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A review by angelune
Wait for It by Mariana Zapata
1.0
1,5/5 (0,25 for louie who was the cutest and 0,25 for a non-white main character)
i’m honestly wondering why i still continue to read contemporaries.
i loved kulti, i was okay (meh) with the wall of winnipeg and me, but this book… this goddamn book.
besides the racial comments that are never fully acknowledged (the character is an old lady that calls diana by every stereotypical mexican name, ever, while she’s actually aware of her real surname (it is mentioned that she knows and that she’s doing it on purpose!). it is never brought up because she’s old. well, sorry, but i think the fuck not. that’s not an excuse? there is no excuse for any kind of racism, what the actual fuck tbh???), there is so much internalized misogyny i had to drag myself through the rest of the book without throwing something at a wall. the main character criticizes every woman she meets besides her best-friend, the protagonist of winnipeg, and who is, surprise surprise, her only female friend! the only women who are ‘okay’ are her boss and her cousin. everyone else was a bad mother or a ‘jealous bitch’ (not my words) trying to seduce dallas. honestly wtf.
another thing i hated: diana can’t stand for herself. she has to be constantly rescued by someone (and you can guess yourselves who saves her 99% of the time. sigh)! she has all of this internal monologue, how she’ll kick everyone’s ass but she never does on the pretext that she has to be the role model for the kids (but what kind of role model lets someone bully them without replying?? what a way to set the example for the younger generation!). she always leaves to cry in her own corner because life is hard and people are mean! well, they sure are when you set yourself to be a weakling.
i also had a problem with how her eldest nephew who is ten/eleven is considered to be ‘the man of the house.’ i hate the concept. i hated reading through passages where he tells his grown ass aunt who is turning thirty (!!!) that this one dress isn’t appropriate to wear out (the kid is ten!!!!) and how he ‘gave her up’ to the love interest as if she’s an object or something. the kid is ten!!!!! and even if he was a teenager, an adult, etc, it still doesn’t make it okay. ugh. i feel unsettled just thinking about this kind of mentality.
++ not mentioning how dallas, the hero, wanted to punch everyone on the pretext of being jealous or defending diana’s honor. anger issues much?
i’m so disappointed in zapata. i’ll have to revisit kulti one day, but i’m honestly afraid of what i’ll find there now.
i’m honestly wondering why i still continue to read contemporaries.
i loved kulti, i was okay (meh) with the wall of winnipeg and me, but this book… this goddamn book.
besides the racial comments that are never fully acknowledged (the character is an old lady that calls diana by every stereotypical mexican name, ever, while she’s actually aware of her real surname (it is mentioned that she knows and that she’s doing it on purpose!). it is never brought up because she’s old. well, sorry, but i think the fuck not. that’s not an excuse? there is no excuse for any kind of racism, what the actual fuck tbh???), there is so much internalized misogyny i had to drag myself through the rest of the book without throwing something at a wall. the main character criticizes every woman she meets besides her best-friend, the protagonist of winnipeg, and who is, surprise surprise, her only female friend! the only women who are ‘okay’ are her boss and her cousin. everyone else was a bad mother or a ‘jealous bitch’ (not my words) trying to seduce dallas. honestly wtf.
another thing i hated: diana can’t stand for herself. she has to be constantly rescued by someone (and you can guess yourselves who saves her 99% of the time. sigh)! she has all of this internal monologue, how she’ll kick everyone’s ass but she never does on the pretext that she has to be the role model for the kids (but what kind of role model lets someone bully them without replying?? what a way to set the example for the younger generation!). she always leaves to cry in her own corner because life is hard and people are mean! well, they sure are when you set yourself to be a weakling.
i also had a problem with how her eldest nephew who is ten/eleven is considered to be ‘the man of the house.’ i hate the concept. i hated reading through passages where he tells his grown ass aunt who is turning thirty (!!!) that this one dress isn’t appropriate to wear out (the kid is ten!!!!) and how he ‘gave her up’ to the love interest as if she’s an object or something. the kid is ten!!!!! and even if he was a teenager, an adult, etc, it still doesn’t make it okay. ugh. i feel unsettled just thinking about this kind of mentality.
++ not mentioning how dallas, the hero, wanted to punch everyone on the pretext of being jealous or defending diana’s honor. anger issues much?
i’m so disappointed in zapata. i’ll have to revisit kulti one day, but i’m honestly afraid of what i’ll find there now.