A review by buffy87
My Heart Underwater by Laurel Flores Fantauzzo
3.0
*spoilers ahead*
While I was reading this book, it was like the pages were turning themselves. There's not an intense layer of action or massive plot twists. The main character is pretty well developed and I was invested in Corazon. It was written with a lot of emotion and I can appreciate that. However, the other characters were very flat and under-developed, that I didn't like.
The first page got my attention immediately. I'm not sure how relatable this would be to a religious young womxn coming to terms with their sexual orientation but as a straight reader I *felt* it. I could relate to Corazon and I felt the feelings inside of me.
I absolutely LOVED that it was sprinkled with Tagalog. I did a lot of Google translate and I thoroughly enjoyed that process. I never felt like I was being pandered to. I liked doing the legwork to figure out what was being said - my personal pet peeve is when a language asides English is italicized and immediately defined. In this book it felt natural when it was defined, like that is what Cory thinks.
Now, I don't know enough about the Phillipines but the way it was portrayed in this book seemed very Orientalist. Dangerous foreign place that's dirty and poor. That's not the impression my Filipinx students give me when they speak of their previous home so maybe it was written in a poorer neighborhood. Either way, there was an interesting method of portrayal that left me wanting to do a postcolonial analysis on the book.
My biggest gripe is I wish the relationship with Grace was explored more, especially the negative parts. Just to make it clear to a younger reader that it's REALLY not okay. The first half romanticized the interaction (which makes sense) but I wanted more on the "how could she" part, and the realization. I just worry a youth reader with trauma or misinformation might look at it as "but it was okay and only hurt BC they got caught."
Adults: recommend, worth reading
High school: recommend
Junior high: mature readers who can understand the abusive nature of the relationship
While I was reading this book, it was like the pages were turning themselves. There's not an intense layer of action or massive plot twists. The main character is pretty well developed and I was invested in Corazon. It was written with a lot of emotion and I can appreciate that. However, the other characters were very flat and under-developed, that I didn't like.
The first page got my attention immediately. I'm not sure how relatable this would be to a religious young womxn coming to terms with their sexual orientation but as a straight reader I *felt* it. I could relate to Corazon and I felt the feelings inside of me.
I absolutely LOVED that it was sprinkled with Tagalog. I did a lot of Google translate and I thoroughly enjoyed that process. I never felt like I was being pandered to. I liked doing the legwork to figure out what was being said - my personal pet peeve is when a language asides English is italicized and immediately defined. In this book it felt natural when it was defined, like that is what Cory thinks.
Now, I don't know enough about the Phillipines but the way it was portrayed in this book seemed very Orientalist. Dangerous foreign place that's dirty and poor. That's not the impression my Filipinx students give me when they speak of their previous home so maybe it was written in a poorer neighborhood. Either way, there was an interesting method of portrayal that left me wanting to do a postcolonial analysis on the book.
My biggest gripe is I wish the relationship with Grace was explored more, especially the negative parts. Just to make it clear to a younger reader that it's REALLY not okay. The first half romanticized the interaction (which makes sense) but I wanted more on the "how could she" part, and the realization. I just worry a youth reader with trauma or misinformation might look at it as "but it was okay and only hurt BC they got caught."
Adults: recommend, worth reading
High school: recommend
Junior high: mature readers who can understand the abusive nature of the relationship