A review by manglitter
Ballad & Dagger by Daniel José Older

3.0

I have to be honest, I was going to DNF it after reading 40% of it because it starts really slow and due to all the heavy political innuendoes (I was like: Is this book really for Middle Grades?)and the MC was getting on my nerves with his bad jokes and sarcasm but I kept reading due to the cultural aspects of the book and the use of Spanish which are the main two things that I loved about this book. By the end, we get attached to Mateo's story and family, we get some action after he gets out of his shell.
I will be waiting for the sequel.