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its_vendetta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
All the side characters were so incredibly well written!! I had an emotional attachment to everyone in this book and I honestly did not know how this book would end, which I loved!
Overall this is an amazing and touching novel that dives into issues surrounding queer communities, racism, religious bigotry, and so many more topics that need to be more discussed in our society.
Graphic: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Islamophobia
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, and Drug use
suzreadsalot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
“So when are you coming home?”
Who gave Aaron the right to make me cry like this. Queer coming of age stories just hit different when you’re a 30 yr old who’s still figuring their
tldr– I adore everything about this book and you (everyone) should read it and cry with me)
Sometimes it feels like the teens in YA books are polished up to the best versions of themselves but not here. Quique is a chaotic mess. He does messy, teen things. He’s real and unfiltered and it was beautiful.
I’ll never understand how people can say they can’t find anything to relate to in books about people different to them because even though I’m white, it felt like I was looking in a mirror. So many parts of Quique are also parts of me. Growing up in a working, lower class family and dealing with the struggles and mindset that creates. Struggling to find yourself while also measuring yourself up against [literally] everyone you see.
But the most relatable was his struggle with his mental health and learning to recognize when you need to ask for help. It took me a lot longer to figure out than it did for him.
I love how friendships were portrayed and how platonic love with his friends was just as important as his want/need for romantic love and lust.
I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fall in love with Saleem since he isn’t present for a good amount of the book but I did. He showed up and stole my heart.
I do wish we had been able to have a little bit more time with saleem
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Drug use
blakeandbooks's review
- 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
Fabiola is Afro-Latina, Quique’s best friend, and she is also bisexual! Some of their dialogue had me cackling! I love seeing great banter between friends. AND I also love seeing realistic arguments/disagreements between friends in books and how they made up. Friendships are not black and white! They’re complicated and messy and beautiful, and Aceves did such an incredible job at showing so much nuance in these characters and their relationships with one another.
Figuring out who you are in the world, especially as a teenager can be so overwhelming. Hell, it’s even difficult now for me sometimes at 26. Quique’s experiences felt so real and easy to relate to. Over the summer, he’s trying to get over his best friend, Saleem, who is visiting his family for 3 weeks, so Quique is hoping he can find ways to spend time with some of the boys he has crushes on to find out whether or not they feel a bit of the same. I personally thought the sex scenes were tasteful, and it wasn’t smut, but it was just realistic representations that teenagers do in fact have sex.
Saleem and Quique’s relationship from the get go is full of tension! I love how they can understand each other by just looking at one another, and I love how realistic it is to be so terrified that your best friend won’t feel the same as you do that you just don’t say anything at all… until you do !!
I loved Qique’s relationship with his parents, especially his mom. One of the quotes that made me cry was, “‘I wish I could say something comforting and wise,’ my mom begins, ‘but I can’t think of anything. This is gonna hurt, kid. It’s gonna continue to hurt. For a while.’ I’m about to make a sarcastic response about the dour nature of her words, but she continues. ‘But one day it won’t. And it won’t be because someone else has taken his place, and it won’t be because you’ve forgotten him. It’ll be because heartbreak, like any other injury will heal when you give it time.’”
The mental health representation in this book made me feel so seen 😭 As someone who has chronic depression, it is such a breath of fresh air to see other characters, and be able to read their inner thoughts about how they feel and their exploration into their own thoughts, mental health, and growth. When he asks to return to therapy, I was SO happy to see this. We need these type of books out in the world! Where everyone, no matter your age range, understands that it’s okay not to be okay, and sometimes we have to ask for help and seek guidance through therapy. The discussion around medication was so appreciated. I take antidepressants for my depression and obsessive compulsive thoughts, and it has made all the difference in my life. Luciana prefaces that medication is “not a miracle solution,” and work still needs to be put in!
There are so many great quotes in this book! Highly recommend.
Graphic: Mental illness, Biphobia, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Homophobia, and Outing
Minor: Islamophobia
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not.
Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
My friend Jillian recommended this and I’m so glad she did! I thought this was a beautiful explorative coming-of-age, romance & slice-of-life piece of teen fiction. 17-year-old Enrique “Qique” is exploring his bisexuality during summer break, and I am here for his messy, confusing, quick-paced ho era (affectionate!!!!)
His relationship with his parents is so sweet, and I adored the dynamic he had with his Afro-Latina best friend Fabiola, who is also bisexual! Fabiola is chasing after thick-thighed Molly, while Qique has a few contenders!
Manny — Latino tough guy exterior but sends major sexual tension Qique’ away
Tyler — white guy who shows off his package via basketball shorts & is the talk of the town; also a huge stoner & other characters call him a “wanksta”
Ziggy — buttoned-up Black student body president from school who he feels *vibes* around but everyone comments “I didn’t think he liked boys”
Saleem — his devastatingly gorgeous, short Palestinian king, his unrequited love, pining so passionately for, long time crush and best friend
Lauren — meets her at a county fair or amusement park in a group setting
What I enjoyed most about a lot of Qique’s interactions with all of his potential love interests us that he didn’t have to continually “come out” to his love interests. For the most part, they didn’t talk about their sexualities, which felt authentic to how things unravel when you’re a teenager. I also was so proud of Qique for recognizing what kinds of dynamics worked for him, how hanging out with certain people made him feel, & what he truly wanted & was searching for in these experiences.
I think Aceves did a fantastic job of layering the sex scenes in this book with commentary and introspection as to what was coming up for Qique each time. Nothing is explicit; this isn’t smût, but books like this are important for teens to investigate their own sexuality, because let’s be real. Teens are fucking. Let’s not pretend we were born yesterday. It’s important to name these feelings as they’re experiencing them, and to read about characters figuring it out as they possibly fumble through it!
Lastly, the mental health representation was immaculate — to pretend adolescence is a fever dream of solely joyful times is to deny the human experience lol. I felt for Qique so badly! I am so glad there was talk therapy in this book, and how Qique recognized that maybe he still needed these types of guided conversations. The way medication is introduced and not demonized was wonderful too.
All around, this was an excellent book and I highly recommend it to all ages, but damn, I wish I had a book like this when I was fucking at 17.
Quotations that stood out to me:
Graphic: Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Biphobia, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
maple_dove's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved the discussions of religious bigotry, and the LGBTQ community and religion. It's a difficult topic to navigate, but I think this book handled it well.
As an asexual person, I didn't expect this book to be so sexually graphic (mostly in terms of dialogue and thoughts), but I'm glad. We need to let teenagers explore their sexuality, too (safely).
I can't say the bipolar disorder rep was accurate, as I'm not bipolar myself and don't know enough to say. Speaking of which, I loved all the representation in this book!: Bisexual, Mexican-American, Afro-Latina American, Latino-American, Arab Palestinian-American, and Gay characters can all be found in this book. :)
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, Racism, Biphobia, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Murder, War, Ableism, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Homophobic slurs (Graphic), Underage drinking (Graphic), Teenage pregnancy (Minor)imstephtacular's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol and Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Ableism, Biphobia, Islamophobia, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Excrement, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Grief, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pedophilia
brokenbodybitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
There is more sexual content in this book then make me comfortable for something being marketed as a ya book with 17yo characters to 14+…(from what I’ve seen) yes I was reading more graphic stuff younger but something about the frequency and level of detail coupled with the constant reminder they aren’t over 18 yet and it being marketed from what I’ve seen as 14+ just felt off and took me out of the story a quite often. yes, it’s like quite true to reality from what I remember about being 17 and I mean it was only like 3 years ago... but from the way I had seen it marketed it felt like it wasn’t what I would’ve expected.
I really love the mental health rep, the queer rep, I found the book really funny at times and I think the more emotional stuff was handled well (PLEASE CHECK CW/TW) but I just kept getting pulled out of the story so I need to sit with it a bit more or re read now that I know what to expect so I’m not so thrown by it
Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Transphobia, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
The narrator/MC is a 17yo boy and there is a fair amount of sexual scenes throughout the book between 17yo’s, they aren’t overly graphic but they are quite frequent and not fade to black. ➖ There is a scene where a friend of his talks about using dating apps while under age and explains how he lies about his age to sleep with older people (adult/minor relationships) and at one point Quique decides to give it a try, there is no adult/minor relations however he does go over to this man’s house and it ends up being someone in a position of power over him, again it is not used and is handled well but the man islettuce_read's review
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Mental illness, Drug use, and Homophobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, and Racism