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immaculate's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Biphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and 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
evelynyle_88'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
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Homophobia
Moderate: Biphobia, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, and Mass/school shootings
xandry's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Violence, and Hate crime
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry
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)lim's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Biphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Outing
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Sexualizing underage characters, biphobic stereotypes, Christian supremacist undertones, pro traditional marriage message.pey333's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Biphobia
Minor: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Gun violence
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