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lottpoet's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
puria's review
3.0
I had a lot of trouble with this book. Somewhere along the years, my perspective has altered to that of a parent.
I had trouble with what I view as a predator when a grown man approaches a 17 year old and there are no consequences. I understand that much worse happens to much younger children in life but still, maybe that is why I rarely read or pick books set in the real world.
Overall it was an interesting book but I walked away with ambivalent feelings on it, not really caring for any of them. I dont think Maria had any progression at all as a character or that much changed.
I had trouble with what I view as a predator when a grown man approaches a 17 year old and there are no consequences. I understand that much worse happens to much younger children in life but still, maybe that is why I rarely read or pick books set in the real world.
Overall it was an interesting book but I walked away with ambivalent feelings on it, not really caring for any of them. I dont think Maria had any progression at all as a character or that much changed.
asthepageturns87's review
emotional
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? No
4.0
mxmarymoon's review against another edition
3.0
It was an enjoyable read to an extent, but also felt like things were either hastily resolved or just left to languish.
neztoad's review against another edition
2.0
Really didn't like this. All the characters were bitchy and honestly just got on my nerves, wouldn't reccomend it.
sadiereadthat's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
This book is about a high school girl from a lower income family, attending a high income private high school. She feels out of place, and ends up becoming involved with a family that has means much higher than she is accustomed. As you can imagine, she doesn't navigate perfectly.
This book is about a high school girl from a lower income family, attending a high income private high school. She feels out of place, and ends up becoming involved with a family that has means much higher than she is accustomed. As you can imagine, she doesn't navigate perfectly.
hfrimmer's review against another edition
5.0
When Maria Rosario begins commuting to a private high school on the upper east side of Manhattan, she is befriended by Rocky, a girl who doesn’t think twice about paying for Maria’s meals and even buys her a plane ticket. Maria is enamored with her new, wealthy friend, but she’s also worried Rocky will look down on because she lives in Queens. She doesn’t want to have to explain to Rocky why the hot water in the bathroom always turns cold or why they don’t have cable TV. Meanwhile, Rocky is equally jealous of Maria’s loving, functional family. The way Rocky sees it, Maria is loved and needed, while her own parents’ marital troubles prevent them from paying attention to their children. As the two girls become closer, their families get tangled together in messy and complicated ways. The structure of the novel is fascinating and works perfectly, the perspective shifting even within chapters from Maria to Rocky to each of their fathers. My favorite passage from the book is Maria’s thoughts about her home borough.
“Sometimes, when Maria walked down Queens Boulevard, she felt as if she were in front of an ocean. Twelve lanes wide and spanning far into the horizon, it provoked a similar sense of awe. In those rare moments when she had it to herself, when the sun had gone down and even the cars were sporadic, fleeting like flies, Maria was overcome with emotion. She felt so deeply her full humanity then. Some people had backyards, other people mountaintops, but Maria had Queens Boulevard to help her appreciate the ample beauty of existence.”
An insightful coming of age story centering on Maria, this vibrant debut offers so much more—a cautionary tale of the haves and have nots, an examination of wealth and whether that truly brings happiness, a dissection of loneliness and jealousy, and so much more. Stephanie Jimenez is an exciting new writer to watch.
“Sometimes, when Maria walked down Queens Boulevard, she felt as if she were in front of an ocean. Twelve lanes wide and spanning far into the horizon, it provoked a similar sense of awe. In those rare moments when she had it to herself, when the sun had gone down and even the cars were sporadic, fleeting like flies, Maria was overcome with emotion. She felt so deeply her full humanity then. Some people had backyards, other people mountaintops, but Maria had Queens Boulevard to help her appreciate the ample beauty of existence.”
An insightful coming of age story centering on Maria, this vibrant debut offers so much more—a cautionary tale of the haves and have nots, an examination of wealth and whether that truly brings happiness, a dissection of loneliness and jealousy, and so much more. Stephanie Jimenez is an exciting new writer to watch.
sunforsavannah's review
dark
sad
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
2.0
parkerwkelly1's review against another edition
1.0
This book was incredibly bad. I pushed through because I had literally nothing else to do when reading this, and it was a slog. The main character is not super likeable to begin with, and she decides to drop all of her tolerable friends in exchange for the popular girl characters. She exhibits roughly zero growth as a person during the book (and honestly ends worse than she started). Additionally, the plot is super boring and very little happens. This was probably one of the worst books I have read ever.
newbatteri's review against another edition
5.0
From my editor’s letter:
What’s in a name? For seventeen-year-old Maria Anís Rosario, her name is a reminder of a woman struggling to live up to expectations, to a life bifurcated. There’s the Maria with a soft r to her white classmate Rocky, at her private high school on the Upper East Side where Maria is one of the few Latinas in a sea of flat-ironed hair and effortless wealth. Then there’s the accented María to her boyfriend, Andres, and at home a world away in Queens, in a cramped but homey apartment with her lively family. How does she reconcile both parts when Rocky opens her up to a whole new life she previously didn’t have access to?
Meanwhile, Maria and Rocky’s fathers are each making their own series of calculations for the cost of their family’s happiness—Maria’s father, Miguel, sacrificing his happiness for the sake of appearing strong to his children after he loses his job; Rocky’s father, Charlie, choosing hedonism as his marriage crumbles from within. These four protagonists are flawed yet hopeful, and they leap off the page with heartfelt expectations and skewed realities, each questioning what it means to live up to the roles you’ve been given.
Poetically and truthfully grappling with racial tension, class privilege, female friendship, and familial expectations, Stephanie Jimenez’s They Could Have Named Her Anything is a propulsive debut novel from a fresh new voice.
What’s in a name? For seventeen-year-old Maria Anís Rosario, her name is a reminder of a woman struggling to live up to expectations, to a life bifurcated. There’s the Maria with a soft r to her white classmate Rocky, at her private high school on the Upper East Side where Maria is one of the few Latinas in a sea of flat-ironed hair and effortless wealth. Then there’s the accented María to her boyfriend, Andres, and at home a world away in Queens, in a cramped but homey apartment with her lively family. How does she reconcile both parts when Rocky opens her up to a whole new life she previously didn’t have access to?
Meanwhile, Maria and Rocky’s fathers are each making their own series of calculations for the cost of their family’s happiness—Maria’s father, Miguel, sacrificing his happiness for the sake of appearing strong to his children after he loses his job; Rocky’s father, Charlie, choosing hedonism as his marriage crumbles from within. These four protagonists are flawed yet hopeful, and they leap off the page with heartfelt expectations and skewed realities, each questioning what it means to live up to the roles you’ve been given.
Poetically and truthfully grappling with racial tension, class privilege, female friendship, and familial expectations, Stephanie Jimenez’s They Could Have Named Her Anything is a propulsive debut novel from a fresh new voice.