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lawbooks600's review against another edition
emotional
slow-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
4.0
Score: Eight out of ten.
This one wasn't perfect. But it was close. The library only had Aniana del Mar Jumps In in eBook form so it was more difficult to get but I got it anyway. The blurb seemed intriguing, so I headed in hoping for an enjoyable read, but when I closed the final page, I found it a lot heavier than expected.
It starts with a flashback involving Aniana 'Ani' del Mar experiencing swimming for the first time when she was six (better late than never) before cutting to part one of the central storyline (there are six parts) with her now being a competitive swimmer, at least for her age (12.) Everything looks ordinary in the opening pages until she says something's wrong with her body, as she feels pain in her joints, but she doesn't know what it is yet.
There's a subplot that soon turns out to be a critical part of the narrative, where Aniana's mother remembers a traumatic event where she lost her brother, Mateo, in a hurricane and she never completely moved on ever since. I get that losing someone is difficult, but the way Aniana's mother tries to cope makes her look like a helicopter parent. Let me get this straight: the protagonist's family is dysfunctional, as her father is barely there and her mother doesn't want her to swim, fearing she may lose Aniana too. Aniana's father takes her away to swim in secret, but that didn't last forever as her mother found out, and now banned swimming. Is it me or does it feel like an antithesis to another novel I've read before? Aniana's mother forced her out of swimming instead of in.
I liked Aniana as a character the most, but her parents aren't role models, and the side characters like Maria Tere and Delilah only appear for a few pages, but I would've liked to see more. The pacing is slow, with the book lasting 400 pages, but I didn't mind, since it was enough to keep the creation going. The writing style is unique and Jasminne Mendez executed it well. Finally! Actual poetry! It took me long enough to find one after reading spaced out prose for a while.
Did I mention Aniana's family is Christian? The middle four parts feature Aniana trying to cope with the swimming ban, and when a doctor diagnosed her with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA,) all Aniana's mother can do is to pray it away, but advice from a therapist to do physical therapy also helped. The therapist says swimming can reduce the effects of JIA, but Aniana's mother is steadfast, even when she tries out for an elite swim camp, her mother caught her again since the ban still applies (she resorted to physical measures once.) However. The conclusion, part six, felt like an afterthought. It took Aniana's mother to almost lose her son, Matti (to the sea,) for her to change her mind? Really? At least the prohibition is gone now and the finish is heartwarming.
Addendum: Matti started swimming at age four (which isn't too late.) There's no exploration of intersectionality (since Aniana is a young biracial Dominican American girl with a chronic illness.) Why is this?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Chronic illness, Bullying, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death and Child death
Full trigger warnings: Implied PTSD, death of a child and brother in a hurricane in the past, grief and loss depiction, bullying, child abuse, physical assault and injury, chronic and physical illness, near-death experience
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