Reviews with content warning for Racism - This Is Why They Hate Us

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

24 reviews

ek_reads's review against another edition

5.0

What a masterpiece! Quique’s summer is full of pining and angst and questioning. He makes a lot of dumb choices, and he learns a lot about himself and how he fits into his world. Excellent storytelling.

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letsgolesbians's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Content Warnings

the_readingraven's review against another edition

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emotional slow-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? N/A

3.25

I can't tell if I like this or not. :/ There are elements that I enjoyed and others that felt a bit discouraging. I say this is a 3.25 rating.

I guess we can start with things that irked me or I didn't get. I didn't realize how horny teen boys are. Like omfg, every person that our main character Enrique aka Quique talks to he checks out and mentally notes if they are hot or not or if they get him horny. I wasn't expecting this to be so sexual since our MC is a junior in high school, lmao. I think his character was created with raging hormones in mind! Also, for a kid who claims he isn't confident in himself or believes no one will like him, while also trying to keep his bisexuality on the down low, he sure is ok with getting his point across to several contenders in his search for a romantic partner. I think my biggest issue with Quique is he's just outing people to his friends and some of his "partners". In my opinion, that is not cool. There is even a character that Quique outs to several people then we find out later in the book

is not even gay! They were questioning their sexuality but discovered that he was straight. But now 5 people think he's gay!

Also, the main romantic character that Quique pursues is only in the book 20% of the time! I thought they were cute together and felt the book dragged when our MC was pursuing other leads. I wanted more of this character and was hoping for more insight into their relationship as an actual couple since Quique so badly wants to be loved by someone. I wish it focused more on them towards the end but it was wrapping up the loose ends of other plot points.

I loved the diversity in this book. In true Cali fashion, we have characters of all colors and backgrounds. It's so refreshing to read about and is very realistic. I did enjoy the Latine representation as well! Quiques family reminds me a lot of my family. The drinking at the restaurant is totally my mom and stepdad, lmao. I loved how accepting his parents were of his mental health struggles, they still have to work on his sexual acceptance but it's honestly much better compared to how other Latine families would react. I really like how this book handled Quiques mental health struggles as well. I appreciate how this character is realizing something is wrong and going to his parents when in need. I think this will show readers it is ok to seek out guidance and help. Also, Quiques mental health, explains a lot of the things that discouraged me when reading. His at times erratic behavior, high sexual need, the constant worry of something bad happening, it started to all make sense. Overall, I did like this book and glad that I read it! Even though I struggled with some things I do think I learned a new perspective as well.

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jurgbury's review

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challenging emotional 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

4.5

This is a lovely YA book that I highly recommend but it does have more sexual content than a lot of other YA books. Enrique and Salem are darling characters and I enjoyed following their story over a summer and their relationships with their friends.

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julian7's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.5

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its_vendetta's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted sad tense 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

4.75

Ugh this book was so good i’m so upset that it’s over!! This book hit me in ways others didn’t. Enrique‘s descriptions of his mental health and his insecurities surrounding himself in comparison to other queer people around him is so relatable it hurts. The discussion around biphobia was especially personal to me as well, and was done perfectly.
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.

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litoreads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

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jaelovesbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

I loved 90% of this book and I adored the main character. He was well written and interesting. His experiences were relatable. The 10% I took issue with concerned me deeply.

It was his relationship with a teacher. Kids need queer adults in their lives and the MC definitely needed some advice from a mature queer person. BUT it wasn’t okay for the teacher to hit on him on an app (the MC lied about his age; teacher didn’t know) and then still invite him into his home alone once he found out that the his date was actually an underage student. The MC proceeds to hit on and flirt with the teacher; no, the teacher doesn’t reciprocate but he doesn’t put proper boundaries in place. I was frustrated because I really liked the teacher initially, but I don’t think it was appropriate how this interaction went in the book. If the teacher wanted to give advice, they should’ve gone to a public, neutral place. They absolutely should not have been alone in the teacher’s home. Also, this happened twice, and the teacher has to ask the MC to please note tell anyone. Absolutely sketchy. Different boundaries should have been modeled imo.

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hobbithopeful's review against another edition

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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

4.5

The best way to get over someone, is to get under someone else...right?
Enrique (Quique) is trying to get over a one-sided crush on his friend Saleem by having a hot slut summer. Quique's parents don't know that he is bisexual, and he has zero dating skills but that doesn't stop him from pursuing 3 different guys. All with very different results.
I love how sex positive this book is, people who don't like those elements always confuse me. Let's think back to when we were all teenagers okay? Hormones and horniness doesn't magically appear when you become an adult!
One of my biggest issues with reading YA books is sometimes the teenagers don't read like teenagers. This was not the case here, Quique is messy and just trying to figure himself out. I love the friendship he has with Fabiola, and how supportive his parents try to be with his mental health.
I am so grateful that Quique didn't

end up with the white guy!

I never know why so many BIPOC authors love having their characters have multiple love interests and then always end up with that specific person. MAJOR props to Aceves for actually writing the white character how a white person...well you'll see when you read it.
I've had this book on my tbr for a long time, I put off reading it because I was afraid the content was going to be too heavy for me. There are discussions around mental health, and biphobia, but nothing at all what I thought it might be about. I wish I had read it sooner.
The only reason this isn't 5 stars for me, I did have a few problems with some of the pacing at time, I felt like I kept waiting for the plot to move forward. I also had trouble caring about some of Quique's love interests.
All in all I really I enjoyed this book, I always love reading stories by chicano authors.
Highly recommend, perfect for fans of queer diverse stories with messy main characters! This is my first book by Aaron H. Aceves, and I will definitely read more of his writing.

Content Warnings

xandry's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.0

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