krystalicia_'s reviews
177 reviews

I get the hype, really and truly. In fact, I think this is the first hyped book I read that was actually fantastic and deserves all the hype it’s getting. I physically read this and listened to the audiobook at the same time, and if you have library access/the funds to get both, I would 10/10 recommend this (with reservations to trigger warnings).

McCurdy is a fantastic writer and tells her memoir via chronological vignettes of her life from being a little girl until today and her storytelling ability is wild. She was able to capture her younger self’s voice in a way that wasn’t cringy (which most people can’t do) while splicing in current introspection and it flows so well!

If you do want to read this, I would heavily recommend looking into content warnings. Like please please please, because I feel like if you went through similar things, her account is so raw that it could either be cathartic triggering.

I really enjoyed this!!! It was a really quick read and I loved the unique format of this book and would love to read more books structured like this (little excerpts of our main character, Cara, at various points in the job application process in between her sessions with her employment counselor).

Cara was so interesting to me because she felt like family which was really dope but also INFURIATING to read at the same time because some of the things she said made my skin crawl but also want to hug her in the span of like 3 sentences. I feel like she exhibited a ton of growth throughout the story, while at the same time absentmindedly contradicting herself continuously.

One of my favorite things to read is strained family dynamics and my god does this book have this. The ending warmed my heart because it’s showing a path to her and her child working on their relationship, and it was because she acknowledged where she messed up and tried to meet him where he was rather than approaching the situation with only herself in mind.

If there was ever a book I thought I’d enjoy, it was this one. It was compared to one of my favorite books, Radio Silence, and while I can see how they’re similar, the reasons I love Radio Silence aren’t in this book. For my brain, I’ll break it down into likes and dislikes:

Likes:

-as a fanfic girly, I enjoyed seeing the making of/behind the scenes of fanfiction. I’ve been blessed that I’ve never dove deep enough into certain fandoms to see the toxicity that can exist, but I liked how the author discussed and portrayed it

-I like the reality of the constant battle with you own mental health. It was clear as the reader that Eliza needed help, but it’s also understandable why she was so resistant at first

Dislikes:

-the power dynamic that existed between Eliza and Wallace felt icky. Like they only began talking because of Monstrous Sea so it’s essentially and artist dating a fan and I don’t like it. This is probably one of the reasons I’d never be on board with their relationship.

-I did not believe that Wallace wouldn’t be understanding of the situation. As someone who also lives in anonymity, he would understand the severity of why she wouldn’t tell him. And then for him to essentially demand that she finished HER story? I hated it.

Anyway, it’s not a bad book, just very much so not for me at this stage in my life, though I do think I would have enjoyed it a lot more with some minor plot changes.

This book book stays true to its description, which I have to give it credit for, but I was really hoping for more. I was interested in reading June’s story because I’m usually really pulled into stories of immigrant children and understanding that family’s dynamic, and while we do get that, it felt flat and predictable. The mother felt like a caricature and it kind of bothered me that she would say a Taiwanese proverb and then translate it right after. I know this was more for English speaking readers, but it took me out of the reading experience. I also wished that we heard more from the dad. I assumed (which I will own could be on me) that part of June struggling with her identity in an incredibly white space was because she was biracial but it turns out her dad was also Taiwanese, just incredibly absent from the entire story and void of personality.

I do recognize the main point of the story is June navigating her romantic and sexual relationships, but as I read, I could not understand why she was into any of the guys she was into. Rhys lacked personality, the second (I can’t even remember his name he was so vanilla) came onto you with micro aggressive compliments, and the third was a literal adult??? Like you were in high school and he was a grad student??? And you pursued this while also knowingly shit talked your best friend for also dating a man that was way too old for her so you know it’s wrong, gross, and manipulative? Like I understand that when you’re in high school, it’s easy to feel important when an older person is interested in you but June has made comments that it’s weird so it felt inconsistent in her character. Overall, June didn’t really feel like a fleshed out character which made it difficult to want more for her. I’d be interested in reading more from this author, but this wasn’t it.

This was a random pick up from the library and I’m so glad I did! This book was interesting in that it was told from multiple perspectives and continued to jump back and forth in time which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I was going to. What I didn’t enjoy as much was how the story was divided up. It followed two separate families and the majority of the book followed specifically the mother and daughter of the white/biracial family. While I did find the daughter’s story interesting, she and her mom (ESPECIALLY HER MOM) were annoying as hell. Like this was a book that very clearly showcases that not everyone should be a parent, because both of the moms in this story made me want to rip my hair out. I kind of hated what the author did to Gee’s character. He barely had a storyline and then it felt like they just used this Black boy as a tool to push the white family’s story along. It was still a pretty engaging read and I’d recommend it, but just know that the characters suck a lot of the time.

For me, this book was incredibly just ok. It was a pretty quick read and I do think the author did a good job of making the content easy to understand and digestible, but in doing so I almost feel like they didn’t say as much as the title would lead on. There was nothing necessarily groundbreaking about it, but I’m guessing that wasn’t the purpose. 

I think this could be a really good book for Latinos that are coming into their identities and beginning to question the ways colonialism and white supremacy shows up in their lives and in their familial upbringing, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this would be a great first book. Similarly, if you are a white person and are also trying to understand the ways colonialism and white privilege have impacted and continue to impact marginalized people, then this could be a good first book for you.

One thing I did appreciate that the author talked about was Cubans that settled specifically in Miami and how the people she interacted with, including her family and herself, essentially believed they were white in that space and the lasting negative impacts of single voter groups. 

Ok so here’s the thing, I really enjoyed the writing in this and think Torres is a talented writer, but it was so incredibly slow. For so long, it was giving no plot, just vibes which would have been fine, but because there were smaller pieces of sexual misconduct sprinkled in, you knew it would be a bigger theme later so you were left waiting for something to happen and I’m not sure the pay off was there. The cast of characters were extremely unlikable, which I know was the point. Like after a chapter I couldn’t be convinced Kelly even liked Brisma and I couldn’t rationalize why they were even friends aside from the need of acceptance on Brisma’s end and the need to be wanted from Kelly’s end. 

Each character was flawed and was wronged so you could almost understand why they were the way they were, but it was hard to read sometimes because I just wanted to shake Brisma to WAKE THE FUCK UP. All in all, it was a just ok book. I would definitely read from this author again but hope that there is a stronger story behind it.

Important and impactful read. I appreciated that this was told almost interview style, sharing the stories of different undocumented people with the authors own personal experiences spliced in. I appreciated that it highlighted the struggles, yes, but also the strengths of the individuals she spoke to.

I really did enjoy hearing about the authors experiences, how her parents impacted her world view and her personally based on their own issues they were working through. This isn’t necessarily the happiest book and I don’t think the author intends it to be. There is a grittiness that I really appreciated and makes me want to read more from her in the future.

Am I a romance convert? Probably not, but this was definitely my kind of romance and it’s probably because the romance was interesting to me because of the history behind both Eva and Shane and the characters as individuals. At no point did these characters lose their personality because of the relationship while still prioritizing the other. 

I was so invested in their high school selves storyline, but equally as invested in present day which is super unlike me when it comes to dual timeline stories, but Tia Williams did this so well I want to see what was happening with past Eva and Shane just as much as I wanted to see what was happening with present day Eva and Shane.

I also appreciated that they remained realistic with each other and had the difficult conversations of what can actually happen with their relationship. They both acknowledged their need to heal as a person and a relationship that could have quickly become toxic and codependent was handled with care and love, making their romance one you really wanted to root for. Needless to say, I will read anything Tia Williams puts out. It was my brand of adult contemporary and the romance was just a wonderful cherry on top!

PS: Chronic migraine rep was not something I thought I needed but so happy to see! Sometimes I feel like I’m tripping when I can’t move, eat, or drink for days at a time because of my migraines, and it’s honestly reassuring to see I’m not alone.

This was honestly such an eye opening book. Admittedly, I wasn’t aware of the tumultuous history of Hindu and Muslim relations in India, and this book did such a good job of providing education while still developing every character in this book. I loved the juxtaposition between Smita and Mohan. Smita, the Indian born American who vowed never to return to India because of her family’s secret past and slowly starts to see the bits of good that exists. And Mohan, a man who’s proud of being Indian and will love and defend his country until the end, but is also seeing all the bad that still exists in the country he loves so dearly. The bond they form is palpable, and the connection they both develop with the story surrounding an honor killing in a rural part of India challenges them both to face pieces of themselves that they didn’t know they needed to. 

This book is emotional. This book is sad. If you’re looking for a happy ending, this is not the book for you, but if you’re willing to sit in discomfort and read and emotionally taxing book that has beautiful storytelling and dynamic characters, I would urge you to give this a read. The story being told is important. The story being told is timely. The story being told may be taking place in India, but it is not an isolated incident and takes place in every country, just with different versions of “honor”. Meena and Abdul and their new little family deserve so much more than what they got and I will think about them often.