Reviews tagging 'Racism'

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

23 reviews

legalplanner's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Overall, this was a phenomenal read, Somehow I managed to push through this in a day and cried, laughed, felt my heart break for Moon, and cheered her on throughout the novel.

Moon Fuentez is a nobody in the social media world unlike her twin sister Star who wants nothing more than to be the top influencer on the summer tour. Moon has accepted her fate as the summer "merch girl" and knows it will be all bad. Bring in grumpy, snippy, sometimes combative, attractive Santiago Phillips to change Moon's mind.

About Moon:

We met moon as a hidden in the shadows sister and daughter with not a lot clearly laid out about her family other than she's the black sheep. Even though she is the black sheep, Moon is the singular person in her family that will speak the truth about things without consequences. She doesn't live her life for others. She lives it for her and her alone. That's power.... in a way.

I absolutely loved how we get to know Moon. She's real, she's not some faked out character who is "perfect". Moon is not a size 2, she's not a virgin, she wants her own life away from her sister, and she wants to be loved for her.

The dynamic in the family is evident from the very beginning of the book. It is clearly outlined that Moon is the outcast and Star is the favorite. Yet, we get to know Moon in ways that show she's been cast in the roll as outcast for so long that even she has started to believe it. She goes above and beyond for her sister's career by taking and editing her photographs, yet she is never given a choice or a compliment about the hard work she's done.

In some moments of the story, it was painful to hear the degrading comments about Moon because she is not a virgin and not a size 2. Yes because people should not be shamed for those things but also its because its coming from a person who should love her unconditionally, but doesn't.

The twists and turns and her friendship with Santiago is what kept me turning page after page. While you think this might be a Teen YA RomCom, it is don't worry, it doesn't feel like an overplayed RomCom. We learn more about Santiago and Moon as disinterested co-workers, then friends, and then possibly more. Yet we see their insecurities and we see them work through how you're supposed to work through those in a proper manner. We also see the downfall of Star and Moon's relationship and how being put on a pedestal can create immature jealousy that does more damage than realized.

Content Warnings

amy_lynnn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.75

c u t e

Okay, there was a LOT going on in this story, but overall I would describe it as a coming-of-age journey of love--both romantic love, and learning to love oneself--with a lil magical realism sprinkled in. It is cute and I enjoyed reading it--it was one of those books that I totally DEVOURED in two sittings, so, there's that.

There were some elements throughout that I thought could have been better: ie, some of the plot was a lil on the nose, some of the stuff which was meant to be a ~big reveal~ was extremely obvious to me, and I felt like the situation with Moon's mom was sort of unresolved (though I suppose that's a pretty realistic representation). I also felt like the book was a little longer than it really needed to be, in part because the author was smacking you upside the head with the point she was trying to make. To be FAIR though, I feel this way about a lot of YA (and it obviously makes sense why YA is written this way/why I feel too advanced for it lmao, I am an elderly crone after all).

STILL, I appreicated so much about this book and the end had me tearing up.

Tldr I guess I don't hate every hetero romance book all the time hahaha

Content Warnings

half_bloodreader's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm loved, I'm fat, I'm beautiful.

🌛YA Magical Realism
🌜 Mexican-American plus-size rep
🌛 Colombian-American amputee rep
🌜Themes of trauma, religion, grief, abuse, self-love & acceptance, sexuality, identity, all kinds of prejudice, fatness and the joy, connection & healing power of food/cooking
🌛 It's also about nature & how wonderful the universe is amidst the human cruelty
🌜 Lyrical writing

My dad didn't think Star and Moon were as pretty as Estrella & Luna, because, honestly, they're not.

As an Iberian who speaks both Portuguese & Spanish: agreed. This is a joy I get that many of you may not experience. Whenever Moon speaks, thinks or searches words in Spanish, many times so similar to my own native language, I am already hearing them & feeling them on my tongue in double. Ivy, hiedra, hera. Beautiful, breathy, magical.

This is the story of How I Fell in Love with Moon Fuentez. She is connected to her roots, trying to learn more. She's a photographer who sees the simple pleasures, the beauty in nature, my little witch, and she feels the difference between how a word feels in different languages. Like me. She is witty, funny, free spirited. And lonely, insecure, carrying a lot of childhood trauma. Despite all that, she is still unapologetic - I love her for it.

I always ask the plant before taking. And I always thank it too. Just like Tía taught me. I don't care how that sounds. Plants have been here for 6 zillion years longer than us. That makes them sacred in my book.

Her abusive mother is the extremist religious type. Moon's relationship with her perfect twin sister is also complex. I can't honestly forgive Star for everything she's done, always diminishing her sister. I kept calling out crocodile tears.

Santiago & Moon's romance could be described as enemie-friends-lovers, but it hit different. Their dynamic is affected by the insecurities they carry due to living in their siblings shadows.

This book hurts, then spreads a soothing balm on your heart.

Cw: sl*t shaming

Content Warnings

imstephtacular's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

Content Warnings

nitya's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Read for MLIS elective

This destroyed me in the best of ways, I don't know if I can write a coherent review.

Wish a certain character hadn't been redeemed so early/easily though. I don't care that they're family, what this person did was FAR more unforgivable. (Then again I hold epic grudges.)

Content Warnings

funkylitchick's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

lelder301's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

Rep: Columbian mc, Fat mc, disabled mc, sapphic side character

This book gets dark, but you almost don't notice it is until you're explaining it to your friend at 11 pm and stop and realize how fucked up the plot actually is

The inner monolog of Moon, the main character, is insightful at the best of times and annoying at the worst. She is highly self-critical, and goes through the same character arc multiple times. Weirdly enough, in the context of this book that's not a criticism.

While I was often annoyed by Moon and her insistent self hatred, I found it frustratingly realistic. Her body image issues and her sexuality were handled well, though did get repetitive.

This book really excelled in its discussion of the darker topics it portrayed. The abuse Moon suffered felt fleshed-out and unfortunately very real. The religious trauma was also portrayed very well. I won't spoil every topic, but for each one the author took care to be accurate.

Content Warnings

k_overt's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

I think this was a beautifully written book. The author has done a great job of showing her culture. I enjoyed reading the book even though it had a lot of drama and a lot of trauma mentioned. The humor of the characters broke a lot of the tension without dismissing the pain of the characters. I think it related to me personally because I use humor as a way to deal with traumatic events. It also does a great job of showing the Narcissistic parent and how they treat the golden child as well as the scapegoat child. And how neither are really truly loved. It has a slow burn enemies to lovers. Mainly the book is about a self love journey and how to jump out of your shell even if you could lose everything.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

This book snuck up on me. In the beginning, I wasn't quite hooked into the story, but the characters are what pulled me into it. By the end, you're rooting for them to make it, for Moon and her sister Star to get out of a toxic situation. I do think the book didn't quite have to be this long, but it was still so heartbreaking. By the time I got to the second half of the story, I couldn't put this book down.

There's a lot of great diversity in this book as well. Moon and Santiago have the best chemistry, and the side characters were just as fleshed out as the main ones. Definitely worthy of all the praise it has been getting!

Content Warnings

christinesreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

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