Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Anita de Monte Laughs Last

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

19 reviews

snarkycrafter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

Wow! What a book. It's so beautifully and incredibly written. The story is nuanced, and layered, and deep. It touches on the female experience, specifically the Latina female experience who take up space in predominately white spaces. I had a difficult time making it through the book. Not because it was bad, but because it was hitting some hard truths for me that were enraging, sad, and overall difficult to process.

I absolutely loved Anita's character. So strong and powerful. So sassy. So confident in herself and her art. I enjoyed seeing Raquel's growth. Her journey resonated with me. It was frustrating and made me so angry to see her settling for crumbs and being made to feel "less than". Seeing her seek validation from outside herself. It hurt to read a story that reflected a lot of my own experiences during college and spending time in white spaces feeling like the odd one out, and like I should feel grateful for merely being there.

There's the feminist POV. A woman sacrificing herself to uplift her male partner. Her partner who the world assumes is more successful than you. Like people reading "Dr." and assuming the person is male. The man's feeling of entitlement. Entitlement to her time, her body, her affection. The assumption that "he knows best" or that his dreams and desires are more important than hers. And her, willing to disappear herself, make herself small (literally, TW: ED) just to fit into his life.

And finally, the spaces. Elevating men and their work to the detriment of women in the field. And this erasure being perpetrated by fellow women! Who gets to have a legacy? Who dictates who that is?

This was such a good read! Painful and enraging at times, but so, so worth it! Honestly, there was more than once I wanted to "burn the whole b*tch down!"

Specific notes:

Anita was so friggin' sassy and I loved it so much!
Jack wanted all the control and power in the dynamic. He can leave when he wants, if he wants. But him? He cannot be “leavable.” She cannot leave him.
He's the typical needy, mediocre white man who needs his own personal cheerleader at all times. He needs his ego constantly fed.
On top of everything he needs to be her hero. He needs to be her comforter and soother. He needs to be needed.
Margot and Claire's entitlement and racism is fricking enraging! The only way a woman of color con obtain a position over them is a result of affirmative action? Please!! Ugh. This section had me screaming in rage.
Anita's first show in New York is followed by a panel called "How women's art practices have affected male artists social attitudes." Not only was Anita not on the panel but there were NO women on the panel.
Nick getting Raquel tummy control party hose had me seeing red.
Narcissists will always accuse you of being the narcissist.

Content Warnings

kaneebli's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

Content Warnings

bridge_paez's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Would have rated it higher, but the plot took a turn I wasn’t a fan of at first. Wait it out. It makes sense in telling the story by the end.

Content Warnings

bekkah_co's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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? Yes

3.5

This book was a challenge for me at the start. The writing was dense and the bulk of the characters within the book were awful-even those I believe we were meant to like. I wish I liked Anita's character more, something I will loop back to in a moment. Jack and Nick, while genuinely awful, are awful in their own degrees. The people Anita and Raquel both surround themselves with mostly sucks.

I wish more characters had substance instead of falling into their archetypes. Jack was a cut and paste villain from a Lifetime movie. I hated it. He was someone that could have easily had depth, given the time we spent in his POV. He would have been someone easy to make not just villain shitty, but scary villain shitty It wasn't until Anita's death that we began to break away from the general "villain" vibes.

Anita was frustrating in the most understandable away. I would change nothing about her, frankly. I just wish we knew more about her art and the conflicts with the art world that she had while alive. Instead, I felt like all of her problems were caused by Jack...

which is fair, given he killed her.

Raquel was equally as frustrating. She was insta-loved with Nick and I hated it. While Nick wasn't "that bad" at the start, after she was consistently belittled and continued to excuse his behavior, I was over it. I wanted more time with Raquel and her work. I wanted to see her researching Anita and bringing someone who was lost to time back. I wisht that was the focus of the book.

It wasn't until the last quarter of the book that I found myself enjoying the book for its content. I wish that this book focused more on the premise of Raquel

discovering Anita through Belinda. I feel like this came in way too late in the narrative for the blurb to mention Raquel seeing the parallels between herself and Anita.

It was mostly for the reader, not the characters. Going into this as a BOTM pick, I thought this was what it was going to be: A parallel timeline of discovery. I thought it would be Raquel's discovery leading to the unfolding of Anita's story. I wish it was that.

The ending was exceptional. It was what one would expect for contemporary fiction. It was artful and ultimately satisfying.

Xochitl Gonzalez is a talented writer. The writing of Anita de Monte Laughs Last is phenomenal, but I can understand how it could be difficult for some other readers.

Now, with all this being said, upon looking at reviews here and on Goodreads, it does appear that there is some controversy surrounding this novel. Apparently, the "Ana" that is mentioned in the dedication is in reference to a real artist, Ana Mendieta. Ana's own death at the hands of her husband appears to be the "inspiration" between Anita's death. However, after researching further on my own, I struggled to distinguish between fact and fiction - from their art to their shitty husbands.

Gonzalez did not consult the Mendieta estate regarding the similarities between Ana and the fictional Anita. Gonzalez centers Anita's story on being forgotten and having to be unearthed by a new generation. However, Mendieta's family has vehemently argued against Ana being forgotten.

Content Warnings

meg_merr's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Content Warnings

cseguiharris's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny 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

4.5

Content Warnings

ebroeffle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

This was difficult emotionally at times, but overall I still really enjoyed it and it is a powerful novel.

Content Warnings

luhreen's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Content Warnings

kharcourt's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While I loved the overarching story of two Latina artists interweaving across generations, I struggled to get through this book due to the heavy domestic abuse, especially the chapters from the abuser’s perspective. I would have preferred to hear from solely from Anita and Raquel, and to have their stories start to interweave earlier on in the book.

Content Warnings

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Feels like a necessary book, though I have mixed feelings about Anita’s voice as a second life. I thought it was funny and relevant, but I think I didn’t really love the use of it as a plot device. Also, my revenge lust wasn’t quenched enough. I would’ve preferred to see Jack dealt with greater consequences.

Content Warnings

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