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A review by jess_segraves
One Year of Ugly by Caroline MacKenzie
4.0
While #readcaribbean is “over” (as a month-long challenge), I’m excited about all of the amazing Caribbean-authored books on my TBR and will be continuing to read Caribbean all year long.
But let’s get to the good stuff. ONE YEAR OF UGLY by @carolinemackenziewrites, out July 7 in the U.S. (Thank you @netgalley, @37inkbooks, @simonbooks for the digital ARC.) This book is hilarious. Here’s my one-sentence synopsis: an undocumented Venezuelan family living in Trinidad ends up indebted to a local crime lord; shenanigans ensue. This is contemporary fiction that explores tough issues in a really fun way. It’s so hard to explain how funny and astute this book is without a couple of quotes.
〰️ “So I boarded the denial canoe alongside the twins and picked up my oar.”
〰️ “I’d have asked her about it, but she and my mother were doing this classic woman thing where they didn’t say a word but were doing everything with passive-aggressive force, slicing into baked potatoes like they were disemboweling torture victims, launching balled-up foil into the garbage with the undue force of an Olympian hurling a discus.” (Obviously this one purports a stereotype around women’s anger, which may or may not resonate with you, but nonetheless this paints a word picture.)
This book is perfect for a hot summer day or a long weekend, and I’m really glad I read it. Not only was it a fun romp, I also learned a lot about Venezuelan perception in Trinidad. While I studied Venezuelan politics in college, I’m not as up-to-date on current state; embarrassingly, I didn’t even realize quite how close Venezuela and Trinidad are in geographic proximity. I’m looking forward to learning more!
But let’s get to the good stuff. ONE YEAR OF UGLY by @carolinemackenziewrites, out July 7 in the U.S. (Thank you @netgalley, @37inkbooks, @simonbooks for the digital ARC.) This book is hilarious. Here’s my one-sentence synopsis: an undocumented Venezuelan family living in Trinidad ends up indebted to a local crime lord; shenanigans ensue. This is contemporary fiction that explores tough issues in a really fun way. It’s so hard to explain how funny and astute this book is without a couple of quotes.
〰️ “So I boarded the denial canoe alongside the twins and picked up my oar.”
〰️ “I’d have asked her about it, but she and my mother were doing this classic woman thing where they didn’t say a word but were doing everything with passive-aggressive force, slicing into baked potatoes like they were disemboweling torture victims, launching balled-up foil into the garbage with the undue force of an Olympian hurling a discus.” (Obviously this one purports a stereotype around women’s anger, which may or may not resonate with you, but nonetheless this paints a word picture.)
This book is perfect for a hot summer day or a long weekend, and I’m really glad I read it. Not only was it a fun romp, I also learned a lot about Venezuelan perception in Trinidad. While I studied Venezuelan politics in college, I’m not as up-to-date on current state; embarrassingly, I didn’t even realize quite how close Venezuela and Trinidad are in geographic proximity. I’m looking forward to learning more!