apricothopeful's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.75


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maikendignes's review

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emotional hopeful
  • 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

This was a rollercoaster and I absolutely loved it! The prose were great, and the author had me in tears one minute, and smiling the next. Definitely exceeded my expectations considering that I’d seen a lot of mixed reviews. It’s a bit slow paced in the beginning, but it is definitely worth it in my opinion.

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mckinnley16's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

After reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe I decided I needed to read Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s entire YA backlog and this was the second book of his I picked up. 

A very interesting take on what makes a family. Is it the people who’s genetics you share? The people who raise you? Or the people who accept you for who you are and care for you regardless of blood? This is a book about love, loss, found families, and finding out who you are. I absolutely adored it!

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nefari_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

“She knew I hated being called white boy. Even though I was technically a white boy, I was raised in a Mexican family. So I didn’t qualify as your average white boy. “

“The B word is the N-word for girls. I hate that. What kind of feminist are you, anyway? “

“One of the great things about Sam was that she didn’t throw like a girl. “

“You know, for a gay guy, my dad was pretty straight. “

“And Fito’s such a schizophrenic dork. “

These direct quotes….speak for themselves 🙃. I can’t believe this is the same author who wrote 2 of my favorite books. 

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teatales's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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

5.0

What a beautiful story about loss and grief and family and love. Benjamin Alire Sáenz's words fill me with indescribable emotion. I loved all of the characters, I loved their relationships. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I still feel like Salvador in many ways - all this anger or fear as Vicente calls it, and nowhere to put it. No understanding of where I'm heading. Sam is so utterly herself it's enviable. Fito is such a shining light. Vicente and Mima are the best family anyone could ask for. A wonderful reminder about tenderness. 

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bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-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

This writing style is kinda choppy, like it's mostly simple sentences, but I guess that's what makes the 450 pages feel like an easy read. Not sure the author really knows any teenagers in real life, but they don't text like that. Who shortens don't to dn't keeping the apostrophe? Besides minor nitpicky things like that, this really was a beautiful book. It was light and heartfelt, but what really hit me was being reminded of last April and everything me and my family went through while my Meemaw was in hospice. Grief really is love with nowhere to go.

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papercraftalex's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

If you like coming of age novels wrought with emotion and metaphors, you'll love this. Benjamin Alire Saenz has a magical way with words and his characters are always so real. 

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alylentz's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

3.0

2021 reread: I still think this is lovely and warm, but I did realize how slowly it moved this time and maybe wished there was a little more plot driving things along. I don't think I loved it quite as much as the first time, but still found it beautiful and an enjoyable reread.

I probably read this in a little over 24 hours. His style is just so readable and his stories always hook me immediately and I can't put them down. I enjoyed seeing a different kind of plot than Aristotle and Dante (which I loved so much I still think about it probably like every day) but with a lot of similar coming of age and community themes. I couldn't help comparing them, and while I do think that one was probably a better novel overall, this one is still extremely strong. At times things seem to fall into place too easily or there was something about the narration that seemed like it wasn't as natural as A&D, but overall, I got completely sucked in and couldn't predict what was going to happen. And of course, I cried at the end! Anyway, I loved this--it's a quick read that still manages to feel soulful, fresh, and honest.

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