nesdy's reviews
933 reviews

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

3.5

I liked it because it doesn't shy away from difficult topics, and the characters are nuanced, but I do have a big gripe with it:

The novel seems to sympathize a lot with Julia's mother because of the trauma she's been through. However, that doesn't justify the way she's treated Julia her entire life. She never listens or cares about anything Julia tells her. Julia's never allowed any privacy. Even after the suicide attempt, when the novel is trying to convince us that the mother is trying to be a better mother, she never takes any responsibility for what happened. She even tells Julia she didn't know she wanted to be a writer, even though that's all she talks about, and even though the mother ripped her writing journals because she didn't approve. And then she acts as if she was oblivious to it, as if their lack of a relationship is Julia's fault for not trying enough. 

Another thing I hated was that it is very heavily implied that Julia's depression is inherent to her, as if there weren't any other factors, which pissed me off. Of course she's depressed, her own parents don't show her any love and she is trapped in that house. Even after the suicide attempt, when we're supposed to believe her parents are trying, I see the opposite. She gets sent to Mexico. When she shows concern about missing so much class because that will hurt her chances at college, they completely dismiss her and tell her she can always go to community college, something she's said repeatedly she doesn't want to do. 

I don't understand why the novel wants me to empathize with these people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Suicide attempt

Burning Crowns by Katherine Webber, Catherine Doyle

3.0

Nice ending. It kept me engaged. These are extremely entertaining

Daddy Issues: Love and Hate in the Time of Patriarchy by Katherine Angel

1.5

Some of the conclusions reach are not really based on anything, and in general it's just random musings about the topic

El estrecho sendero entre deseos by Patrick Rothfuss

3.0

I'm not sure what to say about it. I liked the main storyline, but the other detours sometimes worked for me and sometimes didn't. I feel like Rothfuss is revealing something about the relationship between Bast and Kvothe but I'm not sure what. It was short and entertaining though.

Cursed Crowns by Katherine Webber, Catherine Doyle

3.0

It has some ridiculous moments and some of the romances are still a bit too underdeveloped, but I did like Shen Lo's plot and I like the characters and the mystery of the curse enough to keep going

LADY SUSAN, THE WATSONS & SANDITON by Jane Austen, Jane Austen

3.5

Lady Susan - 4 stars
The Watsons - 4 stars
Sanditon - 3 stars

Piel de cordero by Ledicia Costas

3.0

He disfrutado la lectura. Al principio se me hizo un poco cuesta arriba por ese ambiente tan opresivo que describe, pero según va avanzando la historia de Catarina, me enganché bastante. El problema para mí es que hay una gran diferencia entre la trama de Catarina y la de Lola. Catarina está en peligro constante, mientras que Lola pues... quiere dejar a la pareja y no se atreve, ya ves tú. Es un bajonazo salir de una historia y entrar en la otra. El final no me gustó, sobre todo por cómo termina la historia de Catarina. 

Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

2.0

This was a bit disappointing. What I liked the most about Book 1 was the family dynamics and how it dealt with trauma. This novel is mostly focused on the romance and it felt repetitive at times. I also felt like the trauma is not as well treated as in Book 1.

It falls into the trope of "having a conversation with an abusive parent will solve everything because the parent is willing to listen" even though Isabel hasn't listened to Astrid in 30 years.
Also, Meredith is clearly an abusive ex but that is never really dealt with in any way. Once again, Jordan just asks her for space and Meredith agrees to it. Even though we're talking about a woman who sent her messages for a year reminiscing abour their relationship and then tried to ruin her new relationship and job prospects.

In Book 1 the friends and the family were a huge aspect of the story and, while not completely absent here, they don't feel as important. The book is more focused on the romance and the inn storyline. But I thought the inn storyline was mostly ridiculous so it didn't work for me at all

This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender

1.0

This was super boring. I had a hard time getting through it. I couldn't stand any of the characters, their relationships were not well developed at all. There is a plot but it was mostly buried under a selection of very random scenes, and it was all extremely repetitive.

I did like the fact that homophobia is not a thing in this book, but I wish that had happened in a better novel

Utena, la chica revolucionaria. Integral. by Be-Papas, Chiho Saito

3.0

I liked the anime much better to be honest. I think this was way too straightforward and therefore much more uninteresting. My favorite part of this edition was actually Adolescence of Utena. The edition is great though, very high quality.