Reviews with content warning for Self harm - I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

what a journey this book takes you on. after reading the synopsis, i expected a captivating mystery uncovering the secret life of olga, the seemingly perfect daughter. and while this book was that, it was also so much more than that.

this novel mainly focused on julia, the younger “imperfect” daughter. olga was seen as perfect by their immigrant parents since she was devoted to family, always stayed home, and didn’t socialize too much; julia is more representative of the modern-day american teen who wants to be their own individual away from their family and not necessarily tied to their cultural roots- two opposite sides of the spectrum. it focused on her struggle to be accepted by her parents and also accept herself in the grief of her sister’s death.

being a daughter of immigrants, i related a lot to julia’s struggles. having your parents not understand you due to the way they grow up, having them constantly berate you for wanting things they aren’t used to, and having them sometimes resent you because you don’t live up to the ideal they set up in their head after having sacrificed so much to move to america is a lot to carry and such a frustrating struggle. it’s a constant fight between repaying your parents for all they’ve done but also being true to who you want to be, and i thought this was represented really well under the guise of a 15-17 year old girl.

i’ll be honest, julia is a difficult character to like for most of the book. she’s short-tempered, brash, entitled, and incredibly obnoxious. she lashes out at pretty much everyone and in pretty much every scene. her logic isn’t always sound and she uses her sister’s death to justify her selfish actions- but that was the beauty of it. because no one is perfect and grief is never pretty. people, especially teenagers, have dramatic feelings and it can manifest in the ugliest of ways, and that’s just the reality of people and emotions and mourning. all of this together not only turns into an incredibly depiction of grief, but also an amazing portrayal of depression. some of my favorite scenes were those of julia and her therapist and her speaking candidly about her confusing emotions.

this book tackles so many issues and does it really well. the depiction of the immigrant family is one of the greatest depictions (at least to my knowledge and understanding) i’ve read about in a while. it was rarely pretty. there wasn’t a lot of closure. but that’s what felt so real about it.

i do wish the plot centered a little more on olga and that her backstory was given more spotlight. it seemed to be more of a plot that appeared a few times in the beginning and end. i also wish more could’ve happened between julia and her mom. there was so much left unsaid and left a lot to be desired, but, like i said, that’s what felt so real about it

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amalyn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.75

this was an amazing book. i got it from school for free 2 years ago, so why not read it finally? although i'm not Mexican, i related to Julia so much, from where i live (Chicago) and my dream to start a life for myself. we are so close in age, so it really wakes me up that my Senior year is in 3 weeks and i have to choose my path, so this was so so reflective for me. this book made me tear up for real like i could really feel for her. i got confused on the timeline sometimes and had to pause and figure out long has it been, but nonetheless, this book was phenomenal. i love books that are relatable and help me realize so many things about people, myself, the world, etc. and this book did that. i loved it and finished it in 4 days. i would definitely recommend especially to young growing women such as Julia herself.

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frenchhornfrenchfries's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense 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

4.75

Very emotionally intense book, but I liked it a lot. I only partly struggled with the timeline as it was difficult for me to grasp in what time periods the chapters/ happenings were apart.

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onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

5.0

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez was a five-star read for me in June and is another YA novel that has the depth of adult literary fiction. In it we meet Julia who is navigating early adulthood while grieving the unexpected death of her sister, Olga.

Olga was the one making life choices her parents wanted for their daughters and Julia feels like she is tasked with filling the role, yet she keeps pushing back on it. Instead she is trying to understand her parent’s immigration journey and what drives them to be the people they are today; something they are trying hard to put behind them. And she’s determined to unravel clues to Olga’s social life that seemed hidden from everyone, only to be shocked by what she finds.

The story is told with both the insecurity and perseverance of a young person who finally feels that it’s their moment to make decisions for themselves, only to be weighed down with grief and a changing family. If you enjoy reading emotional coming-of-age stories, this is an excellent choice.

Content warnings: Self-harm, Death, Grief, Sexual assault

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