Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

34 reviews

jaelovesbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-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
I loved 90% of this book and I adored the main character. He was well written and interesting. His experiences were relatable. The 10% I took issue with concerned me deeply.
It was his relationship with a teacher. Kids need queer adults in their lives and the MC definitely needed some advice from a mature queer person. BUT it wasn’t okay for the teacher to hit on him on an app (the MC lied about his age; teacher didn’t know) and then still invite him into his home alone once he found out that the his date was actually an underage student. The MC proceeds to hit on and flirt with the teacher; no, the teacher doesn’t reciprocate but he doesn’t put proper boundaries in place. I was frustrated because I really liked the teacher initially, but I don’t think it was appropriate how this interaction went in the book. If the teacher wanted to give advice, they should’ve gone to a public, neutral place. They absolutely should not have been alone in the teacher’s home. Also, this happened twice, and the teacher has to ask the MC to please note tell anyone. Absolutely sketchy. Different boundaries should have been modeled imo.
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annamay1021's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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hobbithopeful's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

The best way to get over someone, is to get under someone else...right?
Enrique (Quique) is trying to get over a one-sided crush on his friend Saleem by having a hot slut summer. Quique's parents don't know that he is bisexual, and he has zero dating skills but that doesn't stop him from pursuing 3 different guys. All with very different results.
I love how sex positive this book is, people who don't like those elements always confuse me. Let's think back to when we were all teenagers okay? Hormones and horniness doesn't magically appear when you become an adult!
One of my biggest issues with reading YA books is sometimes the teenagers don't read like teenagers. This was not the case here, Quique is messy and just trying to figure himself out. I love the friendship he has with Fabiola, and how supportive his parents try to be with his mental health.
I am so grateful that Quique didn't
end up with the white guy!
I never know why so many BIPOC authors love having their characters have multiple love interests and then always end up with that specific person. MAJOR props to Aceves for actually writing the white character how a white person...well you'll see when you read it.
I've had this book on my tbr for a long time, I put off reading it because I was afraid the content was going to be too heavy for me. There are discussions around mental health, and biphobia, but nothing at all what I thought it might be about. I wish I had read it sooner.
The only reason this isn't 5 stars for me, I did have a few problems with some of the pacing at time, I felt like I kept waiting for the plot to move forward. I also had trouble caring about some of Quique's love interests.
All in all I really I enjoyed this book, I always love reading stories by chicano authors.
Highly recommend, perfect for fans of queer diverse stories with messy main characters! This is my first book by Aaron H. Aceves, and I will definitely read more of his writing. 
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camillej's review against another edition

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2.75

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evelynyle_88's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

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xandry's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.0

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lqvekanej's review against another edition

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funny 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? It's complicated

3.75

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tkhenry99's review against another edition

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3.0

3 stars is probably generous

the writing is really weird and cringey a lot of the time. there are random scenes that almost make it feel like the author is tackling too much (like when quique reflects on his “dad bod” for the first time, or the accidentally arranging a hook up with a teacher thing, or the crazy/psycho commentary). 

the way quique repeatedly outs several characters was also just. not it. and for some reason randomly reflects on how he doesn’t want to out someone in the middle? as if he hadn’t been doing that all along? 

also, quique probably should’ve been ✨institutionalized✨ for suicidal ideation with a plan…. multiple times….. especially at the end…..
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_desertbookreader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

This book was so heartwarming and delicate and raw and witty. I genuinely feel a piece of my soul reflected in this work and I want to cry
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maple_dove's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

This book was not what I expected but it didn't disappoint!

I loved the discussions of religious bigotry, and the LGBTQ community and religion. It's a difficult topic to navigate, but I think this book handled it well. 
As an asexual person, I didn't expect this book to be so sexually graphic (mostly in terms of dialogue and thoughts), but I'm glad. We need to let teenagers explore their sexuality, too (safely). 
I can't say the bipolar disorder rep was accurate, as I'm not bipolar myself and don't know enough to say. Speaking of which, I loved all the representation in this book!: Bisexual, Mexican-American, Afro-Latina American, Latino-American, Arab Palestinian-American, and Gay characters can all be found in this book. :)
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