Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything

I had fun reading this book but it took on soooo many different subjects (immigration, racism, parent death - twice -, sexual assault, coming out, child abuse, religion, patriarchy, YA romance, best friends fighting, folklore and myth, school bullies) and that’s before it got to the stuff about aliens, government sponsored torture, and bioengineered super humans…

For me, this book was at its best when it honed in on the heartbreak surrounding deportation and attempts to cross the border. The alien stuff was, in theory, even a smart way of addressing and critiquing those complex topics in an accessible way for a middle grade audience. The folklore and magical realism were strong too. If this book had been a series, where all those dozens of other topics could be further developed, I would’ve been more game, but as a stand alone book it feel like a ton of serious subjects were introduced without adequate exploration, and they then took away time from the stronger elements of the book as well.

Also, some of the things these teenagers said, especially in the ya romance…just…truly left me cringing.

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gabibooksit's review

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

A solid 3.75 stars. Plot wise this story is quite frankly, bonkers. It starts as a contemporary laced with a little magical realism/fantasy and about fifty percent of the way in veers wildly into action-adventure/sci-fi. It's quite the rollercoaster and gave me a little reading whiplash. HOWEVER. Gilliland's writing is absolutely gorgeous. It's vivid and magical and puts you right there with the character emotionally. Her writing makes you want to experience the magic of the universe. By God it made me think positive thoughts about the desert and that in itself is a miracle. Her characters are also fantastic. Please give me a whole book with Rose and Sam. The topics of immigration, racism, and religion she covers are also so important and feels very raw and real. Were this to have a sequel, I would in fact buckle in and read it.

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zoepagereader's review

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adventurous 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

I haven’t been more confused about my feelings for a book and for the actual book itself in a long time. I can’t tell if it was meant to be a conspiracy book or just a magical realism book, but I feel as if that could have been easily cleared up if it had an authors note or at the very least was dystopian. And while I would have no interest in reading a sequel, a cliff hanger ending like that with no sequel is brutal. And one last thing, a 418 page book should not have 224 chapters. A chapter is more than half a page. I have strong opinions about that. I don’t even know what to rate this.

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elizakay's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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mags_reads_'s review

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adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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? No

3.5

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