jmbz38's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
vaniavela's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Racial slurs, and Mental illness
Minor: Ableism and Alcoholism
brandyrae's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Every one of these essays should be required reading. I laughed, I cried, I seethed with anger, I loved, I learned, I understood.
thtblklibrarian's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
alli_lyn's review
5.0
Wonderful collection of stories all sharing the different struggles of being LatinX. I loved how it serves to show that despite the different countries in Latin America the authors stem from, they are all face identity issues that influence all aspects of their lives. Not to mention the book did a really good job at collect a wide range of experiences from Black to LGBTQ+ to 2nd Generation and non-Spanish speakers.q
katsbooks's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
"You don't have to be perfect to deserve a good life. You don't have to be good to be missed."
"No one can do this life alone."
"Willful ignorance is violent."
This a beautifully curated collection of short stories and essays. Essay collections are not really my thing but I'm glad for bingo prompts that force me out of my comfort zone. I feel like I'm slowly figuring out the best way to read collections like these. I have to stop and read one story at a time and so I can spend some time digesting and processing it before moving on to the next. The stories told in this collection focused on the Latinx diaspora, a good majority focused on the Afro-Latinx experience. Every essay was incredibly heartfelt and it was a joy to read them. I really connected with the essay by Ingrid Rojas Contreras titled Invisible. It reminded me that there is still so much work to do in regards to accepting and listening to the voices of every person who is not white and cisgendered in this country. I also really liked A Mi Orden by Elizabeth Acevedo which probably comes as no surprise to anybody. Acevedo is an auto-buy author for me and everything she writes seems to be absolute gold. I also really enjoyed Alaiyo by Jasminne Mendez. As a fellow high school theatre kid, her descriptions of her time on stage really resonated with me and I appreciated her discussion of how white-centered much of the theatre community is.
Overall, this was a really great read. I enjoyed each of the stories and would love to read more by each of the authors.
"No one can do this life alone."
"Willful ignorance is violent."
This a beautifully curated collection of short stories and essays. Essay collections are not really my thing but I'm glad for bingo prompts that force me out of my comfort zone. I feel like I'm slowly figuring out the best way to read collections like these. I have to stop and read one story at a time and so I can spend some time digesting and processing it before moving on to the next. The stories told in this collection focused on the Latinx diaspora, a good majority focused on the Afro-Latinx experience. Every essay was incredibly heartfelt and it was a joy to read them. I really connected with the essay by Ingrid Rojas Contreras titled Invisible. It reminded me that there is still so much work to do in regards to accepting and listening to the voices of every person who is not white and cisgendered in this country. I also really liked A Mi Orden by Elizabeth Acevedo which probably comes as no surprise to anybody. Acevedo is an auto-buy author for me and everything she writes seems to be absolute gold. I also really enjoyed Alaiyo by Jasminne Mendez. As a fellow high school theatre kid, her descriptions of her time on stage really resonated with me and I appreciated her discussion of how white-centered much of the theatre community is.
Overall, this was a really great read. I enjoyed each of the stories and would love to read more by each of the authors.
spinesinaline's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Racism