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4.22 AVERAGE

emotional 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: Complicated

boyscapitalism's review

3.5
challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lananfried's review

3.75
challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
b00kw0rm4l1f3's profile picture

b00kw0rm4l1f3's review

4.0
challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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: Complicated

izzy1026's review

4.0
challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging emotional funny 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

This book is absolutely gut-wrenching. It’s based on the author’s real life experiences with his brother Daniel and how they were raised. It follows their lives from the time they are small children to grown adults. It is a true look at brotherhood and growing up.

This book is written in multiple viewpoints, from first and third person. It also includes illustrations that were gorgeous, beautiful lyrical interludes, and a lot of amazing proverbs. It was an incredible way to keep the reader engaged.

This book discusses in detail things that Daniel and Pedro went through, including constant physical and emotional abuse from their mother. They were also bullied in school. Daniel was a victim of sexual assault at the hands of the Catholic Church and he later contracts HIV. Pedro became a doctor who specialized in HIV and desperately wanted to save his brother. He did not succeed. When Daniel’s health deteriorated, my heart broke. 

I sobbed at the end of this book. As the chapters started to move toward the end, knowing Daniel is dying, I couldn’t hold in the tears anymore. These two brothers who didn’t have enough time to spend together as adults. They suffered and truly only had each other to count on. 

So so so well done. Can’t say enough good things about this novel.

I’ve been terrible at slogging through books I’m not really enjoying in 2024, and I’ve decided this stops now. 

I thought I’d love this story focusing on two Mexican-American brothers in the 1970s, touching on queerness, abusive parents and AIDs, but it’s simply not working for me. The narrator of the first part has some bizarre voices for the boys that are also off-putting. Very bleak and just not holding my attention or making me want to reach for my audiobook. :-(

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dani_nzd's profile picture

dani_nzd's review

3.75
challenging emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

daniellewiseman's review

3.75
challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated