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leontyna's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book! The story was really touching and I really liked the way it was told, through session transcripts and job applications. The main character and all her community seemed so realistic and vivid and I finished the book wanting to hear more stories about them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Medical content
alysereadsbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-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
4.5
Listened to the audiobook and it was AMAZING. the production quality and narration was great. Well written, gut wrenching, examination of generational trauma.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, Child abuse, Homophobia, Cancer, and Medical content
hollyrebecca's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
A funny, reflective and uniquely told tale about searching for a job in times of economic slump. Though in reality, this is a tale of life, a tale of finding yourself and understanding the consequences of your actions, a tale family and friendship, a tale of community and culture.
Cara Romero is enrolled on a career counselling scheme to help her find a new job. She has 12 weeks in which to do this and 12 sessions to help her, with the story told through Cara’s side of these sessions. But Cara has more than the lack of a job to think about. Her sister is planning to move away, her son remains estranged despite her best efforts, she’s falling behind on rent, and her friends are struggling with their own lives despite Cara’s tireless efforts to help.
Cara is such an interesting character. So very human with all of her fallibilities and quirks, I’d be hard pressed to say she’s a good person despite all of her apparent good deeds.
It’s important to recognise that we only hear this story from Cara herself, and everyone is bias when relating their own story. Cruz provides interesting insights between chapters in the form of bills and letters either corroborating or contradicting the story told by Cara. This provides an extra layer to the tale as you wonder about the reliability of Cara’s storytelling.
I listened to the audiobook for this story and it added much more weight to the tale. The delivery was very engaging and made me feel like the counsellor sat listening to Cara. Cruz has an uncanny way of knowing exactly what I’m thinking and, as such, Cara responds to the questions and thoughts in my own head.
A wonderful and engaging story!
Cara Romero is enrolled on a career counselling scheme to help her find a new job. She has 12 weeks in which to do this and 12 sessions to help her, with the story told through Cara’s side of these sessions. But Cara has more than the lack of a job to think about. Her sister is planning to move away, her son remains estranged despite her best efforts, she’s falling behind on rent, and her friends are struggling with their own lives despite Cara’s tireless efforts to help.
Cara is such an interesting character. So very human with all of her fallibilities and quirks, I’d be hard pressed to say she’s a good person despite all of her apparent good deeds.
It’s important to recognise that we only hear this story from Cara herself, and everyone is bias when relating their own story. Cruz provides interesting insights between chapters in the form of bills and letters either corroborating or contradicting the story told by Cara. This provides an extra layer to the tale as you wonder about the reliability of Cara’s storytelling.
I listened to the audiobook for this story and it added much more weight to the tale. The delivery was very engaging and made me feel like the counsellor sat listening to Cara. Cruz has an uncanny way of knowing exactly what I’m thinking and, as such, Cara responds to the questions and thoughts in my own head.
A wonderful and engaging story!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
lydiamcleod's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
5.0
A touching novel at a perfect length for the story. A recent fave.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
rachelfayreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
lilykmarks's review
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Child abuse
abnormal_shadow's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
I didn't go into this book with a clear understanding of what it was. I listened to this as an audiobook on Libby and I would very much recommend this method. It felt like a podcast. The main character address me as a character. In the book I answer her questions, I follow her story and I check up on her. The audiobook had music, the sounds of waves and the scratching of pens and pencils on paper. The main character is flawed, she often doesn't see how she makes people actually feel. She is confident and assertive to the extent that it took a public argument with her sister to understand how she actual hurt the people in her life (Fernando and the sister). Its seeing the other side of a child's life, how she feels she was doing her best, her side of the day that her son left, her side of the lives of those around her, her account of events. You can tell in the book that she is an unreliable narrator and its easy to sympathize with her until certain things click you as a reader get angry with her but not for long. She is not a bad person she is just doing bad things and doesn't understand that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Grief, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy
kirstym25's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Death
turtleduckiess's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love this book. I love the writing I love Cara's voice. Listening to it on audiobook was a fantastic choice; Rossmery Almote was great. There's some sound effects which i don't mind bc im a fictional podcast girlie as well. Cara was so familiar that she could have been a family friend. Her values (good, bad, and otherwise) were things I can clearly map onto the other women in my family. The writing is so so accurate to how my family speaks in English, little grammatical things that come from her translating to English in her brain. I think this could be a nice comforting reread for me for that reason. There's blog post potential here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Homophobia
alexisgarcia's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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
i would HIGHLY recommend the audiobook for this. the main character was incredibly lovable and felt like someone i might know and love in my own life. while on the surface the main characters “monologue” seems surface level, there is actually so much depth in it. i felt like the main character became so well rounded and real as the book went on. i also loved the formatting of this book surprisingly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, and Infidelity