Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

mexican daughter trauma!!! i felt seen. the author really dove into some important topics. something i wish i read as a teenager but maybe it healed a part of me.

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edebaca's review

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Julia is a high school student struggling to survive the pressure of her parents, especially after the death of her sister. As a first generation college student, Julia is searching for answers on who her sister really was, while also finding herself in the process.

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rosie_valadez's review against another edition

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2.0

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bookishevy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

If you love YA reads, this one is for you.

To Julia's mother, she is not the perfect Mexican daughter. She doesn't like learning how to cook and has no intentions of having children. The opposite of her older sister Olga, bookish Julia can't wait to leave home for college in NYC and become a writer.

When Olga dies in a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago, Julia is left to pick up the pieces of her family. Julia's parents don't see that she is also broken. Instead of consoling Julia, her Ama copes with her grief by pointing out all the ways Julia is not like Olga, exacerbating Julia's own grief.

When Julia finds clues that point to Olga leading a double life, she's determined to find out who Olga was texting before the accident.

Sanchez shows the struggle immigrant parents face with instilling their cultural values into their first-generation American children. Olga is the standard that Julia is held up to. Julia is regularly punished for daring to want a life outside their home. Meanwhile, Olga had a secret life that would have scandalized their parents.

Some Goodreads reviewers hate Julia, but I like her. She's a typical angsty teen, but she's also coping with a loss. Yes, she's irritable and combative, but that's how depression manifests in some people. Her sister is dead, Ama is like a warden, she lives in poverty and is surrounded by gang violence. She wants out, and she feels hopeless and alone.

Her parents feel like they're not enough. I agree. Julia's intelligent but judgemental of her parents' culture because they're so conservative. She needs to show them some grace. They're only projecting their anxieties about the world onto her because of what they endured while crossing the border. But they must learn that suffocating Julia is doing more harm than good.

Finding out the truth about Olga's secret life doesn't help Julia relate to her sister any better. Olga was still oppressed and not putting herself first. Julia is determined to get an education and find her own identity.

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