krystalicia_'s reviews
177 reviews

Far from my usual genre but so glad I gave this a chance. I think this is a book that is definitely a top tier experience listening to the audio book as it really does immerses you into the story. I think this will really resonate with anyone who’s lived in the city, but I feel like the descriptions would help most get into the story. I often forget Staten Island is a part of the city, and as I learn more about it, I can see why. I’m hoping for some massive character development for her in the next book but I’m also not holding my breath. One thing I wish we did have was more exploration of the other POVs. I feel like we got a lot from the Bronx and Staten Island, and a lot of Manhattan in the beginning, but we still don’t really know why Manny was chosen to be the city, especially if he was just getting there. I would have loved to get more POV from Brooklyn and Queens, and even Jersey City (which was such a fun little addition!!!). Excited to read the next one.

I couldn’t tell if the narrator was just really annoying or if the characters were just that bad

I picked this up because I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughters became a favorite book immediately after reading it. I could tell it was a personal story with a lot of the author ingrained in it and after listening to her memoir, it definitely carries a lot of her experience in those pages. Unfortunately, this memoir wasn’t my favorite. It could be because I wasn’t a fan of the author’s narration and it would have been better suited to read it physically, but I just couldn’t connect as much with the book.I’ll probably try and pick it up in the future and read it physically because there were parts I did enjoy, but it’s just not as memorable as some of the other non-fiction and memoirs I’ve read this year.

I put off reading this book because though it was a love story for one of my favorite characters in the series, Quan, a lot of reviews said that it didn’t really focus on him much. While this is completely true, I found Anna’s story so compelling that it didn’t really bother me much. Anna’s story is honestly heartbreaking but so absolutely relatable. She didn’t realize until she was an adult that she had autism and everything kind of clicked for her and as someone who was diagnosed with ADHD at like 28, I feel that deeply. The relief of understanding yourself just a bit better but also recognizing the way you were living your life isn’t sustainable is jarring but the wake up call you need. 
As for me, I love some complex family dynamics and this book delivers that! It was painful reading how much Anna had to mask just to interact with her family and how much her own wants and needs are pushed to the side because of the cultural position she’s in as the much much much youngest daughter in her Chinese family, but seeing her finally stand up for herself was just 😚👌🏼 chef’s kiss.
My main gripe is with with Quan’s chapters. He had enough going on with his personal life that he could have gotten a really fleshed out story, but we didn’t really see that. It felt a lot like an afterthought just so he could have some sort of struggles in the story and because of how underdeveloped his part felt, I almost wish it wasn’t there at all and that the love interest was just some other dude so that Quan could get the dedicated book her deserves.