A review by lawbooks600
Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango

emotional 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? No

4.0

Representation: Latino/a characters
Score: Seven out of ten.

I haven't heard of Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango, a verse novel targeted at a younger audience, until a few days ago, when I found an eBook edition in a library when it was difficult to get it physically because no library had this one in that form. After glancing at the intriguing blurb, I read and enjoyed it.

It starts with Laura having to move to her aunt's house in a faraway location in the opening pages after her parents had issues that had been going on for who knows how long, but it's not a good sign. Laura struggles to adjust to living with her aunt and going to a school as the new kid, but at least she makes some friends there. Laura thinks the situation looks bleak for her until she comes across a dog, whom she hopes to train to become a therapy dog to improve her life. I'm not sure where to begin with Something Like Home, but I'll start with the positives, I liked the positive moments, especially the ones where Laura is with her dog and tries to start a relationship with her aunt (she has to anyway.) The characters are likable but I couldn't relate to them since I don't live the same experience as Laura, yet others could relate. I appreciated the narrative trying to bring hope to Laura's parents when they tried therapy to get over their drug addiction, but unfortunately that doesn't pan out well. The plot is simple--most likely targeted for a younger audience, however, I can't get over the writing style as Arango used few poetry devices and instead made her work look like spaced out prose. Incorporating more devices could've made Something Like Home more engaging, and for a book under 300 pages, it's slow paced sometimes with filler pages that needed removal. The conclusion is bittersweet as Laura had to live with her aunt forever despite her best efforts to reside with her parents again.
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