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A review by joceraptor
The Victoria in My Head by Janelle Milanes
5.0
UPDATE: because maybe I should try to give an actual review?
The first thing I want to get out of the way is that this is a completely subjective 5-star read that, if I wasn't in the right state for/if I had ever had something that represented me in this way growing up, I might not have loved as much but you can fight me if you think I'm going to change that rating.
In essence, this is a sweet, coming of age contemporary that's centered around a young Cuban-American girl who's learning to rebel a little bit so she can carve out her own space. She is a scholarship student in a Manhattan school, and so most of her peers are affluent. The pressure she gets from her parents is impacted by her culture, her parents' socio-economic status, her desire to be a "good daughter" and fulfill all their American dreams, and all of it hit home for me. She, like so many other latinx kids in the States, isn't "enough" of one or the other.
Enter: a boy. (Of course, but please don't roll your eyes just yet.) When Victoria sees said boy hanging up singer auditions for a band, she impulsively takes the flyer. She isn't sure if she's actually interested or if she just wants something to break up the monotony of her life, but she takes it regardless. Since this is a book, I'm sure we all assumed that she does end up auditioning and the band does become a central part of the book, and congratulations we're all right. But it's what happens because of this band - the forming of new friendships, exploring romantic relationships and heartbreak, and especially Victoria learning how to assert herself - that truly make this book stand out. Victoria's life becomes that of every other messy teenager and that alone makes me cry. Latinx and other POC have been told again and again that their lives should be confined to "issue books," the books that talk about race and oppression and trauma. And while those stories are all necessary and true, sometimes it's nice to just see ourselves live. So please don't tell me that this book isn't relatable because her parents don't go around talking about cigars and Castro constantly. Milanes writes wonderfully, and created the best kind of cute, tropey romance, which meant Victoria immediately became a new favorite.
I am so unbelievably ready to reread this book. Until then, I'm gonna keep this playlist on repeat.
----
So Milanes did this thing where she lured me into this story in the most unassuming way. I should've known with the first chapter being Mitski's "Your Best American Girl" that The Victoria in My Head would be more than I had in mind. A fluffy, YA, own voices, Cuban-American contemporary book is the exact thing I never had when I needed it most and I was instantly sucked in. It was cute. It was comfortable. Victoria was relatable.
Now - not even 24 hours later - I'm listening to the playlist of all the songs referenced and so very in my feelings that I'm crying over nothing and don't know how I'm going to recover.
The first thing I want to get out of the way is that this is a completely subjective 5-star read that, if I wasn't in the right state for/if I had ever had something that represented me in this way growing up, I might not have loved as much but you can fight me if you think I'm going to change that rating.
In essence, this is a sweet, coming of age contemporary that's centered around a young Cuban-American girl who's learning to rebel a little bit so she can carve out her own space. She is a scholarship student in a Manhattan school, and so most of her peers are affluent. The pressure she gets from her parents is impacted by her culture, her parents' socio-economic status, her desire to be a "good daughter" and fulfill all their American dreams, and all of it hit home for me. She, like so many other latinx kids in the States, isn't "enough" of one or the other.
Here’s the thing—I’m in between two worlds, but I can’t fit into either one perfectly. I can round my words when I speak English so that there’s no trace of my family’s accent. Pull my hair up into a bun so you can’t see how wild and unconfined it is. My skin is pale enough to make me ethnically ambiguous—I can pass for Italian or Greek or French. But when I’m around all my Cuban relatives, I don’t feel quite right either. My Spanish is clunky, and I’ve never spoken it fluently so I opt to keep my phrases short, a barely passable Spanglish. I don’t bother with quinces or feel any nostalgia for a country I’ve never visited.
Enter: a boy. (Of course, but please don't roll your eyes just yet.) When Victoria sees said boy hanging up singer auditions for a band, she impulsively takes the flyer. She isn't sure if she's actually interested or if she just wants something to break up the monotony of her life, but she takes it regardless. Since this is a book, I'm sure we all assumed that she does end up auditioning and the band does become a central part of the book, and congratulations we're all right. But it's what happens because of this band - the forming of new friendships, exploring romantic relationships and heartbreak, and especially Victoria learning how to assert herself - that truly make this book stand out. Victoria's life becomes that of every other messy teenager and that alone makes me cry. Latinx and other POC have been told again and again that their lives should be confined to "issue books," the books that talk about race and oppression and trauma. And while those stories are all necessary and true, sometimes it's nice to just see ourselves live. So please don't tell me that this book isn't relatable because her parents don't go around talking about cigars and Castro constantly. Milanes writes wonderfully, and created the best kind of cute, tropey romance, which meant Victoria immediately became a new favorite.
I am so unbelievably ready to reread this book. Until then, I'm gonna keep this playlist on repeat.
----
So Milanes did this thing where she lured me into this story in the most unassuming way. I should've known with the first chapter being Mitski's "Your Best American Girl" that The Victoria in My Head would be more than I had in mind. A fluffy, YA, own voices, Cuban-American contemporary book is the exact thing I never had when I needed it most and I was instantly sucked in. It was cute. It was comfortable. Victoria was relatable.
Now - not even 24 hours later - I'm listening to the playlist of all the songs referenced and so very in my feelings that I'm crying over nothing and don't know how I'm going to recover.