Take a photo of a barcode or cover
enne 's review for:
Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe
by Carlos Hernandez
4 stars
I would give anything to spend another book with Sal and Gabi because reading about them brings so much joy to my life. Reading this duology was genuinely one of the best reading experiences I've had in a while and I can't recommend it enough.
The writing style in this one does a really great job with establishing the voice of the MC, which had me invested in the story within the first few pages because I absolutely adored the main character. Again, Sal goes through so much growth in this book and I loved seeing all of his friendships develop. I especially loved the development of his friendship with Yasmany because I really appreciated the way it was paced and just the way it was handled as a whole. Of course, Sal's friendship with Gabi is also really fun to read about in this book and I loved how the fact that it had already been established in the previous book really allowed the author to explore it in this one.
I also think it would be amiss of me to not mention the family dynamics in this book because not only are family dynamics one of my absolute favorite things to read about in middle grade, but also the ones in this series are just so well-established and so fun to read about and I just... adore them with my entire heart. Sal's and Gabi's relationships with their families were such a joy to read about and I appreciated every second we got to spend reading about them. We also got to know Gabi's dads a lot better in this one, which I really appreciated because I wished we had seen more of them in book one.
Speaking of characters I absolutely loved reading about, I also can't help but want to mention all of the AI in this book because?? they actually had really well-developed personalities?? and also they were hilarious?? I laughed out-loud multiple times while reading their dialogue and I honestly love them?? They just brought so much to the story when I definitely wasn't expecting it from them, so it was a welcome surprise.
I also once again feel the need to mention just how much I adored Sal's school. And I already talked about this in my review of the first book, but oh my god!! It just feels like such a safe and welcoming environment and I absolutely adored reading about?? The principal and all the teachers are so supportive and just do the best they can for their students and I wish more schools irl were like this.
Moving on and talking about the plot of this story, I think what this book does really well is that it really feels like a sequel. So much of the things that happen in this book are directly connected to things that happened in book one and those things are constantly referenced and that really made this book feel like a part of a series, which I feel like doesn't tend to happen often with the sequels I read. But I also think this book did a good job of establishing its own plot and still having those plot essentials while remaining connected to the first book. I also adored the ending of this one!
I really loved how much more exploration of the world we got in this installment as well. I think it really developed on the whole concept of the multiverse really well and introduced a lot of cool new concepts that would be a lot of fun to explore! That said, though, there were so many things that this book introduced that didn't really get to be explored properly, which I feel like is a missed opportunity, so in conclusion, I am respectfully asking for a third book in the Sal and Gabi series because I'm not ready to let these characters go yet.
Overall, though, this series reminded me just how much fun middle grade can really be and why I love it so much. It's filled to the brim with themes of friendship and familial love and you can really tell just how much care went into crafting this story. Absolutely cannot recommend this one enough.
I would give anything to spend another book with Sal and Gabi because reading about them brings so much joy to my life. Reading this duology was genuinely one of the best reading experiences I've had in a while and I can't recommend it enough.
The writing style in this one does a really great job with establishing the voice of the MC, which had me invested in the story within the first few pages because I absolutely adored the main character. Again, Sal goes through so much growth in this book and I loved seeing all of his friendships develop. I especially loved the development of his friendship with Yasmany because I really appreciated the way it was paced and just the way it was handled as a whole. Of course, Sal's friendship with Gabi is also really fun to read about in this book and I loved how the fact that it had already been established in the previous book really allowed the author to explore it in this one.
I also think it would be amiss of me to not mention the family dynamics in this book because not only are family dynamics one of my absolute favorite things to read about in middle grade, but also the ones in this series are just so well-established and so fun to read about and I just... adore them with my entire heart. Sal's and Gabi's relationships with their families were such a joy to read about and I appreciated every second we got to spend reading about them. We also got to know Gabi's dads a lot better in this one, which I really appreciated because I wished we had seen more of them in book one.
Speaking of characters I absolutely loved reading about, I also can't help but want to mention all of the AI in this book because?? they actually had really well-developed personalities?? and also they were hilarious?? I laughed out-loud multiple times while reading their dialogue and I honestly love them?? They just brought so much to the story when I definitely wasn't expecting it from them, so it was a welcome surprise.
I also once again feel the need to mention just how much I adored Sal's school. And I already talked about this in my review of the first book, but oh my god!! It just feels like such a safe and welcoming environment and I absolutely adored reading about?? The principal and all the teachers are so supportive and just do the best they can for their students and I wish more schools irl were like this.
Moving on and talking about the plot of this story, I think what this book does really well is that it really feels like a sequel. So much of the things that happen in this book are directly connected to things that happened in book one and those things are constantly referenced and that really made this book feel like a part of a series, which I feel like doesn't tend to happen often with the sequels I read. But I also think this book did a good job of establishing its own plot and still having those plot essentials while remaining connected to the first book. I also adored the ending of this one!
I really loved how much more exploration of the world we got in this installment as well. I think it really developed on the whole concept of the multiverse really well and introduced a lot of cool new concepts that would be a lot of fun to explore! That said, though, there were so many things that this book introduced that didn't really get to be explored properly, which I feel like is a missed opportunity, so in conclusion, I am respectfully asking for a third book in the Sal and Gabi series because I'm not ready to let these characters go yet.
Overall, though, this series reminded me just how much fun middle grade can really be and why I love it so much. It's filled to the brim with themes of friendship and familial love and you can really tell just how much care went into crafting this story. Absolutely cannot recommend this one enough.