danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked this one a lot. A teenage Colombian immigrant moves to Miami with her mentally ill mother and alcoholic grandmother and has her queer awakening while volunteering at the local evangelical church... as one does.
For what sounds like it could be a super heavy story, the book is written in first person and the voice of the main character is sardonic and whip smart the whole way through. Also, as some other reviews note, the narrators voice is written in some pretty unapologetic Spanglish. I don’t speak a word of Spanish, and I had no problem getting through the text. So if you’re not a Spanish speaker, don’t be daunted by that fact! It’s still very much accessible to non Spanish speakers.
My only criticism is sometimes it was more alienating than it needed to be in moments where I really wanted to sit in the emotionality of a moment. But a fun snappy read nonetheless!
My only criticism is sometimes it was more alienating than it needed to be in moments where I really wanted to sit in the emotionality of a moment. But a fun snappy read nonetheless!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Classism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Sexual content
womanwill's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
just_one_more_paige's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.5
“Women in my family possessed a sixth sense, not necessarily from being mothers, but from the close policing of our sadness: your tristeza wasn’t yours, it was part of the larger collective Female Sadness jar to which we all contributed.”
"Mothers are capable of destroying worlds, the world, if they want to.”
My 12th Aspen Words Literary Prize 2021 longlist read. This is one I had definitely planned to read, regardless of prize listings. The second I heard that it was written in Spanglish I was IN. So unique and so wonderfully about time (as in, hopefully soon, it won’t be that unique anymore). And I’m not overlooking the opportunity it gave me to flex my Spanish (and learn some really fun new phrases and slang) with some serious scaffolding. Not at all the intended audience, and I recognize that completely, but it did work out nicely.
When Francisca’s mother uproots her and her sister and moves them, along with their grandmother, away from her home in Bogotá to a foreign, swampy, run down existence in Miami, as a “new start,” she is miserable. Forced to attend youth meetings at the over-the-top evangelical church her mother and grandmother join, while dealing with not speaking the language, knowing no one, hating the weather, and watching the mental-state deterioration of both her maternal guardians, Francisca herself is totally lost. Trying to navigate her coming-of-age in both a religious and sexual sense, drawn to the charismatic youth group leader, Carmen, Francisca gets pulled into the church against her will and faces tragic emotional fallout.
What a powerhouse of a narrative! I have never read anything with this much frenetic energy in the writing. I literally couldn’t read fast enough. I think I made notes along these lines like fifteen different times while reading this, but honestly, and (sort of) excuse my language here, but what a f*cking VOICE. I will read everything Delgado Lopera publishes after this. I’ve never read anything with a flow and vibe like this. And yes, it’s the Spanglish (the Spanglish was amazing, perfect), but it’s so much more than that. Francisca’s narration is some of the most real, genuine, contemporary adolescent-voiced perspective that I’ve ever experienced.
Beyond that, the story itself, for what it is, is very compelling. It’s an interesting sort of non-plot, that is more of a character exposition than anything else. It drifts, a little bit, as it goes, and I would have liked it to be a bit tighter on this front, but it’s not a major complaint, as Francisca and the women of her family are the center stage either way. Delgado Lopera writes Francisca’s simultaneous sexual and spiritual relationships are interwoven in a masterful, from the building of each in concert with the other to the inevitable waning of the feelings of “first love” in both. The general juxtaposition here, of faith and lust, is just phenomenal. The experience of losing of oneself in relationships and what those partners (ecclesiastical and romantic) want is presented as the integral piece of adolescence that it is. And the coming of age after that, when you coming into making decisions for YOU instead, is portrayed with the exact difficultly and pain and self-realization that it really has. Plus, the lost-loneliness feelings of all that is exacerbated by being in a foreign country (nothing recognizable), an unstable family/community situation, a mentally struggling parent, and the limiting judgmental boundaries of religion for a young queer person (a struggle even more so when that church is the only option for society), in perfect tone with Delgado Lopera’s writing. Also, the two flashback chapters, one to Fracisca’s mother’s youth and one to her grandmother’s, do a fantastic job both putting her own story into context and showing the intergenerational consistency in coming-of-age, in this case, especially for women. Beautifully done.
This short novel was chock full of fire and spirit and tragedy and particular loneliness in a way that can only be truly understood by reading it yourself. It’s full of attitude and depth in wonderfully equal measure. And it is all enhanced by the Spanglish, making it clear who the book is meant for, while never shutting out a wider lingual audience. Don’t be intimated by that piece of it – you’ll get the reading experience of a lifetime no matter what your Spanish-comprehension level is (and, of course, there’s always Google.) Reading this was more than reading, it was an experience. Vibrant, live-wire, with a youth spark and snark that is true in any language.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Alcoholism
internationalreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
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