest complaint of them all is how unaddressed it is by the narrative that Cesar goes after his teenage sister-in-law. It's clearly established that Cesar, while not in his thirties like his brother, is an adult, and Ana is a teenager when this romance does take place. After the halfway point certain events make it a little difficult for both the audience and the narrative to remember that Ana is still 15, but she is. A 15 year old who's easily more mature than both of the brothers she's involved with, but a 15 year old nonetheless. And, while this is written in first person and Ana as a character would see him in a good light, we don't see a hint of how predatory this relationship is.
And, to be frank, their love story is the weakest part of the novel. I can't really tell you why Ana falls for Cesar, but he does, and vice versa. It was very much "we did some things and then I fell for him" and just dealing with that for a good third of the book. If this specific romance was not there I would have no hesitation in giving it 5 stars. Because, aside from this, it addressed so many difficult and complex subjects full-on and exactly the way I wanted them to be handled.
The way colorism in the Dominican community is shown in this book is perfectly captured, I can't say I've read many books that discussed it in this much detail. The mother-daughter dynamic was complicated as hell but still rings so true to life, the lives they've lived in particular. The sexualization of underage girls in DR was and continues to be an everpresent issue, and it's genuinely horrifying how easy it was (and likely still is) to marry an underage girl with no one asking any questions about it. I'm not going to forget about any of these elements, because they all hit home.
All in all, this book is important. Not perfect, but definitely important, and I hope it's available in spanish, because more Dominicans should read this story to see their culture and maybe even a bit of themselves within it.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Adult/minor relationship
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, and Medical trauma