I was surprised by how much I liked this, but really I shouldn’t be. It was recommended by a college professor who I didn’t like that much, and only recently did I realize it was written by Patricia Engel, who has slowly become one of my favorite poets (and even won one of my class’s National Poetry Month Madness). I normally don’t like “slice of life” books about a protagonist’s random experiences and romances, but I devoured this book in two days. Something about it was so compelling - it’s fiction, but I can’t help but imagine that Patricia Engel poured so much of herself into it (both she and the protagonist lived in New Jersey as the daughter of Colombian parents). 

The book is described as following, out-of-order, events in the life of Sabina as she navigates love, family, and her identity. What struck me most is that each chapter is really about someone else - or Sabina, in relation to other people, whether it be a lover, a family member, or a family friend. For the most part, it’s a sad book, and not always in a way I could easily pinpoint, perhaps because the experiences are so raw and human, and for that reason I have to believe that Engel was inspired by real life events. When I finished, I had an inkling that I really didn’t understand everything, and I’m going to keep this on my desk for a while so I can go back to a chapter every now and then and maybe get something new out of it. 

Based on reviews on G*odreads and StoryGraph, this book doesn’t seem too popular. People are sleeping on this! Loved this book a ton.