A review by marianareadsbooks
Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora by Saraciea J. Fennell
5.0
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed is a collection of essays by multiple Latinx authors. There were so many important topics covered from the racism within the latinx community towards Afro-latinx members, the difficulty of balancing two identities, the challenges of being queer and latinx, and so much more. These essays were so personal and one could tell the authors were not holding back. I appreciate their honesty so much and have learned so much about experiences I have never had.
It’s really difficult to pick favorite essays as I learned something from each one of them. The two that I related to the most though was “More Than Nervios” by Lilliam Rivera and “Invisible” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. In “More Than Nervios”, Rivera openly discusses depression and suicide attempts. Rivera would often ignore her depleting mental health because she was taught to push through when things get difficult. In “Invisible”, Rojas Contreras discusses the gaslighting and blatant racism she experienced from her in laws, which ultimately led to her cutting them out of her life. These two essays were so relatable to me as I had only recently opened up to my parents about my mental health and I’ve experienced racist “in laws” from a previous relationship. I felt the two topics extremely difficult to convey due to the complexity of the two issues. Both Rivera and Rojas Contreras did a great job unraveling the complexity and highlighting the issue to its core. I highly recommend this book.
It’s really difficult to pick favorite essays as I learned something from each one of them. The two that I related to the most though was “More Than Nervios” by Lilliam Rivera and “Invisible” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. In “More Than Nervios”, Rivera openly discusses depression and suicide attempts. Rivera would often ignore her depleting mental health because she was taught to push through when things get difficult. In “Invisible”, Rojas Contreras discusses the gaslighting and blatant racism she experienced from her in laws, which ultimately led to her cutting them out of her life. These two essays were so relatable to me as I had only recently opened up to my parents about my mental health and I’ve experienced racist “in laws” from a previous relationship. I felt the two topics extremely difficult to convey due to the complexity of the two issues. Both Rivera and Rojas Contreras did a great job unraveling the complexity and highlighting the issue to its core. I highly recommend this book.