A review by withbdp
Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

๐˜พ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™–๐™œ๐™ง๐™š๐™š ๐˜ฝ๐™š๐™ฉ๐™จ๐™–๐™ž๐™™๐™– ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™š๐™š ๐™‚๐™Š๐˜ผ๐™? โฃ
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What can I say!! Mind blown! This being my second Xochitl Gonzalez novel, I thought I knew what I was going to get but I got that and so much more! โฃ
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What I love most about Gonzalezโ€™s writing is her ability to so eloquently articulate the systems and structures in our America today. The constant push and pull of it all. Itโ€™s like peeking behind the curtain in the lives of the first world and the third world and how these factions intersect, combust and impact our current day societal norms beliefs and expectations. โฃ
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๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ด๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ซ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ. The themes in this book surrounding academia and family of first generation college students were immensely relatable to my lived experience. โฃ
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Even the use of magical realism injected into the story feels very much an added commentary of what happens to those voices, stories, lives lived of those who maybe marginalized and who or what structures, systems or institutions deems them to be propped up/recognized or buried deep into obscurity never to be celebrated or acknowledged. โฃ