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A review by teresarosereads
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
I feel like this book would be so important for teen readers to pick up and very relatable to so many. The novel covers so many different topics that affect teen lives including mental health, difficult family dynamics, the immigrant experience, having your first kiss and first sexual encounter, teen pregnancy, and more. Having just read the author's memoir before this, I could tell that she put a lot of her own experiences into the novel which was interesting to see.
The main character could be very judgy and negative at times which I've seen people criticize, but I felt like a lot of her judgment came from the fact that everyone was also judging her life and from her feeling like no one around her sees or understands who she truly is. The more I read the novel the more I felt that I understood her perspective and I really wanted her to find someone who truly understood her.
What is keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that I almost felt like it was trying to cover too many topics at once. All of the themes it discussed were important, but I felt like some topics weren't as deeply explored as they could have been if the novel only focused on a few specific topics. I wanted more details and exploration from some portions and I sometimes felt like the pacing was a bit choppy. I think the story felt unfocused at times and the more that new topics were introduced the more the story started to feel a bit crowded. I would have preferred if the story focused on a few key themes and explored them deeply instead of trying to cover everything.
That being said, I still think teen readers and even adults would gain something from reading this and it is definitely a book I would want in my future classroom.
The main character could be very judgy and negative at times which I've seen people criticize, but I felt like a lot of her judgment came from the fact that everyone was also judging her life and from her feeling like no one around her sees or understands who she truly is. The more I read the novel the more I felt that I understood her perspective and I really wanted her to find someone who truly understood her.
What is keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that I almost felt like it was trying to cover too many topics at once. All of the themes it discussed were important, but I felt like some topics weren't as deeply explored as they could have been if the novel only focused on a few specific topics. I wanted more details and exploration from some portions and I sometimes felt like the pacing was a bit choppy. I think the story felt unfocused at times and the more that new topics were introduced the more the story started to feel a bit crowded. I would have preferred if the story focused on a few key themes and explored them deeply instead of trying to cover everything.
That being said, I still think teen readers and even adults would gain something from reading this and it is definitely a book I would want in my future classroom.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, Self harm, and Mental illness
Minor: Rape