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lily1304's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.5
Lizet's experiences as a Cuban-American first-generation college student are foreign to me, but Crucet is really good at letting the reader get into Lizet's head. I felt like I understood her. Lizet is very different from me, hot-headed, insecure, self-sabotaging, with flickering self-awareness - and I still just really liked her and rooted for her to stick up for herself with integrity.
Lizet really struggles with WEB DuBois' "double consciousness" - seeing herself through the lens of the rich white students and staff at the college. But perhaps a more interesting part of her story is the way she sees herself through the lens of her family and other Cubans. One of the scenes that really stuck with me is Lizet sitting alone at a restaurant, ordering her café con leche in Spanish, proudly seeing herself in the third person as she stirs it.
I really, really liked the ending, which was not happy. I normally love a happy ending, but Lizet's alienation from her family and Miami at the end felt inevitable. There was no sweet lesson learned. Something in Lizet's life was just broken in a way that won't heal.
Lizet really struggles with WEB DuBois' "double consciousness" - seeing herself through the lens of the rich white students and staff at the college. But perhaps a more interesting part of her story is the way she sees herself through the lens of her family and other Cubans. One of the scenes that really stuck with me is Lizet sitting alone at a restaurant, ordering her café con leche in Spanish, proudly seeing herself in the third person as she stirs it.
I really, really liked the ending, which was
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Hate crime, Pregnancy, and Violence
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