A review by liralen
The Secret Side of Empty by Maria E. Andreu
4.0
I was wavering between three and four stars, but what tipped the scale is that the story does not hinge on M.T.'s romance. That is, M.T. is seventeen, so sometimes for her it feels like her life hinges on the romance -- but the story doesn't, which feels like a very important distinction.
M.T. is between a rock and a hard place: as an undocumented immigrant who doesn't remember her country of birth, she has good reason to want to stay in the U.S. But without papers, she has no chance of going to college or getting a good job, and she and her family are constantly looking over their shoulders. Add to that tension within her family -- M.T.'s father, once someone she looked up to, has essentially given up. He came to the U.S. with dreams, but fifteen years of working under the table at a restaurant have taken their toll. He's no longer a positive force in M.T.'s life.
There's a degree of restraint in the book, I think, that's really nice to see. For the most part things don't fall apart in catastrophic ways. The focus is more on how M.T.'s situation affects her internally than on how it affects her externally, which I hadn't expected. The beloved teacher who departs midyear doesn't swoop back in and fix things. Nate doesn't fix things. M.T. gets angry about Nate still being in contact with his ex; later, Sioobhan gets angry with M.T. for a very similar reason. M.T. doesn't necessarily see the parallels there, not yet, but the reader can.
One thing I really didn't love: how the accident near the end was dealt with. It reminds me of that episode in the L Word when Tina gives birth -- out comes the baby, and then all of a sudden it's oh god vital signs is Tina going to be okay is she GO TO BLACK commercial break fade back in -- and she's fine and it's never mentioned again. This wasn't that abrupt, but I'm not sure how much the arc added.
Also: still trying to figure out how. Was that last scene out of chronological order? Not sure. But it's nice to see some things, finally, looking up for M.T.
M.T. is between a rock and a hard place: as an undocumented immigrant who doesn't remember her country of birth, she has good reason to want to stay in the U.S. But without papers, she has no chance of going to college or getting a good job, and she and her family are constantly looking over their shoulders. Add to that tension within her family -- M.T.'s father, once someone she looked up to, has essentially given up. He came to the U.S. with dreams, but fifteen years of working under the table at a restaurant have taken their toll. He's no longer a positive force in M.T.'s life.
There's a degree of restraint in the book, I think, that's really nice to see. For the most part things don't fall apart in catastrophic ways. The focus is more on how M.T.'s situation affects her internally than on how it affects her externally, which I hadn't expected. The beloved teacher who departs midyear doesn't swoop back in and fix things. Nate doesn't fix things. M.T. gets angry about Nate still being in contact with his ex; later, Sioobhan gets angry with M.T. for a very similar reason. M.T. doesn't necessarily see the parallels there, not yet, but the reader can.
One thing I really didn't love: how the accident near the end was dealt with. It reminds me of that episode in the L Word when Tina gives birth -- out comes the baby, and then all of a sudden it's oh god vital signs is Tina going to be okay is she GO TO BLACK commercial break fade back in -- and she's fine and it's never mentioned again. This wasn't that abrupt, but I'm not sure how much the arc added.
Also: still trying to figure out how