A review by agrippinaes
Wait for It by Mariana Zapata

4.0

I’ve read this one a few times, and it’s a bit of a comfort read for me. This is a long, slow-burn of a book, but I find it really easy to read and quite engaging. The plot is actually very simple, but it covers some difficult topics and I think for the most part it does them well.

I really like Diana, the main character. I think she’s possibly my favourite Mariana Zapata narrator. I like that she stands up for herself and those she loves, always, and always wants to do the right thing.

Dallas is not my favourite love interest in a Mariana Zapata book (I just find him a bit annoying at times), but mostly he’s fine, and I like the careful steadiness of his character. I think that’s good, and a real strength of the book is how calm and sensible he is (most of the time).

Their relationship is good. It does develop very slowly, and the beginning is frustrating to me, because there is so much back and forth and dancing about each other in a way that gets a bit annoying. But once they get past their initial problems and get to know one another, quite a sweet relationship forms. Again - it’s his steadiness that makes it work, I think, and that’s what Diana needs. And I like that towards the end he fulfils some of the stuff she said she wanted in an ideal man -

Spoiler

the as you wish scene, the notes, and so on.

I also think it’s quite sweet that as their relationship gets deeper, they both revert to acting more like high school kids - it’s cute.

However, the real positive of this book, and the thing I like the most that makes it a comfort read, is not actually their relationship but the one that Diana has with the other people in her life. Her relationship with both her nephews is one of the loveliest I’ve read in a novel, I think; her love for them, and them for her, jumps off the page in every scene they have. Their comfort with one another, the funny insults, and the genuinely emotional moments where she describes, in detail, her love for them and how passionate she is about caring for them, is so well done and makes me feel emotional whenever I read it.

I also love the sense of family elsewhere - her scenes with her best friend, Vanessa, are strong, and I love the idea of the Larsens, who are only biologically related to one of the nephews but treat the older one as if he is theirs, too. I loved the Larsens, who ultimately come across as more supportive to Diana than her own parents. They’re not in it enough for me - I’d have liked more scenes with them. I also find the dialogue in this book stronger than in some of Mariana Zapata’s other books - the banter between Diana and her nephews, for example, or between Diana and Trip.

Finally - the book deals a lot with grief, and I think it is portrayed so well. I like that Diana and her nephews are still shown to be struggling with the loss of her brother, Rodrigo, but that they talk about him so openly in a way that is lovely to read about. The scenes where they talk about Rodrigo or Diana works out her grief in private are some of the strongest in the book.

The main issue I have with this book is that some of the plotlines feel a bit superfluous and don’t have satisfactory endings.

Spoiler

The storyline with Dallas’ brother, Jackson, felt like drama for the sake of it, which is odd as the opening of the novel is literally about him, not Dallas; the parts with Josh’s mother felt really unnecessary and I think they could have been cut out completely. Her complicated relationship with her mother is not resolved in a way that felt satisfying.

I’ve read most of Mariana Zapata’s novels and I know that the long lengths, complicated and sometimes rambling plots are part of her work, but I think this is the one where it feels the most distracting. I think there are huge parts of this book that could just be removed, and the central story would still work fine.

I also wish that there was slightly more to the romance - I know it’s a slow-burn, but on this reread, it felt a lot slower, and Dallas grated on me a lot more - when I first read this, I loved Dallas. He was great! I adored him and their relationship. But whenever I reread it, I find him more and more frustrating.

And I do not, at all, like the bit near the end where Diana goes drinking and he gets annoyed at her for ignoring him and behaves in a way that I find overly aggressive. It felt out of place with the rest of the book and Dallas’ character in general. I sort of understand why he was worried about her, but his level of anger felt odd and it was hard not to find the scene a bit controlling, which is why it felt out of place. Similarly, the section partway through where

Spoiler

Dallas loses his temper about a toolbox, for some reason, is never really explained - I assume he dislikes the toolbox as a symbol of Diana having to look after herself and the boys with little support, but it felt really weird that he never mentions it again as it felt like Mariana Zapata was making quite a big deal of how upset he was about the toolbox.

Ultimately, on my first read, I loved this book and the main relationship it portrays. I still really like it, but I appreciate it a lot more for the side relationships than for the romance element. The romance element is mostly fine, except for some issues I have with Dallas specifically, and I will be rereading it again in the future.

I would recommend it if you want a slow-burn with a bit of angst and some lovely family dynamics.

Content Warnings:

Spoiler

Racist language, violence, house fire, domestic violence (in-past), sudden death of a loved one, grief.