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lestka12's review against another edition
3.0
This is a light and fun summer read. I really enjoyed the diverse cast of characters and focus on family heritage. Unfortunately this book simply didn’t live up to the expectations I had in my head but I did still enjoy it! The community is very tight knit and is a great addition to the plot.
taylormendoza19's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5 Stars
I liked it well enough, but I definitely didn’t love it.
I liked it well enough, but I definitely didn’t love it.
hellomadalyn's review against another edition
5.0
*4.5 stars*
This review originally appeared on Novel Ink.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
There are always a few books every year that, from the very first page, you know are going to land among your favorites of the year. Don’t Date Rosa Santos was one of those such books for me. It’s a gem of a YA contemporary that deals with identity, history, family, culture, and home, set against the whimsical backdrop of a tiny Florida beach town. Add in a swoony romance, a generations-long curse, a deeply likable and relatable MC, and some excellent representation, and I was SOLD.
Let’s first talk about Rosa, our main character and the sweet baby angel overachiever of my heart. Rosa is one of those characters who I read about and was immediately like, oh, yep, this is a real person I completely would be friends with. She reminded me SO much of high-school-Madalyn. At the start of the book, Rosa is facing two huge projects: deciding where to go to college, and saving her hometown’s annual festival, Spring Fest. She’s intensely driven, a little type A, and a lot magical in the way that all cool women are. She is intensely loyal to her family, friends, and home. And even though I don’t share Rosa’s Cuban background, I empathized deeply with her feeling of having one foot in two different worlds and never quite feeling like “enough” to belong in either of them.
So much of this story is a love letter to the idea of home. Port Coral is Rosa’s home, but she also feels intensely connected to Cuba despite the layers and layers of family secrets and shame and history that country holds for the Santos women. That being said, I thought Nina Moreno NAILED the small Florida beach town setting with Port Coral. My parents live on a tiny Florida island, and that very specific vibe was so present throughout the story. Port Coral is very much a community where everyone supports one another and they work toward common goals together. The portrayal of Cuban culture in Don’t Date Rosa Santos is one that I know many of my Cuban American friends hold dear. Family also plays into the idea of home, and the women in Rosa’s family were all incredible. Mimi in particular has my heart forever, but I also loved exploring the complicated dynamic between Rosa and her mother. Of course, friends often function as found family, and especially so for immigrants. Rosa’s best friend, Anna, and her family were a pleasant surprise I didn’t expect going into this story. All of Rosa’s friends felt true to life and exactly like a real group of teenagers.
Though it’s not a central part of the story, per se, I loved Rosa’s romance with Alex. It was romantic and swoony and allowed Rosa to reckon with a few of Rosa’s deep-seated perceptions about herself and her relationship to the world around her. I appreciated the way the “curse” of the Santos women played out, too.
Nina Moreno’s writing is lyrical and lovely without feeling too over-the-top. I’m so impressed that Rosa Santos is her debut novel, because she was able to capture a lot in this relatively short gem of a book. It’s a love letter to Cuba, to children of diaspora, to family, and to home. I cannot wait to read more from Moreno in the future!
This review originally appeared on Novel Ink.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
There are always a few books every year that, from the very first page, you know are going to land among your favorites of the year. Don’t Date Rosa Santos was one of those such books for me. It’s a gem of a YA contemporary that deals with identity, history, family, culture, and home, set against the whimsical backdrop of a tiny Florida beach town. Add in a swoony romance, a generations-long curse, a deeply likable and relatable MC, and some excellent representation, and I was SOLD.
Let’s first talk about Rosa, our main character and the sweet baby angel overachiever of my heart. Rosa is one of those characters who I read about and was immediately like, oh, yep, this is a real person I completely would be friends with. She reminded me SO much of high-school-Madalyn. At the start of the book, Rosa is facing two huge projects: deciding where to go to college, and saving her hometown’s annual festival, Spring Fest. She’s intensely driven, a little type A, and a lot magical in the way that all cool women are. She is intensely loyal to her family, friends, and home. And even though I don’t share Rosa’s Cuban background, I empathized deeply with her feeling of having one foot in two different worlds and never quite feeling like “enough” to belong in either of them.
So much of this story is a love letter to the idea of home. Port Coral is Rosa’s home, but she also feels intensely connected to Cuba despite the layers and layers of family secrets and shame and history that country holds for the Santos women. That being said, I thought Nina Moreno NAILED the small Florida beach town setting with Port Coral. My parents live on a tiny Florida island, and that very specific vibe was so present throughout the story. Port Coral is very much a community where everyone supports one another and they work toward common goals together. The portrayal of Cuban culture in Don’t Date Rosa Santos is one that I know many of my Cuban American friends hold dear. Family also plays into the idea of home, and the women in Rosa’s family were all incredible. Mimi in particular has my heart forever, but I also loved exploring the complicated dynamic between Rosa and her mother. Of course, friends often function as found family, and especially so for immigrants. Rosa’s best friend, Anna, and her family were a pleasant surprise I didn’t expect going into this story. All of Rosa’s friends felt true to life and exactly like a real group of teenagers.
Though it’s not a central part of the story, per se, I loved Rosa’s romance with Alex. It was romantic and swoony and allowed Rosa to reckon with a few of Rosa’s deep-seated perceptions about herself and her relationship to the world around her. I appreciated the way the “curse” of the Santos women played out, too.
Nina Moreno’s writing is lyrical and lovely without feeling too over-the-top. I’m so impressed that Rosa Santos is her debut novel, because she was able to capture a lot in this relatively short gem of a book. It’s a love letter to Cuba, to children of diaspora, to family, and to home. I cannot wait to read more from Moreno in the future!
sandlerpage's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. A fun read, but a bit choppy and unsure of what it was trying to do. For a debut novel, it was fantastic. I look forward to the author’s future books.
nssutton's review against another edition
5.0
I adored Rosa's story. It hit so many of my favorite plot points - bullet journaling your master plan, family curses, house full of ladies, baking sailor love interest, whole town needs to plan an event. The exploration of Cuban American culture and what it means to dream as the child of immigrants was equally fascinating. Would be a great food laden YA book club pick.
eul4lieeee's review against another edition
3.0
Great book, a lot of unexpected twists and turns but some part just made me kinda want to roll my eyes
thenovelmaura's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
3.0
I wanted to love this book and I'm kind of surprised that I didn't! Can I say before starting out that I'm obsessed with this book cover? Setting aside my review, props to the designer because it is gorgeous.
There were a lot of well-done and lovely elements to this story: the complicated relationships between Rosa and her mother and her grandmother, her grandmother's mixed feelings about her homeland of Cuba, Rosa's need to live up to everyone's expectations while struggling with her identity, grief and how we honor the memories of our loved ones, and the power of a supportive community. Spanish is used throughout the book without a side-by-side English translation, and all the food described here sounded delicious.
My two biggest problems were the pacing and the way the "curse" is never addressed. The Santos women constantly alluded to the curse but no one ever laid out what it is and what it meant to them. My understanding was that any men they fell in love with would end up drowning? But that didn't explain why Rosa herself hadn't gone to the beach in her 17 years of life, despite growing up in a port city in Florida. What's more, she just randomly decided to start going to the boardwalk (even before she falls for Alex) and everyone in town was shocked, but no one explained why it would be an issue. The pacing was all over the place; at first, too many characters were introduced too quickly, Rosa agreed to plan an entire wedding for two people she didn't seem to know that well, and the story dragged in the middle and end.
Maybe another reader could overlook these issues and enjoy this lighthearted story, but I found them too distracting! I do own another book by Moreno so I plan to give her another try at some point.
There were a lot of well-done and lovely elements to this story: the complicated relationships between Rosa and her mother and her grandmother, her grandmother's mixed feelings about her homeland of Cuba, Rosa's need to live up to everyone's expectations while struggling with her identity, grief and how we honor the memories of our loved ones, and the power of a supportive community. Spanish is used throughout the book without a side-by-side English translation, and all the food described here sounded delicious.
My two biggest problems were the pacing and the way the "curse" is never addressed. The Santos women constantly alluded to the curse but no one ever laid out what it is and what it meant to them. My understanding was that any men they fell in love with would end up drowning? But that didn't explain why Rosa herself hadn't gone to the beach in her 17 years of life, despite growing up in a port city in Florida. What's more, she just randomly decided to start going to the boardwalk (even before she falls for Alex) and everyone in town was shocked, but no one explained why it would be an issue. The pacing was all over the place; at first, too many characters were introduced too quickly, Rosa agreed to plan an entire wedding for two people she didn't seem to know that well, and the story dragged in the middle and end.
Maybe another reader could overlook these issues and enjoy this lighthearted story, but I found them too distracting! I do own another book by Moreno so I plan to give her another try at some point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
chachachuy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Lo iba a dejar en dos estrellas, pero los últimos capítulos me conmovieron un buen.
lostintomes's review against another edition
5.0
The tagline is "Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls" and I would say that is spot on! This is a generational story about family, the choices that form us, a little bit of magic and lots of love.
While there is a really cute romance in this story, that isn't what our main focus in on. Rosa is about to be a new high school grad, who is wrapping up her two year college degree at the same time. She thinks she knows what she wants to do next but things are turning out to be not so simple. Between family curses, small town drama, a new boy in town and other issues that go along with being an immigrant family. We end up with a complex and beautiful story full of ups and downs. The characters are raw and full of life. The culture is rich enough to taste and the romance is sweet. I smiled, I swooned, I laughed, I cried - a lot. There's a lot of year to go but this just might make my list of favorite books of 2019. It deserves it's own movie, you should probably read it.
Content Notes/Trigger Warnings:
- Grief
Recommend for fans of:
- Practical Magic
- Gilmore Girls
- Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before
While there is a really cute romance in this story, that isn't what our main focus in on. Rosa is about to be a new high school grad, who is wrapping up her two year college degree at the same time. She thinks she knows what she wants to do next but things are turning out to be not so simple. Between family curses, small town drama, a new boy in town and other issues that go along with being an immigrant family. We end up with a complex and beautiful story full of ups and downs. The characters are raw and full of life. The culture is rich enough to taste and the romance is sweet. I smiled, I swooned, I laughed, I cried - a lot. There's a lot of year to go but this just might make my list of favorite books of 2019. It deserves it's own movie, you should probably read it.
Content Notes/Trigger Warnings:
- Grief
Recommend for fans of:
- Practical Magic
- Gilmore Girls
- Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before
zoraidasolo's review against another edition
5.0
This book is just everything. It is a love song to Cuba, to diaspora, to complicated families. It captures the way generations of Latinx women can communicate—or NOT communicate at all. It is about love and loss and grief. It is so absolutely charming and pure poetry. It is magical realism in the way Latinos only understand and it is romantic AF. I hope everyone gives it a chance and reads this book.