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challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia, Blood
Minor: Abortion
sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
📚 Review: Ugh. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Sonora Reyes. They are such a great writer. You fall in love with the characters, feel the pain they feel, and feel all the joy with them. This book was so timely, and dealt with some really tough topics, but still left me feeling so hopeful and happy at the end. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a queer romance with three dimensional conflict and characters you will get to know and love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Abortion
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Wow, I feel a bit conflicted trying to rate and review this book. If you were expecting a cute little gay romance story, think again! The Broposal gets very deep, Sonora lists the triggers right at the beginning of the book, please take them seriously! Spoilers below!
I felt a lot of big feelings about our main characters, Kenny, Jackie and Han. Kenny is a US citizen, who's in a toxic and abusive relationship with the spawn of the devil, Jackie. (Oh man, do I HATE Jackie! I swear, if she was real, I'd square up so fast! It's been a minute since I read about a character I truly hated this much.) Kenny is very "soft bi boy with kinks". Like he literally carries around a bag of toys, lmao. I sort of like Kenny, but this dude can't make his mind up for shit. He has been in an abusive relationship for years, so that's a big reason why, but his failure to see clear manipulation was so hard to read. I just wish more of his friends and family stood their ground about what was happening to him. I feel bad for not liking Kenny as much, but honestly, besides his BDSM play and being a US citizen, Kenny wasn't that interesting. I liked Han a lot more, bro. Han is a guy with a backstoryyy! I literally gagged at several sad things that happened to him, I was not prepared for. Plus, Han would get so vulnerable with Kenny just for Kenny to turn around and do the opposite. I was so annoyed. It does end in a happily ever after, which is great brp, but the road was rough bro!
Some things I liked about the novel were families not having an issue with their kids/cousins being gay. Being gay/bi/trans, was pretty normal and resolved fast if there were issues. I also liked seeing supportive parents of bi people! Thank goodness for that.
I think one of my issues with this one is that Sonora typically writes YA novels, even with the adult scenes in this story, it still felt "YA" in some parts. Granted, Han and Kenny are both young in this story, that plays into it, but I didn't care about the work side plot or how some minor things just magically worked out. I also hated a part where Han "slow claps" for Kenny when he finally speaks his mind. It's very YA coded and left me on the fence a bit.
Overall, I did like this story and glad I read it, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
Some things I liked about the novel were families not having an issue with their kids/cousins being gay. Being gay/bi/trans, was pretty normal and resolved fast if there were issues. I also liked seeing supportive parents of bi people! Thank goodness for that.
I think one of my issues with this one is that Sonora typically writes YA novels, even with the adult scenes in this story, it still felt "YA" in some parts. Granted, Han and Kenny are both young in this story, that plays into it, but I didn't care about the work side plot or how some minor things just magically worked out. I also hated a part where Han "slow claps" for Kenny when he finally speaks his mind. It's very YA coded and left me on the fence a bit.
Overall, I did like this story and glad I read it, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Bro! This book was amazing.
Once I picked up and got into the book, I just had to finish it!
The book does have several heavy topics/themes, but I love how Reyes brilliantly wrote the story
Once I picked up and got into the book, I just had to finish it!
The book does have several heavy topics/themes, but I love how Reyes brilliantly wrote the story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Deportation
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book should have worked better for me than it did. I enjoyed the characters of Han (Alejandro) and Kenny and thought their long-term friendship was excellent. But somehow this never really pulled me in fully.
Han has lived in the US (New Mexico) for most of his life, having been sent there to live with extended family after a near-disaster with his drug-addicted mother in Mexico. But he’s undocumented and so his life is pretty precarious - jobs are hard to get and keep, he doesn’t have a driver’s license, he worries every time he’s near a police officer, etc. He and Kenny are roommates and have been friends since they were very young. Kenny helps Han as best he can, driving him places, etc. Kenny has a girlfriend, Jackie, who I absolutely hated. She was abusive to Kenny and I hated that he felt he couldn’t stand up to her. When he broke up with her, I was so relieved. I guess i just didn’t buy that whole relationship. Jackie was so incredibly evil and Kenny was a real sweetie.
Kenny then figures the best thing he can do for Han is to get him his citizenship by marrying him. (Kenny is bisexual and Han believes he’s straight, but isn’t interested in women at all.)
The topic of possible deportation and all the struggles Han was experiencing were well done and are important topics for people to read about in this personal way.
I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient, and allowed me to continue with the story even when I could not sit down and read - or when I could not listen. The audiobook has two distinct narrators who both do a wonderful job: André Santana and Alejandro Antonio Ruiz.
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book and for the opportunity to listen to a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I wanted to like this book so bad, but ended up not enjoying a single moment
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Are you interested in reading a book where a victim of both physical and emotional abuse gets terrorized by his homophobic and abusive ex for 300 pages and then said ex receives exactly zero consequences? If so, pick this one up. Maybe you’ll like it more than I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I loved the Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic Schools but this one didn't quite hit for me. The story itself was good! And I love seeing physically affectionate "bros" (and the cringe and callout about hiding behind that "bro" label!) and the development of trust and vulnerability. But the writing didn't seem to support the story as well as I would have liked. And I wouldn't consider it a romcom — definitely more of a romdram with sprinkles of cute character-based humor (Thornelius 4 Eva! ). I'm admittedly bad at liking angsty* romances, though, so your mileage may vary!
*Not meant to downplay the emotional stress and distress of the situations discussed in the book, which were represented very well.
*Not meant to downplay the emotional stress and distress of the situations discussed in the book, which were represented very well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Abortion, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
blackmailing, threat of deportation