Reviews tagging 'Grief'

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

68 reviews

that_person_logan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I think this is a wonderful book that should be required reading in high schools across the world.
It’s raw, it’s beautifully written, and above all it is real. Nothing is glossed over and it makes for a very emotional and compelling read. 
Highly Recommend but please do your research on potential content warnings before deciding to read it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Rape, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual content and Deportation

op3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I really tried to love this book. I really did. I found the quality of writing lazy and rushed, the only highlight was the ending which I found to be just ok. So that’s what I’m rating the book as. Just ok.
Often times I take at least an hour or two to pick out books I want to read so I can enjoy what I read. This is one of those books I avoid when I spend that time searching. This is a testimony that I should keep doing that. But the ending was okay. The fluff was ok if you consider there to be any.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Self harm, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Outing, Death, Bullying, Sexual violence, Grief, Suicide, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Sexism, Car accident, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, and Child death

Minor: Violence, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Drug use, Blood, Gore, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, and Eating disorder

velleitie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

j_nell's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The narrator whines a lot. Granted her sister died. But she is awful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Grief, Classism, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Deportation, and Pregnancy

kcohrs19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation

Moderate: Gun violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Violence, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Suicide, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Car accident

amanda884's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Animal death, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Abortion, Rape, Homophobia, Self harm, and Pregnancy

cartermon4's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Child death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexism, Racism, and Murder

tracamiller's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

A story of dichotomies that pulled me in both directions at once, but that thankfully finds a peace in the middle.
Poor, Mexican girl meets upper-class white boy.  Older sister who seems “perfect” and quiet and reserved, but whose secrets reveal a girl that was not as she seemed.  Younger sister who is loud and imperfect, but whose secrets remain deadly if they aren’t revealed and dealt with. 
Parents whose dreams of life in the US lead to heartbreak, and a daughter who needs to return to Mexico to find her own dreams.  An older generation that wants their children to have it better, yet doesn’t want them to change.  A younger generation that wants change, yet doesn’t want to disappoint their parents.  
And no one talks about their feelings or listens until they are forced to!  A push and a pull between two countries, two sisters, two generations, and a whole lot of emotions! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Grief, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, and Sexism

gem114's review against another edition

hopeful sad 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

4.0

Read this because it was added to my 11th grade curriculum. I was a little surprised by some of the more graphic scenes, but I do think kids will relate to the generational divides whether they come from immigrant families or not and that makes it worth any potential awkwardness in class. Will definitely need to give content warnings, though. 

As an adult reader, I did struggle at times to be sympathetic to Julia. Maybe it’s my age and personal experience talking, but I do think there are some basic responsibilities that teenagers should have regarding chores, communication with parents, etc that she pushed back on more than was reasonable, and I think Olga’s secrets were unnecessarily over the top, but I can see how this will all make it more appealing to young readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Gun violence, Car accident, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Deportation, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Pregnancy

teresarosereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I feel like this book would be so important for teen readers to pick up and very relatable to so many. The novel covers so many different topics that affect teen lives including mental health, difficult family dynamics, the immigrant experience, having your first kiss and first sexual encounter, teen pregnancy, and more. Having just read the author's memoir before this, I could tell that she put a lot of her own experiences into the novel which was interesting to see. 

The main character could be very judgy and negative at times which I've seen people criticize, but I felt like a lot of her judgment came from the fact that everyone was also judging her life and from her feeling like no one around her sees or understands who she truly is. The more I read the novel the more I felt that I understood her perspective and I really wanted her to find someone who truly understood her. 

What is keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that I almost felt like it was trying to cover too many topics at once. All of the themes it discussed were important, but I felt like some topics weren't as deeply explored as they could have been if the novel only focused on a few specific topics. I wanted more details and exploration from some portions and I sometimes felt like the pacing was a bit choppy. I think the story felt unfocused at times and the more that new topics were introduced the more the story started to feel a bit crowded. I would have preferred if the story focused on a few key themes and explored them deeply instead of trying to cover everything.

That being said, I still think teen readers and even adults would gain something from reading this and it is definitely a book I would want in my future classroom.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, Self harm, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape