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aly97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault
bella_cavicchi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Cursing, War, Racism, Rape, and Infidelity
iris3271's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation and Rape
Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Outing, and Death of parent
readbycarina's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Colonisation, Rape, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, and Physical abuse
katiejohns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Rape, Grief, Drug use, War, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Abortion, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Death of parent
mattyvreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Here are some things that I think that the author does quite well:
> Has a meaningful and nuanced dialogue about parental neglect, emotional abuse, and exploitation, in an otherwise less-than-subtle story.
> Centers gay people and women.
> Was genuinely exciting in parts.
> Has moments of emotionality and tenderness.
> Has a beautiful book cover. The best I’ve seen all year.
Okay, that’s about it.
Honestly, once I suspended disbelief, I enjoyed a lot of the story, particularly the middle third which was really successful for me. The characters themselves are very intriguing, and the plot kept me guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of it. Other times, it was a chore to turn the page.
Here are things about the book I don’t care for:
> The dialogue and actions of the characters is ultra-stylized and over-the-top. That style didn’t really click for me.
> I found all the characters vaguely annoying. All of them.
> Some of the talking points in the book felt entirely unfinished, unearned, or even sometimes, disrespectful. (Many made contextual sense! These moments were really successful: a thorough discussion of closeted homosexuality and the pressures of a Catholic upbringing. Emotional abuse and neglect. The problematicism of white social justice warriors. Colorism. A denouncement of “elevating” foreign food. Talking about the lack of mainland aid from America in the wake of Hurricane Irma and Maria. That was all fascinating and so successful.) The talking points which felt unearned or disrespectful: random invocation of unrelated national tragedies and genocide. A quick and unresolved discussion of sexual assault. Seemingly, a few misguided jabs at the leftist youth of America?
The author would sometimes make actual critique, but I often wondered what point the author was trying to make, or if there was a point with those latter topics. Mostly it felt that the author was almost saying something, and then chose not to. Saying a lot, but saying nothing —
Olga briefly mentions that she refuses to think about the incident as it would “make her a victim.” As if people who are survivors of sexual assault are somehow inferior? Or just the way that they respond to it makes them somehow inferior? Hmm… It’s a deeply troubling sentiment.
When she reveals this news to her boyfriend, the author had the chance to say something in that moment. Instead he responds with some unimpressive remark, and then proceeds to scold her about other elements of their relationship! And that’s the last we hear of it!! Like….? I just don’t get it.
And one could make the argument that sometimes people don’t know what to say, and maybe this is the realistic response for that character, but the rest of the book doesn’t have realistic dialogue! Why should we just settle for this right before the “happily ever after”?
Oh also, at one point, the protagonist randomly sh!ts on sex workers, and there’s another part where her niece corrects her brother to say “queer” instead of “gay”. Those moments gave me slight pause. It does center a gay character, but the text oozed heterosexuality in a way that was confusing and disinteresting to me.
Overall, I liked parts of the book, but would probably not read it again.
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Outing
goldenjunegem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Addiction, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Violence, Abortion, Gun violence, and Rape
teatunesandtales's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Homophobia, War, Death of parent, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, Xenophobia, Outing, and Infidelity
Minor: Abortion, Drug use, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, and Addiction
astoriareader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
- Olga & Pedro (“Pierto”) Acevedo are siblings, who were born & raised in Brooklyn. Olga is a wedding planner for rich folks, and Pierto is a Congressman. They are in their 40s.
- Both siblings are smart, savvy, educated, and Puerto Rican.
- Their father died when they were young, and their mother abandoned them prior to their dad’s death. Their mother is an estranged radical, who is fighting for the liberation of Puerto Rico.
- When Hurricane Maria hits, many issues come up for the siblings.
- I wanted to like this novel, as it nice to see Puerto Rican representation in literature, but this fell flat for me. Although, clearly, I am an outlier with the rave reviews.
- There were too many plots going on at once.
- The writing style felt very juvenile, YA to me.
- I didn’t find the two main characters very likable. I also didn’t like how the author portrayed them.
- I didn’t find being closeted in NYC in 2017 to be very believable.
- Some of the characters felt like caricatures & not realistic.
- I appreciated a lot of points made about colonization & Puerto Rico, but I felt the author wasn’t clear where she actually landed. The “radical” group of revolutionaries are vilified throughout the book, and government intervention is equally criticized. It makes it unclear what route people should support.
Graphic: Colonisation and Abandonment
Moderate: Racism, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Classism
Minor: Abortion
ashwaar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death of parent, Self harm, Classism, Cursing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Racism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic