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mattyvreads's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I don’t think I liked this book… I’m still thinking about it though.
Here are some things that I think that the author does quite well:
> Has a meaningful and nuanced dialogue about parental neglect, emotional abuse, and exploitation, in an otherwise less-than-subtle story.
> Centers gay people and women.
> Was genuinely exciting in parts.
> Has moments of emotionality and tenderness.
> Has a beautiful book cover. The best I’ve seen all year.
Okay, that’s about it.
Honestly, once I suspended disbelief, I enjoyed a lot of the story, particularly the middle third which was really successful for me. The characters themselves are very intriguing, and the plot kept me guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of it. Other times, it was a chore to turn the page.
Here are things about the book I don’t care for:
> The dialogue and actions of the characters is ultra-stylized and over-the-top. That style didn’t really click for me.
> I found all the characters vaguely annoying. All of them.
> Some of the talking points in the book felt entirely unfinished, unearned, or even sometimes, disrespectful. (Many made contextual sense! These moments were really successful: a thorough discussion of closeted homosexuality and the pressures of a Catholic upbringing. Emotional abuse and neglect. The problematicism of white social justice warriors. Colorism. A denouncement of “elevating” foreign food. Talking about the lack of mainland aid from America in the wake of Hurricane Irma and Maria. That was all fascinating and so successful.) The talking points which felt unearned or disrespectful: random invocation of unrelated national tragedies and genocide. A quick and unresolved discussion of sexual assault. Seemingly, a few misguided jabs at the leftist youth of America?
The author would sometimes make actual critique, but I often wondered what point the author was trying to make, or if there was a point with those latter topics. Mostly it felt that the author was almost saying something, and then chose not to. Saying a lot, but saying nothing —
In the latter third of the book, Olga is sexually assaulted by an ex. This scene, and its subsequent fallout, was not handled with particular care by the author. First of all, the assault is from the POV of the assailant, which is particularly disturbing. I question why the author decided to frame the scene in that way. The aftermath is also troubling.
Olga briefly mentions that she refuses to think about the incident as it would “make her a victim.” As if people who are survivors of sexual assault are somehow inferior? Or just the way that they respond to it makes them somehow inferior? Hmm… It’s a deeply troubling sentiment.
When she reveals this news to her boyfriend, the author had the chance to say something in that moment. Instead he responds with some unimpressive remark, and then proceeds to scold her about other elements of their relationship! And that’s the last we hear of it!! Like….? I just don’t get it.
And one could make the argument that sometimes people don’t know what to say, and maybe this is the realistic response for that character, but the rest of the book doesn’t have realistic dialogue! Why should we just settle for this right before the “happily ever after”?
Oh also, at one point, the protagonist randomly sh!ts on sex workers, and there’s another part where her niece corrects her brother to say “queer” instead of “gay”. Those moments gave me slight pause. It does center a gay character, but the text oozed heterosexuality in a way that was confusing and disinteresting to me.
Overall, I liked parts of the book, but would probably not read it again.
Here are some things that I think that the author does quite well:
> Has a meaningful and nuanced dialogue about parental neglect, emotional abuse, and exploitation, in an otherwise less-than-subtle story.
> Centers gay people and women.
> Was genuinely exciting in parts.
> Has moments of emotionality and tenderness.
> Has a beautiful book cover. The best I’ve seen all year.
Okay, that’s about it.
Honestly, once I suspended disbelief, I enjoyed a lot of the story, particularly the middle third which was really successful for me. The characters themselves are very intriguing, and the plot kept me guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of it. Other times, it was a chore to turn the page.
Here are things about the book I don’t care for:
> The dialogue and actions of the characters is ultra-stylized and over-the-top. That style didn’t really click for me.
> I found all the characters vaguely annoying. All of them.
> Some of the talking points in the book felt entirely unfinished, unearned, or even sometimes, disrespectful. (Many made contextual sense! These moments were really successful: a thorough discussion of closeted homosexuality and the pressures of a Catholic upbringing. Emotional abuse and neglect. The problematicism of white social justice warriors. Colorism. A denouncement of “elevating” foreign food. Talking about the lack of mainland aid from America in the wake of Hurricane Irma and Maria. That was all fascinating and so successful.) The talking points which felt unearned or disrespectful: random invocation of unrelated national tragedies and genocide. A quick and unresolved discussion of sexual assault. Seemingly, a few misguided jabs at the leftist youth of America?
The author would sometimes make actual critique, but I often wondered what point the author was trying to make, or if there was a point with those latter topics. Mostly it felt that the author was almost saying something, and then chose not to. Saying a lot, but saying nothing —
Olga briefly mentions that she refuses to think about the incident as it would “make her a victim.” As if people who are survivors of sexual assault are somehow inferior? Or just the way that they respond to it makes them somehow inferior? Hmm… It’s a deeply troubling sentiment.
When she reveals this news to her boyfriend, the author had the chance to say something in that moment. Instead he responds with some unimpressive remark, and then proceeds to scold her about other elements of their relationship! And that’s the last we hear of it!! Like….? I just don’t get it.
And one could make the argument that sometimes people don’t know what to say, and maybe this is the realistic response for that character, but the rest of the book doesn’t have realistic dialogue! Why should we just settle for this right before the “happily ever after”?
Oh also, at one point, the protagonist randomly sh!ts on sex workers, and there’s another part where her niece corrects her brother to say “queer” instead of “gay”. Those moments gave me slight pause. It does center a gay character, but the text oozed heterosexuality in a way that was confusing and disinteresting to me.
Overall, I liked parts of the book, but would probably not read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Outing
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Drug abuse
Minor: Death of parent and Cancer
astoriareader's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
SYNOPSIS:
- Olga & Pedro (“Pierto”) Acevedo are siblings, who were born & raised in Brooklyn. Olga is a wedding planner for rich folks, and Pierto is a Congressman. They are in their 40s.
- Both siblings are smart, savvy, educated, and Puerto Rican.
- Their father died when they were young, and their mother abandoned them prior to their dad’s death. Their mother is an estranged radical, who is fighting for the liberation of Puerto Rico.
- When Hurricane Maria hits, many issues come up for the siblings.
MY THOUGHTS
- I wanted to like this novel, as it nice to see Puerto Rican representation in literature, but this fell flat for me. Although, clearly, I am an outlier with the rave reviews.
- There were too many plots going on at once.
- The writing style felt very juvenile, YA to me.
- I didn’t find the two main characters very likable. I also didn’t like how the author portrayed them.
- I didn’t find being closeted in NYC in 2017 to be very believable.
- Some of the characters felt like caricatures & not realistic.
- I appreciated a lot of points made about colonization & Puerto Rico, but I felt the author wasn’t clear where she actually landed. The “radical” group of revolutionaries are vilified throughout the book, and government intervention is equally criticized. It makes it unclear what route people should support.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️.75. Meh, fell flat for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Abandonment
Moderate: Racism, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Classism
Minor: Abortion
alisonfaith426's review
DNF at 34%
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Death, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing and Colonisation
crabbytaco's review
emotional
informative
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, and Colonisation
Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, and Sexual violence
Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Xenophobia, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Homophobia, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Abortion, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Genocide, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Eating disorder
raphynette's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Rape
Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Violence, and Sexual assault
Minor: Abortion
jesstaurant's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Drug abuse, and Rape
salemander's review
5.0
wowowow this shit made my fuckin heart hurt!!! love revolution but absolutely fuck anyone who thinks that hurting the people you love is the way to get it. a beautiful combination of community and culture and fighting for justice, this book was so inspiring and genuinely heartfelt. while there were some things that took me out of it the only thing that genuinely made me mad is that Dick doesn’t get murdered and his fucking dick cut off, which is the absolute bare minimum that fucker deserves. <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Racism
mlovesbooks's review against another edition
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual assault