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readingwithsierra's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
yesenia_a_'s review against another edition
emotional
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
iphigenie72's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
venti_icewater's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nastian's review against another edition
4.0
It was a very emotional journey as many parts deeply resonated with me, but I couldn't agree with what felt like the ultimate message: push down your feelings and trauma to protect the parents who did not show up as parents.
The whole story is a story of parentification but "that's ok because the parents had trauma".
The whole story is a story of parentification but "that's ok because the parents had trauma".
gemini110460's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.25
ruthlezz_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
awesomebrandi's review against another edition
4.0
This is a YA novel about a teenager who is a first generation Mexican American, with parents who are immigrants; who is learning how to understand the cultural differences between the country she's growing up in, and where her parents came from. There are also considerable themes around depression and anxiety.
Content warnings: This book contains a LOT of heavy/difficult themes, however, generally they're written very softly, and there's not a lot that's super graphic, so I didn't find it too be too intense, except for a couple of parts. To me, the biggest trigger warnings would be for family member death (accidental), abusive/controlling parent, and suicide attempt (not graphic, but a pretty significant theme of the novel). But, please note there are many other difficult things mentioned or alluded to, including rape, but it is very danced around and not overt.
When I first started reading this book, I did really fall in love with it near the beginning. I really enjoyed the author's style, and how she inserts little musical clips of language. She has a really fantastic way of describing little things. One reason I read this book, is because it's very important to me to read books by people from other races and cultures, because I want to better understand. I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book, so I was surprised to find that I related heavily to the character of Julia. In fact, I found her whole life situation to be so relatable at times, that I had to take a break, because it made me uncomfortable!
While I cannot relate to being Mexican, there were so many other aspects of Julia's life that just screamed "me" as a teenager. Julia is living in poverty (as so many immigrant families do), she's very academically capable, but struggles with depression and anxiety, and being able to regulate her emotions and behavior. Julia's mother is extremely strict and overbearing, to the point that it feels abusive at times. I guess this might be an area that some people will disagree with, and call it a cultural difference. I'm not going to pretend I know what it's like to be Mexican, because I'm white. But, I feel like it shouldn't matter what race or culture you come from, there are lines you shouldn't cross, and Julia's mother crossed those lines, and it made me very uncomfortable, because of relating it to situations in my own teenage years. This isn't a bad thing. I think, if I had read this book as a teenager, it would have really meant a lot to me to see a character who was so relatable. Even 20 years later, I found it very relatable.
There are a few reasons I didn't give this book five stars, despite the beautiful, compelling writing and a relatable character. For one, I feel like the number of 'difficult situations' touched on in this book just took it too far. It started to feel superfluous. Like, they weren't even 'shock factor' because the writing is very fluid and musical.. but they just didn't really add to the book for me, and I feel like it started to distract from the main few themes of the book.
I also felt that, at times, there was too much pressure put on Julia to understand and accept her mother's oppressive behavior, and for me it was really difficult to swallow the idea that a youth who is suffering, is supposed to suck it up because their parents had a difficult time. Thankfully, Julia's mother did evolve in the story, but I was put off by some of the narrative that Julia was the one who was supposed to be supporting her mother, instead of it being a shared effort.
Another issue is, there was a bit too much 'basic' stuff like calling other people stupid, or making comments about people's bodies, etc. For me, there was really no reason to include that stuff. I don't know if it was supposed to show us some element of Julia's personality, but if the idea was showing her 'challenging' side, there were far better, more nuanced instances of that in the book without relying on empty, harmful things like 'stupid' and 'fat'. Those are a bit of a turn off for me, and I really don't think they're necessary.
As a whole, a really great book. Because of its large number of heavy themes, this is a strong 14+, depending on the young person. I would read another book by this author, because I really enjoyed her writing style a lot.
Content warnings: This book contains a LOT of heavy/difficult themes, however, generally they're written very softly, and there's not a lot that's super graphic, so I didn't find it too be too intense, except for a couple of parts. To me, the biggest trigger warnings would be for family member death (accidental), abusive/controlling parent, and suicide attempt (not graphic, but a pretty significant theme of the novel). But, please note there are many other difficult things mentioned or alluded to, including rape, but it is very danced around and not overt.
When I first started reading this book, I did really fall in love with it near the beginning. I really enjoyed the author's style, and how she inserts little musical clips of language. She has a really fantastic way of describing little things. One reason I read this book, is because it's very important to me to read books by people from other races and cultures, because I want to better understand. I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book, so I was surprised to find that I related heavily to the character of Julia. In fact, I found her whole life situation to be so relatable at times, that I had to take a break, because it made me uncomfortable!
While I cannot relate to being Mexican, there were so many other aspects of Julia's life that just screamed "me" as a teenager. Julia is living in poverty (as so many immigrant families do), she's very academically capable, but struggles with depression and anxiety, and being able to regulate her emotions and behavior. Julia's mother is extremely strict and overbearing, to the point that it feels abusive at times. I guess this might be an area that some people will disagree with, and call it a cultural difference. I'm not going to pretend I know what it's like to be Mexican, because I'm white. But, I feel like it shouldn't matter what race or culture you come from, there are lines you shouldn't cross, and Julia's mother crossed those lines, and it made me very uncomfortable, because of relating it to situations in my own teenage years. This isn't a bad thing. I think, if I had read this book as a teenager, it would have really meant a lot to me to see a character who was so relatable. Even 20 years later, I found it very relatable.
There are a few reasons I didn't give this book five stars, despite the beautiful, compelling writing and a relatable character. For one, I feel like the number of 'difficult situations' touched on in this book just took it too far. It started to feel superfluous. Like, they weren't even 'shock factor' because the writing is very fluid and musical.. but they just didn't really add to the book for me, and I feel like it started to distract from the main few themes of the book.
I also felt that, at times, there was too much pressure put on Julia to understand and accept her mother's oppressive behavior, and for me it was really difficult to swallow the idea that a youth who is suffering, is supposed to suck it up because their parents had a difficult time. Thankfully, Julia's mother did evolve in the story, but I was put off by some of the narrative that Julia was the one who was supposed to be supporting her mother, instead of it being a shared effort.
Another issue is, there was a bit too much 'basic' stuff like calling other people stupid, or making comments about people's bodies, etc. For me, there was really no reason to include that stuff. I don't know if it was supposed to show us some element of Julia's personality, but if the idea was showing her 'challenging' side, there were far better, more nuanced instances of that in the book without relying on empty, harmful things like 'stupid' and 'fat'. Those are a bit of a turn off for me, and I really don't think they're necessary.
As a whole, a really great book. Because of its large number of heavy themes, this is a strong 14+, depending on the young person. I would read another book by this author, because I really enjoyed her writing style a lot.
laurehhn's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean, and it seems this book has resonated with folks which is great. But this is one of the worst books I have ever read. Pedestrian writing. Not going into depth in anything. There was one part that felt so abrupt I thought my book was missing pages. No likeable characters. Just a very unpleasant read. The issues and topics it is trying to address have just been done better before. This was awful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
liakeller's review against another edition
3.0
A glimpse into the life of a first generation American teen who faces difficult situations, depression and college.