Julia is a first-gen American whose is dealing with the pulls between her traditional Mexican parents and growing up as a Chicagoan. Then, when her perfect older sister dies in a car accident, life spirals downward and forces the family to open up and share more of their secrets.

I liked the concept of this story and I bet a lot of people would like this book a whole lot. Julia's first-person voice felt juvenile-authentic and was the way that I and a lot of my friends talked as teens.... except for when the author butted in with patronizing words of advice that came through Julia's mouth. So annoying and is exactly the sort of BS that I could see right through even as a kid.

Julia herself is why I had such a hard time getting into this story. I almost stopped half-way through. If it had been written in 3rd person, I think I would have liked it a lot better, and it would have forced the author to show relationships more subtly instead of filtering everything through Julia's diary-voice. I stuck it out though, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I like the final 25% of the book.