I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter Review
In my continued search to find a comparable title for the community-based mystery and grief aspects of my book, Lu Patrick Easley and the Groovy Penguin Avenue, I stumbled upon this novel: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. It's a tale about processing grief, community drama, and a cynical, flair-filled protagonist trying to uncover a mystery. Finally, after reading this book, I can confidently say I'm one step closer to achieving my comp title goal. However, as a reader, did I enjoy this book as much as I do as a writer? Or is it just a marketing ploy for querying? That's what I, Brighton Nelson, will be discussing in today's book review. Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you enjoy the article!
Let's start with the negatives first so we can save the best for last. First, why did we add a sudden, unnecessary love triangle? I like the idea of her branching out and realizing it might be easier to like someone more similar to her, with a personality that clashes with Connor's. It's an interesting way to show that she feels betrayed by Connor to the point that she feels it's beyond repair. That said, if we're going to have this love triangle, we need to make it feel non-generic. Ramiro needed more time in the limelight. I mean, Connor should've gotten more time too, but that's more excusable because it'd have probably slowed down the pacing.
Second, the pacing here ended up being pretty disappointing, both in the main plot and the B-plot mystery. The book feels like it's coming to a natural conclusion, but then she gets sent to México for a while. I love the idea and sentiment, but by the last 75 or so pages, I felt like the novel was losing steam. I say that as someone whose main complaint about most novels on this site is that the endings are too short, not too long. So, this was a bit of a surprising twist of fate for me.
The mystery plot's pacing is also all over the place. Many chapters didn't move it forward, which felt out of character for Julia. I know she was trying to dodge getting in trouble, but it often felt ditched for pages without much explanation.
Unfortunately, the reveal and the place in the book where it's revealed leave a lot to be desired. Not only does the novel let the cat out of the bag too soon, to the point that the remainder of the novel suffers from it, but it also is about as generic and predictable a reveal as can be. I mean, the original clues she was given are enough to extrapolate all the necessary data. Lots of drama could've been avoided if she'd kept those belongings in her sister's room, like any person in their right mind would. All in all, there were a few lines I could feel the length of the book, and that's never the best sign.
Still, this book had far too many strengths for its negatives to outweigh them. From the jump, Julia López is such a fun main character to follow. Her angsty, nihilistic teenage energy was, perhaps unfortunately, all too relatable to my similarly begrudged outlook on life. She's smart, but she often thinks rude things about everyone, yet she's still lovable.
Her persistent, pessimistic perspective on certain aspects of her family's culture is as sad, realistic, and truthful as it is. The story explores themes of not living up to her culture, as the title clearly states. While I admittedly live more of a Connor lifestyle now, I've been in a place where I was poorer and down on my luck, and I understand the pressure of needing stability. The pain of only having $2.50 a meal in this economy.
Since I'm not Latino, I can't comment firsthand on how culturally accurate the book is; I've seen many similar secondhand accounts, especially from living in Eagle Pass and studying Spanish within Latino communities near me. This book shows the best and worst of growing up in a culture and how it affects her, balancing humor, darkness, sincerity, and ridicule. As somebody born into an LDS family, there's often some overlap in the societal pressures I've felt with Julia.
And her humor? It's so on-point. I laughed out loud throughout, especially because of the fantastic, punchy prose Sánchez uses. Whether she was roasting her culture, white boy culture, poverty, people at school, and beyond, it was all poignant.
Since the book is mostly psychological fiction and a coming-of-age character study, it focuses on her voice and these themes. Still, it also touches on some other surprising story elements. The grief processing and depiction of mental health, anxiety, and depression resoundingly resonated with me and captured a lot of the pain I've been struggling with since I was 11. The grief of losing a loved one? That also really related to me, as she approaches it with a generally pissed-off and overly emotional attitude: the same way I've processed most grief myself.
The Brighton's Bookshelf Verdict
Brighton's Bookshelf Score - 8/10
Letter Score - A+
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter might have some hiccups in the romance, mystery, and pacing. Still, it is a triumph because it explores countless deep themes related to culture and mental health through the unforgettable, relatable perspective of one of my new favorite MCs: Julia López.
Interested in checking out some of my other drama, contemporary fiction, mystery, or YA novel reviews? Check them out below!
Author Bio
Author Bio
Author Bio
Author Bio
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