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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I found this to be really interesting read. I was really invested in all the characters and felt like the book was well paced. I loved the look into Latina culture and I really loved the characters relationship to their culture. I also really liked how the friendship dynamics were not dramatically effected by romance. I loved the book being set over a year and loved seeing these characters grown and change. I hope to read more by this author in the future.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
I thought this would be an appropriate read for Jan 1 and I had high hopes for this book - a diverse/own voices contemporary YA about a group of friends doing dumb fun (and harmless!) stuff, a New Year's-flavored Latinx Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants if you will, which is right up my alley.
...while not bad per se, I was still rather disappointed. Instead of staying together as a group or being totally separate (ala Sisterhood), the characters are so in-and-out of each other's lives it made it rather disjointed. The vast majority of the action is also dialogue-driven often with secondary characters about the mains, which made the plot feel very contained, constrained and "ship-in-a-bottle-ish" (like the TV episodes often called such). Or rather making the plot felt constrained and trapped in different rooms of a house, if you will (not literally in the plot, more figuratively, although it got pretty close to points like that, too).
...while not bad per se, I was still rather disappointed. Instead of staying together as a group or being totally separate (ala Sisterhood), the characters are so in-and-out of each other's lives it made it rather disjointed. The vast majority of the action is also dialogue-driven often with secondary characters about the mains, which made the plot feel very contained, constrained and "ship-in-a-bottle-ish" (like the TV episodes often called such). Or rather making the plot felt constrained and trapped in different rooms of a house, if you will (not literally in the plot, more figuratively, although it got pretty close to points like that, too).
My life is so much more que esta mierda.
I love a multilingual book. A sweet story that I read in over my four day thanksgiving break, and as a mixed Mexican myself loved the latinx themes explored as well as the LGBT characters.
It started a little slow but the friendships felt real and so did the characters. Found myself often frustrated with the characters and screaming at them to stop making their lives so miserable, probably because I've been through the similar things.
Would recommend, and while there is a happy ending, you might want to grab a tissue box.
The synopsis of this book caught my eye. I enjoyed the story and these characters immensely. I liked how the story jumped between their perspectives. The author did a good job of making those jumps easy to follow and interconnected. I loved the diversity portrayed in the story. Ryan, Jess, Lee, and Nora were such great characters. The resolutions they gave each other spurred life altering journeys for each of them. I loved how they each discovered things about themselves and each other over the course of a year. The battles they faced in the process of finding themselves and each other were thought provoking, heart breaking, and ultimately very relatable. The ending was good. I just wished there had been a few more pages showing what the future held for each of them.
5 stars
I honestly do not even know where to begin with this book because there are so many things that I loved about it.
This follows four friends who decide to write each other's new year's resolutions over the course of the year as they struggle to complete them. I thought each of the characters was really well-developed and stood aside on their own perfectly, but my favorite part of this book was the friendship dynamic between the four of them. This is closely followed by the fact that there is no major falling out between the friends at all over the course of the story!! The book doesn't rely on drama between the four friends to carry the story and I really appreciated that. Throughout the course of the novel, their care and love for each other is constantly emphasized and it just,,, made me so happy.
I also really loved all of the individual storylines within this book and I think they were all given ample time to develop and grow which I really appreciated. I felt all of the characters' worries and insecurities so deeply and I adore the way Mia Garcia wrote their emotions.
I loved reading about Nora and her worries with going to culinary school and leaving her family cafe behind. I also just loved reading about Nora baking because I am a very big fan of baking books and this one definitely didn't disappoint on that front!! Nora is also in the cutest (sapphic) relationship for the entirety of this book and this brought me so much joy.
I loved reading about Lee and her struggles and insecurities and I also really liked the direction that her particular story took. I have to say I am also a very big fan of how this one concluded, even though it wasn't in the way I was expecting.
I loved reading about Ryan's struggle with rediscovering who he is outside of his relationship with his ex-boyfriend and coming back to art. The last few chapters from Ryan's POV made me incredibly emotional because they hit really close to home for me. I love Ryan with all of my heart that's all, thanks.
I especially loved reading about Jess and the amount of pressure she puts on herself to perform and to not let anyone down and to constantly take on more responsibilities. Everything that was said in Jess' chapters hit so close to home for me, especially with the way she feels like she's never enough and too much for other people at the same time. This book was very validating in that regard. I cried a lot.
I also really appreciate how family is a really big part of this book as well. The families of our four main characters differ significantly from each other, but they're all present and they're a significant part of the story in every character's case. I loved seeing them interact with their families and I loved the way they contributed to the main arcs of the book. Also?? Ryan's grandmother literally deserves the world I will not be taking any criticisms on this.
There isn't really a central plot to the story besides the resolutions, which kind of sprout off into the four different storylines that I discussed above, so I guess the last thing to talk about is the friendship, since I started with that as well. Throughout the story, the friendships between different characters grow and change as they rely more on each other and are more open and honest with each other and I honestly loved every second of it. I love reading about messy teens supporting messy teens and that's exactly what this book gave me and I love it with all of my heart.
I honestly do not even know where to begin with this book because there are so many things that I loved about it.
This follows four friends who decide to write each other's new year's resolutions over the course of the year as they struggle to complete them. I thought each of the characters was really well-developed and stood aside on their own perfectly, but my favorite part of this book was the friendship dynamic between the four of them. This is closely followed by the fact that there is no major falling out between the friends at all over the course of the story!! The book doesn't rely on drama between the four friends to carry the story and I really appreciated that. Throughout the course of the novel, their care and love for each other is constantly emphasized and it just,,, made me so happy.
I also really loved all of the individual storylines within this book and I think they were all given ample time to develop and grow which I really appreciated. I felt all of the characters' worries and insecurities so deeply and I adore the way Mia Garcia wrote their emotions.
I loved reading about Nora and her worries with going to culinary school and leaving her family cafe behind. I also just loved reading about Nora baking because I am a very big fan of baking books and this one definitely didn't disappoint on that front!! Nora is also in the cutest (sapphic) relationship for the entirety of this book and this brought me so much joy.
I loved reading about Lee and her struggles and insecurities and I also really liked the direction that her particular story took. I have to say I am also a very big fan of how this one concluded, even though it wasn't in the way I was expecting.
I loved reading about Ryan's struggle with rediscovering who he is outside of his relationship with his ex-boyfriend and coming back to art. The last few chapters from Ryan's POV made me incredibly emotional because they hit really close to home for me. I love Ryan with all of my heart that's all, thanks.
I especially loved reading about Jess and the amount of pressure she puts on herself to perform and to not let anyone down and to constantly take on more responsibilities. Everything that was said in Jess' chapters hit so close to home for me, especially with the way she feels like she's never enough and too much for other people at the same time. This book was very validating in that regard. I cried a lot.
I also really appreciate how family is a really big part of this book as well. The families of our four main characters differ significantly from each other, but they're all present and they're a significant part of the story in every character's case. I loved seeing them interact with their families and I loved the way they contributed to the main arcs of the book. Also?? Ryan's grandmother literally deserves the world I will not be taking any criticisms on this.
There isn't really a central plot to the story besides the resolutions, which kind of sprout off into the four different storylines that I discussed above, so I guess the last thing to talk about is the friendship, since I started with that as well. Throughout the story, the friendships between different characters grow and change as they rely more on each other and are more open and honest with each other and I honestly loved every second of it. I love reading about messy teens supporting messy teens and that's exactly what this book gave me and I love it with all of my heart.
I personally could not get into this book. I found none of the characters interesting and just found it for the most part really dry. I might try to give this book another chance someday but it just was not my kind of book. I do not think I will be reviewing it that much in depth on my blog because I did not connect with it enough.
The Good:
-The concept was really good about four friends trying to make new year's resolutions to change themselves.
The Bad:
-The characters did not create any interesting resolutions and I just got bored between their dialogues.
-I also did not like the shifts between perspectives of the characters.
-I also just personally did not connect with this book. I honestly might retry this book some other day and I can hopefully give it a higher review (if I do like it.)
The Good:
-The concept was really good about four friends trying to make new year's resolutions to change themselves.
The Bad:
-The characters did not create any interesting resolutions and I just got bored between their dialogues.
-I also did not like the shifts between perspectives of the characters.
-I also just personally did not connect with this book. I honestly might retry this book some other day and I can hopefully give it a higher review (if I do like it.)
Since this book is centered around New Year’s resolutions, it’s the perfect book to read at the end of the year, despite the fact that only the beginning and ending take place on New Year’s Eve.
The story follows four friends who make resolutions for each other. Each character is dealing with different issues. I really liked the friendship dynamic and how they were always there for each other.
Jess - dealing with unbelievable pressure to take on “everything” - student council president, AP classes, early decision for college, scholarship essays, etc. She was a textbook example of burning the candle at both ends. She also suffers from panic attacks that she hides from her friends and family. I really felt for Jess as that is a common issue that many kids face. I couldn’t believe her friends gave her the resolution that she had to say “yes” to everything. That put incredible pressure on her. I was glad she got help in the end.
Ryan - dealing with a breakup with his boyfriend that has left him devastated and wanting closure. I couldn’t relate to him very well; he came off as somewhat clingy and I wanted him to write off Jason a lot earlier than he did (though I was glad he was able to in the end).
Nora - dealing with the pressure of helping in her mother’s restaurant when what she really wants to do is go to culinary school and become a baker. I couldn’t stand Nora’s mother. She was so selfish and didn’t seem to mind that her daughter put school on the back burner to help her out all the time.
Lee - dealing with a possible diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease (the genetic disease that caused her mother’s death). I really felt for her and I liked her story, even though it was sad. I wish the book mentioned the results of her test!
Overall I liked the story and the characters, but the random phrases in other languages were a bit difficult to follow. I do speak Spanish so that was ok, but Ryan’s grandmother was from Taiwan and it didn’t have a translation handy so I had to guess what was being said based on context clues. The book is also a bit on the long side at over 400 pages and I’m not sure it needed to be that long.
Nonetheless a good book to read as 2019 draws to a close.
The story follows four friends who make resolutions for each other. Each character is dealing with different issues. I really liked the friendship dynamic and how they were always there for each other.
Jess - dealing with unbelievable pressure to take on “everything” - student council president, AP classes, early decision for college, scholarship essays, etc. She was a textbook example of burning the candle at both ends. She also suffers from panic attacks that she hides from her friends and family. I really felt for Jess as that is a common issue that many kids face. I couldn’t believe her friends gave her the resolution that she had to say “yes” to everything. That put incredible pressure on her. I was glad she got help in the end.
Ryan - dealing with a breakup with his boyfriend that has left him devastated and wanting closure. I couldn’t relate to him very well; he came off as somewhat clingy and I wanted him to write off Jason a lot earlier than he did (though I was glad he was able to in the end).
Nora - dealing with the pressure of helping in her mother’s restaurant when what she really wants to do is go to culinary school and become a baker. I couldn’t stand Nora’s mother. She was so selfish and didn’t seem to mind that her daughter put school on the back burner to help her out all the time.
Lee - dealing with a possible diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease (the genetic disease that caused her mother’s death). I really felt for her and I liked her story, even though it was sad. I wish the book mentioned the results of her test!
Overall I liked the story and the characters, but the random phrases in other languages were a bit difficult to follow. I do speak Spanish so that was ok, but Ryan’s grandmother was from Taiwan and it didn’t have a translation handy so I had to guess what was being said based on context clues. The book is also a bit on the long side at over 400 pages and I’m not sure it needed to be that long.
Nonetheless a good book to read as 2019 draws to a close.
Took me a bit to warm up to it at first, but once I did I was totally hooked on these characters. Is it a good choice for teenagers to read? Probably. Should it be required reading for parents who might have forgotten how stressful being teenagers can be? Definitely. Major bonus points for characters representing diverse walks of life.