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introvertinterrupted's Reviews (1.08k)
This one was just okay for me.
Check out my video review of this book along with [b:Shug|259068|Shug|Jenny Han|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1344397585s/259068.jpg|1069137], which is a middle grade-ish YA book by Jenny Han, on my YouTube channel, The Young, The Broke, & The Bookish.
I spent the first quarter of 2014 anticipating this book, which caused me to prop it up on such a high pedestal that there is a chance, my 3 star* rating could be seen as blasphemy to some Han fans. However, I stand by it.
This specific book had far too many confusing and not entirely flushed out moments to surpass the "okay" mark for me. Not to mention, Han didn't really need to make this into a duology for it to be good. The standard YA romance ending would've sufficed and the cliff ending threw me off since the outcome of Lara Jean and Peter's relationship is so obvious a blind person could see the sparks flying between them Nevertheless, I'll still be reading the sequel.
*I reread this book and can see the cheesy factor as more endearing in hindsight. Kitty still reads as a 6/7 year old character opposed to the nine year old sheâs supposed to be. Laura Jean feels a bit naive yet, I can see how her character was perfectly crafted for this particular narrative. Her quirkiness feels authentic and just right for this type of cliched novel.
Check out my video review of this book along with [b:Shug|259068|Shug|Jenny Han|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1344397585s/259068.jpg|1069137], which is a middle grade-ish YA book by Jenny Han, on my YouTube channel, The Young, The Broke, & The Bookish.
I spent the first quarter of 2014 anticipating this book, which caused me to prop it up on such a high pedestal that there is a chance, my 3 star* rating could be seen as blasphemy to some Han fans. However, I stand by it.
This specific book had far too many confusing and not entirely flushed out moments to surpass the "okay" mark for me. Not to mention, Han didn't really need to make this into a duology for it to be good. The standard YA romance ending would've sufficed and the cliff ending threw me off since the outcome of Lara Jean and Peter's relationship is so obvious a blind person could see the sparks flying between them Nevertheless, I'll still be reading the sequel.
*I reread this book and can see the cheesy factor as more endearing in hindsight. Kitty still reads as a 6/7 year old character opposed to the nine year old sheâs supposed to be. Laura Jean feels a bit naive yet, I can see how her character was perfectly crafted for this particular narrative. Her quirkiness feels authentic and just right for this type of cliched novel.
In I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Erika L. SĂĄnchez wrote a believable narrative of an angsty and unhappy teenager whoâs dealing with the aftermath of her sisterâs death. The story started off slow for me, but by the last 100 or so pages, I found myself feeling more sympathetic toward Julia, the main character. However, I couldnât help feeling like SĂĄnchezâs character lacked depth and seemed devoid of the ability to see beyond her own nose in the fact that she was entirely too judgemental toward everyone around her and jumped to conclusions too easily.
Furthermore, the usage of mental illness felt half-baked for me in the characterâs development and it almost felt like the author may have used it as a means to round out Juliaâs character. For me, had this issue not been presented to the story, the book wouldâve dipped lower than a three star rating since the topic was used unorganically as a plot device and instead just felt like a prop for the story.
I personally felt that the whole âangsty, first generation Mexican teenâ coming of age story was done better in [b: Gabi, A Girl In Pieces|20702546|Gabi, a Girl in Pieces|Isabel Quintero|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400939056s/20702546.jpg|40022380] by Isabel Quintero, which covers many of the same topics as SĂĄnchezâs bookbesides suicide much better in a more in-depth and original way. Iâm extremely sad I didnât enjoy this book more since it was one of my top anticipated stories for the year.
Furthermore, the usage of mental illness felt half-baked for me in the characterâs development and it almost felt like the author may have used it as a means to round out Juliaâs character. For me, had this issue not been presented to the story, the book wouldâve dipped lower than a three star rating since the topic was used unorganically as a plot device and instead just felt like a prop for the story.
I personally felt that the whole âangsty, first generation Mexican teenâ coming of age story was done better in [b: Gabi, A Girl In Pieces|20702546|Gabi, a Girl in Pieces|Isabel Quintero|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400939056s/20702546.jpg|40022380] by Isabel Quintero, which covers many of the same topics as SĂĄnchezâs book
