A review by chloe_601
The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I initially had a hard time reading through the first ~25% of this book. I was getting angry at the situation Ariana was in and the inner monologue of
feeling like everything that happened was her fault, and that if she had just done something different, it would have been okay
. But as the plot went on, I liked watching the survival club try and formulate a way to get justice for the lives and reputations that had been ruined.

This book dealt with some very heavy subject matter, especially for YA, but I am very glad that a book like this exists, because it is important to know this is a real thing that can happen (as fucked up and heartbreaking as that is).

I also enjoyed the portrayal of the main character having autism and selective mutism. I don’t see that very often in books, and growing up with siblings who also had nonverbal days, it was refreshing to see the understanding with how it was depicted. Especially the relationship between understanding social cues and friendship/relationship dynamics.
Though it made what Luis did even more fucked up
.

The ending was definitely a little clean, but I think it’s good to have a story where things do work out. In some ways it was hopeful, but
the fact they had to take matters into their own hands because they would not have been believed felt disheartening because of how true that is in so many cases
.

Unrelated to everything else but the chapters were really short which made this easy for my brain to focus and binge in one sitting
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