Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Yo no soy tu perfecta hija mexicana

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Yo no soy tu perfecta hija mexicana by Erika L. Sánchez

14 reviews

wanderlust_romance's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This is the sort of young adult that is written in the uniquely teen voice, but tackles a lot of complex issues. It’s the sort of YA that would be helpful for a young reader to discuss and unpack with a trusted adult in their life. The most challenging fiction is the one that turns the mirror on ourselves and highlights all the hidden, uglier parts of our interior and shines a light on it for all to see. The proverbial mirror that challenges readers to reckon with all those things we would much rather ignore.

Julia’s voice is unique. At the start of the book, she is 15. Her sister has just died in a tragic accident and she is alone in her grief, regret, and anger. She was so messy, and I loved that she was allowed to be messy and make mistakes and reexamine what she thought she knew. Julia was written in a way that reminds readers outside the intended YA audience that the inner lives of teens are so much more than meets the eye. It’s so easy to forget what you, as an older reader, were like as a teen (sullen, moody, defiant, reading Camus because I wanted to look smarter than everyone, only listening to indie and new wave…jesus, I was a lot more like Julia than I thought lol). I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter was heartbreaking and reassuring and complicated and full of emotion and self discovery.

concepts this book confronts and highlights:

Cultural family expectations for daughters (patriarchy)
Complexities of bilingualism in the US for immigrants and children of immigrants
Death and grief
Mental health support and de-stigmatizing therapy in communities of color
Poverty and food insecurity
Internalized racism and xenophobia

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op3's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I really tried to love this book. I really did. I found the quality of writing lazy and rushed, the only highlight was the ending which I found to be just ok. So that’s what I’m rating the book as. Just ok.
Often times I take at least an hour or two to pick out books I want to read so I can enjoy what I read. This is one of those books I avoid when I spend that time searching. This is a testimony that I should keep doing that. But the ending was okay. The fluff was ok if you consider there to be any.

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sadie1717's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

4.75

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I really appreciated 15/16-year-old Julia Reyes's messy personal development in this young adult coming-of-age story. Julia tells this story in first-person, past-tense POV, and this is a character-driven, slow-paced story that explores identity, grief, authenticity, and what it means to live. I am not Mexican, but I do share the identity of being a first-generation child of immigrants, and in that particular light, I deeply related to Julia's journey, especially the generational differences that threatened to dismantle any relationship she had with her mom or dad.

The story takes place in Chicago, IL after Julia's older sister Olga dies in a tragic car accident as she was crossing the street and distracted by her cell phone. Julia always felt she lived in Olga's shadow, as Olga was *the* "perfect Mexican daughter," and in the wake of her death, that shadow only grows. Her distinctions from Olga are under even more scrutiny, and it is a devastatingly heavy burden to bear. Julia was never the obedient daughter, she hated learning how to cook with her mom, and she constantly challenged her parents' authority. Her mom consistently calls Julia "ungrateful" and uses guilt as a way to shame Julia for not making her parents happy. It is painful to read, as it felt very familiar; the constant exhaustion of knowing that nothing you do will ever be enough to pay back your parents who overcame unimaginable trauma to come here feels insurmountable at times.

However, I admired Julia for speaking up and being so incredibly bold and glib. I recognize many people have called her "unlikeable" but I found Julia to be so authentic when I look back on my own teenage experience, pushing and pulling between being a first-generation kid who wanted to do well by their parents, but also wanted to be trusted and have a "normal" American teenage life. To talk back to my parents meant even more autonomy being taken away. That was something I rarely did as a teenager, because I was so scared of consequences. For Julia? Consequences be damned! Is she a bit flippant and ignorant sometimes? Absolutely. She made offensive comments like "hookers" and "gangbangers," but I also think that's representative of a young, angry, frustrated kid. Her phone would be taken away and she couldn't go to the library, and yes, she put up a stink, but she constantly advocated for herself, and I think she more confidently found her voice in therapy too.

There is a subplot of romance between Julia and Connor, which was illuminating for Julia, since she is mostly "inexperienced" as the story begins. I appreciated the argument that Julia got into with her friend about Julia being "uptight" and acting like she was too good for anything. We look for "yes men" and people who will become an echo chamber as friends, especially when we're young as we are rediscovering who we are. However, her friend didn't let Julia walk all over her or proclaim to walk through life as the only "right way". I don't know if that makes sense but this one interaction really spoke to me, and there are so many moments like this throughout the novel which force Julia to confront who she is, who she wants to be, and what that means regarding how she spends her free time, her relationship with her family, college, and writing as an occupation.

The final reveal of the secret life Olga was leading was sad but also satisfying for me to read, because it only affirmed to Julia that Julia would never live up to the "perfect Mexican daughter" ideal, because even her seemingly perfect sister wasn't. Some of it was an act, and she had to hide parts of herself in order to protect optics and make her parents proud. I appreciated this because it brought Olga down to earth, rather than being this unattainable ideal as Julia always thought she was.

This was a powerful narrative about Julia discovering not only herself, but the ways in which the world around her operates, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

content warnings are listed below!

Content Warnings

cielosiluminado's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

leer este libro me causó tener una crisis emocional porque relacioné mucho con julia y el tema de los cosas que gente de primera generación navegan, especialmente sobre la identidad y que confundido es para nosotros porque ningún lado nos acepta completamente T__T

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