Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.
But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.
Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?
But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.
Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?
Book Review:
Recently, I have been really into contemporary books with a deeper message than your typical fluffy contemporary; therefore, I was excited to start this book. I was interested in learning about the Mexican familial culture a bit more closely than what I've learned in Spanish classes. I always find contemporaries dealing with immigration to be very interesting as well, like American Street by Ibi Zoboi. Needless to say, I went into this book expecting it to be amazing. However, I was let down. It was by no means a bad book. I still really enjoyed it. It just wasn't what I wanted.
I felt that Sanchez did a really good job at portraying Julia's family in a realistic way. However, Olga's character, although told through 2nd or 3rd person accounts, was a bit disconnected. That may have been what Sanchez wanted as it lent to the aspect of Julia having to figure her dead sister out for the readers as well as herself. Nevertheless, even when Julia began to understand her sister more, I still felt disconnected.
Julia was also a really annoying protagonist. I really wanted to like her and I did feel connected to her as she tried to figure out her worth. There just wasn't a lot of character development for her until the last few chapters.
Even though I had various problems with the story, I can not deny that Sanchez depicted the culture and family in a realistic way. You could tell how the immigration process that the parents experienced left its mark on them. It also made sense that familial obligation was a sentiment forced on Julia, as it was forced on her parents as well.
Pages: 344 Rate: 3/5
