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A review by barrosonm
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
2.0
The more I think about this book, the more I find issues with it. I was originally really excited to read it because the protagonist is Brazilian-American. I believe this is my first time reading a book where my culture is represented. That being said, it’s very obvious this book was written for white American readers. The food and other aspects of Brazilian culture were overly explained.
I think about authors like Elizabeth Acevado and books like Fúria when I think about effective representation of Latino culture written for a broad audience. There is just enough description of the places and cultures that the reader can envision them, but not so much that it feels like a tourist’s travel guide. If the reader is still curious about something that’s being mentioned… google it.
The characters also lacked depth. There was very little growth from any of them. Because the individual characters lacked depth, the relationships also lacked it. I found myself not really caring whether Lina and Max ended up together. This lack of depth also led to a shallow representation of Brazilian culture. It’s so much more than food and samba.
Overall this was an okay rom-com and a forgettable book. Well, maybe I won’t forget the poor representation of my culture so soon.
I think about authors like Elizabeth Acevado and books like Fúria when I think about effective representation of Latino culture written for a broad audience. There is just enough description of the places and cultures that the reader can envision them, but not so much that it feels like a tourist’s travel guide. If the reader is still curious about something that’s being mentioned… google it.
The characters also lacked depth. There was very little growth from any of them. Because the individual characters lacked depth, the relationships also lacked it. I found myself not really caring whether Lina and Max ended up together. This lack of depth also led to a shallow representation of Brazilian culture. It’s so much more than food and samba.
Overall this was an okay rom-com and a forgettable book. Well, maybe I won’t forget the poor representation of my culture so soon.