dolores_madil's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
I want to start off by saying I enjoyed this book and felt it had a great representation of many things, not just the Latinx community. This book talked about the immigration story in a different way by relating how families from Latin America don’t just come to the United States but to other third-world countries. Nadia had family who lived in England and Australia and the narrator did an excellent job with the accents. The male and female voices were pleasant to hear and switched well between Spanish and English.
Now I loved the idea of how they used the double Quinceanera as a way for Hispanic women to re-present themselves to the world and their families as strong independent women. How they should be celebrated for all the accomplishments they have done so far and all they are ready to do looking forward. The author was also not shy about letting us see how stressful and difficult it can be coming from a minority family who pushes you to become more successful and that you need to just keep going without letting up. Even if they have your best interest at heart it can become overwhelming and negative.
My biggest non-spoiler complete is that I wish they had advertised in the synopsis that this was a sweet romance as I went in expecting more sexy times at a minimum. The lack of sexy times did not hurt the book I just would have liked to know so I would have had better expectations.
I will also have a video coming out soon on my YouTube channel with more in-depth details and feelings.
– Spoilers–
Now I loved the idea of how they used the double Quinceanera as a way for Hispanic women to re-present themselves to the world and their families as strong independent women. How they should be celebrated for all the accomplishments they have done so far and all they are ready to do looking forward. The author was also not shy about letting us see how stressful and difficult it can be coming from a minority family who pushes you to become more successful and that you need to just keep going without letting up. Even if they have your best interest at heart it can become overwhelming and negative.
My biggest non-spoiler complete is that I wish they had advertised in the synopsis that this was a sweet romance as I went in expecting more sexy times at a minimum. The lack of sexy times did not hurt the book I just would have liked to know so I would have had better expectations.
I will also have a video coming out soon on my YouTube channel with more in-depth details and feelings.
– Spoilers–
Spoiler
Now my only other complete is that I don’t think the falling apart that is in every romance was not realistic and had faults. Earlier in the book, she talked about how the walls in the apartment were thin so I feel like she should have been able to hear them fighting right outside the door. Also, I know her phone died because she dropped it into the bathtub but she had a very real thought about being worried for his safety so whether he had run out on her or not she would have realistically reached out to him even if he did not answer her because he was hurting. Also, the break between them should have been longer so that when she went to the party she would have regained the confidence she had on that night so she would not have been dwelling on him during the party and it would have been more of a happy moment when he showed up instead of her pining for him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Alcohol, Cursing, Mental illness, Bullying, Classism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Infidelity, Racism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Car accident
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