Books and Sensibility

We're an Open Book

Latinx

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

     2 Comments

304 Pages | Thomas Dunne Books (Republished by Tor) | 10/24/2017

I’ve been wanting to read Silvia Moreno-Garcia since Mexican Gothic made a splash on the book internet last year. I jumped at the chance to review The Beautiful Ones–not realizing this is one of her backlist titles that has been republished.

Let me tell you

This book was so…odd. It takes the plot of a romantic historical drama and infuses it with magic and fantasy in an extremely subtle way that (while it didn’t make the book less enjoyable) left me wondering why it was there at all?

…

Read this Post

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

     2 Comments

Rating: 3 out of 5.

  7 Hours 3 Mins | Harper Audio | Contemporary | 5/04/2021

In this book, the titular Meet Cute Diary is a wildly popular Tumblr blog of supposedly true meet-cutes from transgender couples. In reality, all the posts are from the imagination of 16-year-old Noah Ramirez–who has only ever dreamed of having his own meet-cute.

When an anonymous troll tries to discredit the blog, Noah and a handsome bookseller stage a social media love story inspired by Noah’s fake posts.

The Meet Cute Diary is a refreshing take on the coming of age YA love story that creates room for queer and imperfect teens but… its main romance left me wanting more.

*mild spoilers below*

…

Read this Post

Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore

     Leave a Comment

Rating: Unrated | 320 pages | Harper Teen | Contemporary/Magican Realism | 09/22/2020 |

I’ve been wanting to specifically read A-M forever. From what I’ve heard their novels are a blend of fantasy and contemporary which is a genre mash-up that has always been right up my alley, so when I had a chance to review the audio for Miss Meteor, jointly written by Tehlor Kay Mejia, I jumped at the chance.

In Miss Metoer a small-town beauty pageant brings together estranged best friends, Chicky a loner and outcast who doesn’t quite fit in with her three larger-than-life big sisters; and Lita, en eccentric girl born from the stardust of the meteor that gave their small New Mexico town its name. Yes, there is a magical realism element to this story that the authors quietly weave in that I think adds a layer of actual alien to the alienation the girls already feel being brown girls in a town that often rewards blonde-haired white girls.

…

Read this Post

5 Amazing Audiobooks for Latinx Heritage Month

     Leave a Comment

September 15th – October 15th is Latinx Heritage month. To celebrate Latinx voices we want to share five of our favorite audiobooks written by Latinx authors!

…

Read this Post

Book Review : Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas

     2 Comments

Rating: Unrated | 320 pages | Blink YA | Contemporary | Release Date: 03/03/20

Mayra Cuevas debut is a coming of age novel for fans of decadent food and charming European cities. Seventeen-year-old Isa has a passion for French cooking, which has kept her afloat now that she has left Chicago for the scenic coastal city of Nantes, France with her father and his new wife–the woman he cheated on her mom with.

The situation is a little awkward but it’s all worth it when Isa is accepted into a cutthroat culinary program where failure is not an option. She is determined to keep her focus– even if her family’s new charming young house guest proves to be a bit of a distraction.

…

Read this Post

Audiobook Review: The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves

     Leave a Comment

Rating: 4 out of 5.

 Audiobook length: 7 hours 50 min. | Publisher: Harper Audio | Genre: YA Contemporary| Release Date: 2/11/20

Jess gave a glowing review to  Fred Aceves debut, The Closest I’ve Come, making me particularly eager to pick up his sophomore novel.

After a video of 17-year-old David Espinoza getting slapped unconscious goes viral, David is too embarrassed to ever show his face around town. He’s tired of being bullied for how thin he is and spends the summer of his senior year working out to attain a physique like his favorite action movie stars. He joins a bodybuilding gym where he is slowly pulled into the insanely toxic community of professional bodybuilding and steroids.

…

Read this Post