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A little background: I bailed on reading Twilight after the first page. (Sorry, Twihards). Out of boredom and morbid curiosity, I recently watched all the movies (after seeing someone share her live reactions in her IG stories to reading the first book), so I thought reading a parody was just the thing for me.
This book is cringe-worthy and Belle is incredibly dumb, which *is* the point. I found myself snorting at several things. Yes, I actually snorted out loud several times. And even chuckled a couple of times. I enjoyed reading and catching on to the little digs at the books/movies. There could've been way more, though. A few things did not make sense to me-at all-and were just plain weird, but I did appreciate this parody for what it was trying to do/did.
One of my favorite lines was: "I was finally about to ask him if he liked me for me or for my paper cuts..."
I'm not sure I can figure out a rating for this, so I'll leave that blank.
This book is cringe-worthy and Belle is incredibly dumb, which *is* the point. I found myself snorting at several things. Yes, I actually snorted out loud several times. And even chuckled a couple of times. I enjoyed reading and catching on to the little digs at the books/movies. There could've been way more, though. A few things did not make sense to me-at all-and were just plain weird, but I did appreciate this parody for what it was trying to do/did.
One of my favorite lines was: "I was finally about to ask him if he liked me for me or for my paper cuts..."
I'm not sure I can figure out a rating for this, so I'll leave that blank.
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This one was slow for me, but it did pick up about 2/3 of the way through. I was expecting it to be entertaining, with cute moments and drama. It wasn’t really any of that, although it did have a dramatic moment. Except, it seemed to be brushed aside and not given enough time to form into anything worthwhile. A lot more could’ve been done with that. In fact, this book missed out on the chance to fully discuss important topics that are brought up (like cheating on a partner). Instead, none of them are given enough attention to turn into teaching moments for young readers. The characters’ dialogues and the outcomes to these issues was kind of like the shrugging emoji reaction.
Dysfunctional and toxic relationships is an important conversation to have, especially for young people, regardless of sexual orientation. For that, I applaud this book for bringing that into light. However, I still think it could’ve been developed a lot more.
I appreciated the queer and BIPOC characters very much. My favorite character was Buddy. Although the other characters are diverse, too, they didn’t feel fleshed out to me.
Content Warning - toxic relationships, abortion
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abortion
slow-paced
I would’ve preferred more closure at the end of the book (like what happens to her brother and cousin), but I still very much appreciated this book about a young girl and her family who flee to Miami, Florida to escape Fidel Castro’s hold on Cuba. This book shows what it was like for her living in a new country and going to a new school not knowing or understanding English, and what it was like for her family leaving loved ones behind and being exiles.
This book is set during 1967 and 1968. The US had made negotiations with Cuba to get people out, resulting in the Freedom Flights that happened twice a day from December 1965 to April 1973. Nowadays, immigration laws are stricter and people fleeing Cuba (as well as Haiti) by boat are not allowed to enter the US.
This book is set during 1967 and 1968. The US had made negotiations with Cuba to get people out, resulting in the Freedom Flights that happened twice a day from December 1965 to April 1973. Nowadays, immigration laws are stricter and people fleeing Cuba (as well as Haiti) by boat are not allowed to enter the US.
I’d been meaning to read this book for a long time. I wish I had read it sooner because it is a great story. In the beginning, I didn’t like Esperanza too much because she’s a spoiled, privileged brat, but her circumstances kept me reading. I had to know what was going to happen to her next. Also, she was written that way for a reason. I loved her transformation by the end of the book.
There’s threads woven through the story from the very beginning to the end that I enjoyed seeing (her grandmother’s crotchet, her papa’s roses, the yarn doll her mom makes, feeling the earth’s heart beat, etc.).
This story made me think about immigrants now, immigration laws, detention centers, ICE, and all the people who leave Mexico looking for a better life. Although dated back in the 30s, Esperanza’s story is relevant today.
At the end of the book, the author talks about an event that happened in the story and shares historical facts. I never learned about the Deportation Act that was signed into law in 1929, which led to the so-called “voluntary repatriation”…involuntary deportations. The numbers of Mexicans deported (including those who were US citizens and had never lived in Mexico) were greater “than the Native American removals of the nineteenth century and greater than the Japanese-American relocations during World War 11.” Both of those horrible events are left out of our history teachings, as well.
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