ashleydlee88's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
cathsgraphs's review
5.0
I learned so much from this book I'm not even sure how to write about it. Mostly I learned about my own anti-blackness within my Latinidad. I was aware of colourism but this book took me much deeper. It brought my privileges as a white-presenting Latina right up to my face so I could take a good hard look. It was eye opening to read the words of my Black Latinx community members (I am not black but they are members of my community). The racism inflicted from within, the intersectionality of their hardships. I'm so glad I picked up this book. And I will strive to do better, and teach my white Latinx kids to do the same.
marianareadsbooks's review
5.0
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed is a collection of essays by multiple Latinx authors. There were so many important topics covered from the racism within the latinx community towards Afro-latinx members, the difficulty of balancing two identities, the challenges of being queer and latinx, and so much more. These essays were so personal and one could tell the authors were not holding back. I appreciate their honesty so much and have learned so much about experiences I have never had.
It’s really difficult to pick favorite essays as I learned something from each one of them. The two that I related to the most though was “More Than Nervios” by Lilliam Rivera and “Invisible” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. In “More Than Nervios”, Rivera openly discusses depression and suicide attempts. Rivera would often ignore her depleting mental health because she was taught to push through when things get difficult. In “Invisible”, Rojas Contreras discusses the gaslighting and blatant racism she experienced from her in laws, which ultimately led to her cutting them out of her life. These two essays were so relatable to me as I had only recently opened up to my parents about my mental health and I’ve experienced racist “in laws” from a previous relationship. I felt the two topics extremely difficult to convey due to the complexity of the two issues. Both Rivera and Rojas Contreras did a great job unraveling the complexity and highlighting the issue to its core. I highly recommend this book.
It’s really difficult to pick favorite essays as I learned something from each one of them. The two that I related to the most though was “More Than Nervios” by Lilliam Rivera and “Invisible” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. In “More Than Nervios”, Rivera openly discusses depression and suicide attempts. Rivera would often ignore her depleting mental health because she was taught to push through when things get difficult. In “Invisible”, Rojas Contreras discusses the gaslighting and blatant racism she experienced from her in laws, which ultimately led to her cutting them out of her life. These two essays were so relatable to me as I had only recently opened up to my parents about my mental health and I’ve experienced racist “in laws” from a previous relationship. I felt the two topics extremely difficult to convey due to the complexity of the two issues. Both Rivera and Rojas Contreras did a great job unraveling the complexity and highlighting the issue to its core. I highly recommend this book.
resslesa's review
5.0
Wow was this a great collection of nonfiction LatinX experiences, especially many Afro-Latina stories. So powerful -really broadened my perspective and again humbled me in how much I take my own self identity for granted. Elizabeth Acevedo finished and Mark Oshiro starts this collection. Every one is excellent! Lillian Rivera’s piece is especially powerful.