librosconte's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
miasantos's review against another edition
my friend read this book and sent me a couple quotes that were massive red flags.
we had a laugh for a time but now that it's been a couple hours I can't help thinking how ridiculously harmful this biphobic, sexist and insensitive pice could be to young audiences questioning who they are or who they like.
this book desregards an entire community that is often disrespected anyways. and if 20yo me has the mechanisms to filter this out of my life and understand that it's jus problematic and means nothing, there's a large amount of young people questioning that may not be able. and when you're 14/15 questioning your identity this can be so so damaging.
so pls, LGBT+ and allies, ban this book out of existence before it really fucks someone over. and Simon and Schuster PLEASE AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH get a better sensitive reading team, PLEASE
(I would like to stress that this book is from 2011 and Simon and Schuster might have improved their standards a lot since this book first saw the light of day so don't go rain hell on them without double checking if the situation improved or not)
we had a laugh for a time but now that it's been a couple hours I can't help thinking how ridiculously harmful this biphobic, sexist and insensitive pice could be to young audiences questioning who they are or who they like.
this book desregards an entire community that is often disrespected anyways. and if 20yo me has the mechanisms to filter this out of my life and understand that it's jus problematic and means nothing, there's a large amount of young people questioning that may not be able. and when you're 14/15 questioning your identity this can be so so damaging.
so pls, LGBT+ and allies, ban this book out of existence before it really fucks someone over. and Simon and Schuster PLEASE AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH get a better sensitive reading team, PLEASE
(I would like to stress that this book is from 2011 and Simon and Schuster might have improved their standards a lot since this book first saw the light of day so don't go rain hell on them without double checking if the situation improved or not)
rayne_1906's review against another edition
lighthearted
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
2.75
Audiobook - 2 hours 48 minutes - Alex Sanchez is known as an author of queer YA fiction in the 2010s before it became as mainstream as it is today and this is why I decided to read it. I honestly didn't have very high expectations for it, and yet I am not sure if it met them or not. Part of me hates this book, and yet I read it in one sitting and I wasn't ever really bored. It kept me engaged the whole time - the writing style was very blunt and matter of fact, which I tend to enjoy. I also liked the fairly seamless flow from one perspective to another. All in all, I think Sanchez writes really well. However, the whole biphobia thing was hard to keep hearing about - I know this is the point, and it is an opinion that many still have today, and was far more common in 2011, but still, I felt myself wanting to scream at the characters every time they said something weird about bisexuality. Also, Lance was a really annoying and unlikeable character, and Sergio wasn't much better. In fact, my favourite part of the book was the developing relationship between the two girls - my only issue there was the fetishisation of Japanese culture, but a) 2010s again and b) it wasn't too severe, it only registered as slightly weird instead of very weird like some parts of this book. So overall, a weird read. I can't decide how I feel about it.
dorianablu83's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia
theheartbreakprins's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
miniando's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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? No
2.0
annabi's review against another edition
3.0
bhggghh idk how I feel. I loved that there were multiple sexualities and stuff and I thought the romances were cute, but the characters fell flat and there was no real plot and it was 100%romance thick and thin(aka unrealistic) and the writing was boring. I didnt HATE it by any means but it definitely wasnt a favorite. 2.5/5
readinggrrl's review against another edition
4.0
First let me say I love Alex Sanchez. I haven't read of book of his that I didn't like and this was no exception. I breezed through this in a few hours. I loved it based on its story, not the writing. He has written better books but this is a topic that really isn't discussed.
Sanchez really seems to grasp the angsty teenage craziness as well as the confusion that sometimes comes while trying to define sexuality. He does this in a way that is respectful to whatever label you choose to identify with and opens up a whole world of discussion and thoughtfulness on the topic. There aren't a lot of books out there about bisexuality so I was glad to see that this seemed to be the main topic of this book.
Bisexuality is so often misunderstood by both the heterosexual community and the homosexual community. This book really brought the discussion of bisexuality out into the open. Being bi is often labeled as fence sitting and I am so happy that there are books like this out there for youth who are questioning whether they are gay, straight or bi.
Another big plus to Sanchez's books is that the characters aren't always white. Gotta love diversity in YA books. While the writing didn't seem up to par with Sanchez's other books I loved it anyway.
Sanchez really seems to grasp the angsty teenage craziness as well as the confusion that sometimes comes while trying to define sexuality. He does this in a way that is respectful to whatever label you choose to identify with and opens up a whole world of discussion and thoughtfulness on the topic. There aren't a lot of books out there about bisexuality so I was glad to see that this seemed to be the main topic of this book.
Bisexuality is so often misunderstood by both the heterosexual community and the homosexual community. This book really brought the discussion of bisexuality out into the open. Being bi is often labeled as fence sitting and I am so happy that there are books like this out there for youth who are questioning whether they are gay, straight or bi.
Another big plus to Sanchez's books is that the characters aren't always white. Gotta love diversity in YA books. While the writing didn't seem up to par with Sanchez's other books I loved it anyway.
elvenavari's review against another edition
2.0
This was certainly not Sanchez's best. While I enjoyed each of the characters, I felt that some of their actions were a bit contrived and exaggerated. This fact made me want to rush to get to the end, which I don't feel like is a good thing.
claudia_marcela's review against another edition
3.0
Una historia muy sencilla sobre dos dinámicas que se establecen tras el encuentro de dos amigos con otros dos amigos. Una lectura amena y fácil de leer.
Me gustó la pincelada de frescura juvenil que existe en la nueva relación entre Sergio y Lance, y la amistad y posterior coqueteo entre Kimiko y Ally. Un libro muy adolescente en su exposición de las inseguridades típicas al iniciar una nueva relación, los problemas con la familia y amigos.
Todo está muy bien para pasar el rato pero creo que le faltó fuerza a la trama, todo se queda muy en el aire, casi no llegamos a conocer a los protagonistas y los conflictos se resuelven demasiado rápido.
Lo mejor
Ese retrato de la bisexualidad. Es interesante ver los prejuicios que tiene Lance sobre que alguien se etiquete como tal. Me gustó que el autor lo abordara de forma sencilla y ayude al lector a comprender mejor.
Lo peor
A veces los protagonistas se pasan de inseguros. Boicotear una relación solo porque tienes miedo puede sonar típico, pero cuando lo hacen los 4 personajes en algún momento de la historia, se vuelve cansino. Tal como dijo Sergio "¿Si ella te gusta y tú le gustas, cuál es el problema?"
La cita
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing
Me gustó la pincelada de frescura juvenil que existe en la nueva relación entre Sergio y Lance, y la amistad y posterior coqueteo entre Kimiko y Ally. Un libro muy adolescente en su exposición de las inseguridades típicas al iniciar una nueva relación, los problemas con la familia y amigos.
Todo está muy bien para pasar el rato pero creo que le faltó fuerza a la trama, todo se queda muy en el aire, casi no llegamos a conocer a los protagonistas y los conflictos se resuelven demasiado rápido.
Lo mejor
Ese retrato de la bisexualidad. Es interesante ver los prejuicios que tiene Lance sobre que alguien se etiquete como tal. Me gustó que el autor lo abordara de forma sencilla y ayude al lector a comprender mejor.
Lo peor
A veces los protagonistas se pasan de inseguros. Boicotear una relación solo porque tienes miedo puede sonar típico, pero cuando lo hacen los 4 personajes en algún momento de la historia, se vuelve cansino. Tal como dijo Sergio "¿Si ella te gusta y tú le gustas, cuál es el problema?"
La cita
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing