Check out Ana Luisa ❤ shop.analuisa.com/na-elizabetht and use code ELIZABETHT20 for 20% off. Guaranteed the best gift you will find. Go treat your loved ones this season 💍 #analuisany
As a Latina (born in Mexico, raised in the US), I loved it. Also, I didn’t even see this as a “Latina” book. It was more about a woman who is incredible ambitious and how ambitious women are viewed. If you like TJR books, please read this one as well.
Well as an actual Latina, who was born and raised in Argentina, I can tell you that the rep on this book was awsome. In fact, the spanished publisher who is from Buenos Aires helped Taylor with the quotes and the built of the characters. I have not seen a single problem with this book from people from Argentina. With respect, I find that people who don´t know about MY country should not be making this kind of commnets
I love the “actual latina”. More often than not, I see the ones who try to gatekeep what is latino representation and what isn’t are 3rd generation american-latinos. While we, actual latinas born and raised in Latin America, are just chill because we know being latino isn’t our only personality trait
@@thifanny7298 well that's your point of view and I agree with the first part. As for the last, I am going to speak if I see that I might know more about the experience of people from Latin America, that's not making it my "personality" 😅but actually speaking from a place of more knowledge
I'm Latina and the only reason I'm not interested in reading Carrie Soto is because it's a sports book. There's this weird expectations on white authors to write diversity. But the moment they do write about other races they get criticized. I'm not talking about stereotypical characters, those are terrible, but we all have different experiences so no one is gonna write a character that represents a race/ethnicity as a whole.
Yes! Also, if we expected writers to write only about their own experiences that would be absurd. We would not have so many of great books that we do now.
I'm amazed by the amount of books you read and I really like the fact that you call a spade a spade and recommend NOT to read the bigot and harmful ones. Thanks a lot 📚♥️
I'm currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and I'm absolutely loving it! Also I read, and loved, and cried reading The Final Gambit and now that you said such amazing things about Gallant I can't wait to buy it and read it! Thank you so very much!
a video like this must take so much time to make & edit, but i really appreciate it!! feels like i'm sitting down with you with a cup of tea to chat about books 📚 your reviews are always so informative & concise. and i'm so glad i dodged the Hidden Pictures bullet. my god when i heard about the stuff that was in it i could not believe it. thank you for talking about it as well 💖
Your response to the issues with Taylor Jenkins Reid confirmed for me that you absolutely need to read Yellowface by RF Kuang. It doesn't release until the end of May, though ARCs are circulating right now, but it addresses this issue precisely. I'm a quarter of the way through my ARC and it's an incredible book that exposes some of the worst sides of the publishing industry.
YASSSS! LEGENDS AND LATTES! My boyfriend got me that book for Christmas 2022 and I'm so excited to read it as I love a good warm slice of life book. Plus I love DnD so bonus! So glad to hear it got 5 stars from you
I haven’t commented on a video in a while but oh man! I have a copy of The Maid and I’m so surprised it won Best Mystery?! I found myself soo frustrated with how Molly’s personality and interactions were portrayed. Maybe the author meant for “shy, awkward girl” but the book didn’t reflect that. At all. And I tend to get invested in main characters so the way the other characters interacted with her made me mad, lol. I agree with your thoughts 100%! All in all it was also predictable and I honestly could’ve bought something else.
As a Mexican-American who did read Carrie Soto, I can say you're really not missing much. Besides it being harmful, overly stereotypical, and also just...bland representation, the story itself doesn't match the quality of TJR's other works (many of which I have enjoyed.) I am really hoping she takes in some of the feedback going forward.
I’m disappointed but not surprised to hear that. Thanks for sharing your experience with it, Ava! I really hope she does, as well. She has a lot of potential as an author but her stubbornness/willful ignorance in this area is a big red flag.
I wasn't planning on engaging with internet trolls on here-I was simply affirming Elizabeth's choice not to read Carrie Soto. But since y'all keep commenting on this I'll just say this: 1) if someone says there is harmful rep, it's not for you to tell them they're wrong. You don't get to invalidate feelings or opinions even if you disagree with them. 2) TJR has a history of harmful rep toward the latin@ community as a whole, this isn't just about Carrie Soto and you don't have to be argentine to recognize it. 3) Since when is it impossible for there to be representation without stereotypes? That's the weirdest take I've seen yet. 4) The only thing I am a "victim" of is wasted time with a mediocre book. Anyway, I hope you all find something more fulfilling to do with your time than to defend a bestselling author's very mid book. No one is stopping you from reading and enjoying it, so you might want to think about why it's so upsetting to you that a stranger on the internet happened to have a different experience with it.
I was so baffled by the Maid winning. The only other nominees I read was The Night Shift, which was pretty good! I would compare it to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; I like a more cozy and Agatha Christie-esque mystery personally but it was definitely enjoyable.
I'm latina and when I read Evelyn Hugo, I loved it (nowadays, not so much, but due to personal reasons), and to be honest, while I read the book and specially now, a few years later, I keep forgetting that Evelyn is cuban. I didn't read Carrie Soto nor am I going to, but honestly I wasn't even aware Carrie was meant to be latina
I have watched and looked forward to your videos for some time now, and I am so honestly greateful for your content :) I do not always agree with your oppinion but I do always agree with your reasoning. That is so interesting to me. You have become a reference for me when looking for a new book to read. Thank you!! I hope you continue to do these videos, they are a very valuable contribution to our culture.
Oh I love this! We all have different preferences/interpretations when it comes to books but I’m glad I’m able to express mine in a way that helps you get an impression of whether or not you’ll enjoy it despite our differences ❤️
Appreciated the thumbs-up on Sea of Tranquility. Mine was one of the votes that put it in the top spot. So when it came time for the Hugo ballot, I was just really puzzled why it wasn't on there. At first I wondered if it was part of the hanky panky that went on with the award that year. No, she didn't say athing about China. This is how I learned the people who vote for the two awards come from different crowds. You would think there would have to be SOME overlap but apparently it's not enough to make a difference. I checked the top vote getters in the SF choice award for 2021 and it was the same thing. The top sf vote getters did not match the corresponding Hugo ballot. I encountered push-back when I was ranting about SoT's absence from the Hugoi ballot in sf discussion groups. The feeling seemed to be that it was a nice little book, an enjoyable enough read but "not worthy of a Hugo nomination." I am happy that you saw what I saw in it.
As a latina, it doesn't bother me that she writes about a main protagonist that's latina and she isn't. I've read my share of latina writers and I also find that they also depict their main character stereotypically and don't care for it . Btw Love your video !
That’s so interesting to hear that Latina writers do the same thing. I wonder why they would resort to stereotypes as well? It must be so frustrating to read!
@@PlantBasedBride extremely frustrating. The best rep I've found so far in Latino writers and especially as a Dominican is Junot Diaz The Brief and Wonderous life of Oscar Wao. NOW THAT is not only accurate, relatable, but also the writing is phenomenal. Books like Dominicana I HAD to DNF. It wasnt accurate, it was poorly written and it was sooooo stereotypical it made me nauseous.
I don’t read a ton of lit fic but I absolutely loved tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I say the story really being about 3 friends who made a video game instead of just Sam and Sadie. I think it made me even more sad 😢
Really loved getting your input on the winners. I haven't read any of them but do have some on my TBR. I love that I can get an idea of where to put them priority-wise or to take them off altogether. Thank you for sharing! 📚
📖 I was hesitant to watch this video because my TBR list is already so long and while it did get longer after watching this, I wouldn't say that was a bad thing. I love how thorough you are in your reviews and I appreciate how you include potential triggers and the LGBTQIA representation. Definitely helps when I'm trying to figure out what next to read.
I always see the criticism coming from people who live in the US which is funny, from my experience as a latina living in latam (as well as pretty much every comment i see from people actually living here in the southern hemisphere) we love the inclusion of latino characters in novels! Even if they are not perfect it is better than not having anything i still get excited every time chile or argentina get mentioned in a book, and when the representation isn’t perfect we just laugh it off as a community that being said, you should definitely read carrie soto is back! it’s really enjoyable, and the argentinian representation is on point! (as his father is from Argentina) also, the book itself is good, has been my favorite TJR novel by far
I’m not American and I don’t know the nationality of all of those who were unhappy with the representation, but I am glad to hear another perspective. I’m not interested in reading it but I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Aaah getting so many recommandations from this video ! I could almost be angry at you because I already have a never ending TBR. But I can't. I enjoy your bookish videos way too much. Thank you for this video ❤️📖
At this point I could structure my TBR to be whatever you've given 5 stars, because we really do agree 100% of the time. I have been patiently waiting for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow to be available at my library because I've banned myself from buying more books this month, but I am extremely excited to dive into it as an avid gamer and with all the hype surrounding it! I love this series because I rarely branch out of my Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative genres and getting an opinion from someone who also reads a lot in those categories has been a great way to carefully select some out of my comfort zone authors! Thank you for braving the Good Reads Pile of Surprises for us all, and for putting together such an informative video once again 💜
I read Carrie Soto and I really enjoyed it. But I was not aware of the criticism TJR received for her misrepresentation of Latinos. I will have to look into that. Thanks for bringing this up because it's the first time I've heard someone mention it.
I couldn't agree more about the Fiction Winner. EVERYONE loves Legends and Lattes. I think that many times the popular writer gets votes without people reading the books. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoy the long video though I am sure "editing Elizabeth" is not so happy. :) 📚📖
@@PlantBasedBride You should treat Editing Elizabeth to a long nap and a sweet treat. She works hard! 🧁🛌 Have you read A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers? I think you would enjoy it. I'm currently reading the second in the series.
i actually have been part of good reads for 3 years or more and never have read any of the books that have been part of the best of in any category.... and yes I read. lol
Hey, I did watch till the end because I so enjoy your thorough explanations of what you read. I gave The Maid one chapter. I told my husband that it read like it was written by a computer program. I loved The Sea of Tranquility. I had not read any of the other books.
oh dang I really wanted to read hidden pictures but not really anymore after hearing what you’ve said. as a Christian myself, I don’t think it’s right to dog on other beliefs and lifestyles just because it’s different than yours. like I know our religious beliefs are total opposites, but I still think you’re a great person and love watching your videos ya know? I’ve heard that ending is pretty controversial so I think I’ll just go read a spoiler and save myself the reading time. loved this video ❤❤❤❤❤
Oh definitely! I have no problem with people having whatever faith they do, just so long as they don’t try to push it on me ❤️ I would definitely skip it!
Thank you! I now have even more books in my TBR. ;) Also thank you for your rant on The Maid (love your rants). I jumped on it for the disability representation (so rare) and the raves and... hated it for all the reasons you mentioned. And then I started wondering if it were because as a disabled person I could see the stereotyping and able-bodied people couldn't. So awful. So infantilizing, condescending, and formulaic, but in a way I'd thought wouldn't pass a sensitivity read. Which probably means it didn't have one, just a bunch of able-bodied publishing twits thinking how cute and inspirational it was. Yech.
What do you use to tab your books? I should start doing that as I have to re-read books over and over to get the idea of the book (ADHD). Love this idea!
I buy my tabs on Amazon - they should be linked in my Amazon storefront or in the description. If not I’ll add them now! ❤️ i’m actually considering making a video talking about how I tab and annotate books as I read 🥰
Great, "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is actually the book of the month for March in my bookclub, glad you liked it 😀 Can't wait to receive it ! Haven't read any of the fantasy nominees but many have been on my TBR so I can't wait to finally pick some of them up (or wait for them to be translated in French...). "Book Lovers" is also in my TBR. For SF I only read "The Measure" as it was February book of the month with the bookclub and I absolutely love it, broke my heart, made me smile, hated some characters... so many emotions... LOVED IT. I didn't realised "Our wives under the sea" was a horror book but still, itns been on my TBR for months already 😕 But I have read "Gallant" and didn't enjoy that much, mostly because I didn't know how YA it was, too YA for me, way too much 😂 📚📚📚
I feel like there aren’t enough people hating on SJM. I always give side eye to such blown up books on tiktok and I regret caving in. I agree with everything you said, also He growls??????? I thought we left that back in 2012
📚 Loved Our Wives Under The Sea although it triggered some emotions and I cried a lot, and the sadness and grief lasted for a while.... Read Wrong Place Wrong time too, enjoyed Delilah Green Doesn't Care.... And I appreciate you speaking out about Hidden Pictures, I felt so icky after reading that book so you just made my day better lol (I read We Spread, The Hacienda, Our Wives Under The Sea from horror category and think that OWUTS or we spread would be a better pick for the winner) Oh and I read The Paris Apartment and Daisy Darker from the mystery/thriller category...
Great recap! I've read many of the nominees, but not so many of the winners... Like you, I was very disappointed with how The Maid turned out. It started cute and imaginative, but I totally agree with your assessment! I also loved Lessons in Chemistry. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend When Women Were Dragons. I had a hard time suspending disbelief at the beginning, but by the end, I was so moved, and loved it. In the Memoir category, Viola Davis' Finding Me is incredible - she's fantastic on audio, of course!. In non fiction, Ann Patchet's essays These Precious Days is lovely. Love Brene Brown, but felt that Atlas of the Heart, was kind of a "gimme" for her - she now just needs to crank out books because they sell? Oh! Historical Fiction - The Marriage Protrait! Fantastic! 📚
I have When We We’re Dragons ready to go on Libro.fm! I’m looking forward to it. I really enjoy Viola Davis’ acting so I’ve been considering picking up her memoir (I’m usually not a fan of reading actors’ memoirs but I imagine hers would be interesting). I haven’t heard much about those essays, I’ll have to read about them! And seeing as I’ve only read Brown’s first book I’m sure I was able to get more out of AotH than someone who’s read all her work. I’m happy to have read it and to have it for reference, but I don’t feel an urge to read more of Brown’s books. The Marriage Portrait is another one I’ll have to look into! ❤️ thanks for sharing your thoughts 🥰
can someone explain to me why it matters that reid writes latina characters while not being latina? i think any artist should be allowed the creative freedom of any other media. no one would criticize a white painter for painting an asian woman. is it that the writing itself is insulting? i haven’t read these books so i’m really just looking for some clarification.
As I explained in the video, the problem is that she continues to write Latina protagonists, as in writing internal thoughts and lived experience of Latina women, without being one herself and that many Latina and Latino readers in have come out to say that the representation is inaccurate and harmful, based on stereotypes and not a true understanding of their experience and culture. She continues to ignore the concerns of the community she is claiming to want to represent, without being willing to learn and do better.
Great video 😊 I rarely read books, only because they are hyped and everyone reads them. I must admit that I'm not really tempted by SJM or TJR books ... maybe in the future?!? Who knows? But I doubt it 🤭
Really great insight 📖 Looks like I have some I need to add to my list and some not to add to my list! I am curious to know your thoughts about Sarah J Maas, do you have a video that you’ve talked about this author? Thank you!
Genuine question for the book maid and what you were saying about autism. If an author write something and someone interpret it as some thing else why is it they job to portray exactly what you interpreted what if Molly was just quirky. ?
So glad you liked Book Lovers! I also feel the same way about The Maid, I thought the MC was handled in a very patronizing way. I agree that Hidden Pictures is transphobic but I don't really agree that it's right wing, I didn't really interpret it like that. BUT Our Wives Under the Sea is also a 5🌟 for me ahh it was so fantastic
Oh interesting! For me the combination of transphobia, fatphobia, racism, and a heavily religious mindset felt in line with far right ideology. (And yes, Our Wives Under the Sea was SO good!!)
Loved this video and your honest reviews - as always! "Seven Husbands..." was in my tbr, but not anymore! Have you found any alternate book tracking apps besides Goodreads that you've liked? I've heard a lot about The StoryGraph as a good non-Amazon alternative! I'd love to hear your thoughts on what the various apps offer!
Hi! I just wanted to know if you’ve read “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab. 41:34 I wanted to ask that bc that book really turned me away from V.E. Schwab’s books. It left a bad taste in my mouth sadly but if you’ve read it I would love to hear your opinion!
i’m latina and i don’t give a fuck and most (real) latinas also don’t care. it’s usually americans who have no idea how it is to live in latam that’s have something to say against latina characters. só lê o livro.
Considering the character (Carrie Soto) is Argentinian American, it seems to me the perspectives of American latinas would be relevant. I’m not either, so I am simply relaying the perspectives I have read and heard and why I chose not to read this book.
I hated Lessons in chemistry with passion. Main character is a modern woman with 2023 values living in 1960's and everything that happens to her is just to teach simplistic, cliche and often just pure evil characters a lesson and establish her moral superiority by demonstrating to them that her 2023 values are obviously much better
Oh wow, I'm afraid I have to disagree! Women have been fighting for equality since long before the 1960s. Her perspective is not a modern one but that of a feminist in her time, of which there were many.
As a scientist I hated Lessons in Chemistry and is a poor representation of women in STEM. Also I cannot read another scientist who is on the spectrum. And then when scientists actually write realistic stories the publishers and readers refuse them
@@PlantBasedBride I perceived the main character to be on the spectrum, but its possible that was misproven in the second part of the novel. I had to abandon the book for my own mental health. Before I list the issues I had before putting the book down, here is my background: I'm a biochemist, both my parents are chemists, and my uncle is a medical doctor. All four of us have earned PhDs and have quite some experience in research in different countries, albeit from the 80s on. When deciding to abandon the book I also took into considerations historical science texts that followed women in science in the mid 20th century, and Rosaling Franklin would be one good example that easily comes to mind. Here's what bothered me: 1) the character lacked passion in the first part. She was obsessive but not passionate. That's where I perceived her to be neurodivergent. I am willing to accept I was wrong about the overall portrayal. But the joy that most scientists have when researching was not captured. 2) I knew the writer was not a researcher or scientist when she made the claim early in the book that "nobody reads the methods section." I cannot explain how false this is. How does she think people do new experiments, does she think everyone invents all their experiments? Open any research magazine and there will be so many cases of researchers found to have committed fraud after their methods and results were thoroughly studied by other scientists trying to reproduce a result. Don't tell me this is something new: it is not. The history of science in the 20th century is full of such examples. 3) For the last time, group leaders are always listed on a publication not because they perform experiments but because they secure the funding and often guide the research. Some are very little involved true, but they still secure the lab, the funding, a lot of the cooperations. I now switched from active lab-work to supervisory work (in a clinical setting). I cannot emphasize how important it is to have people overseeing the plans and the work, and how much a person actively researching overlooks. We need both the supervisors and the lab workers to make a good research team work. 4) The MC is supposed to be a genius yet she expects that all the calories her daughter ingests are used and that there is a direct clear mathematical formula that can tell her exactly how many calories her daughter needs to maintain weight? a) no chemist worth their salt would be so naive to expect any reaction to have 100% efficiency, that's one of the big things to measure in chemistry. b) is the MC not aware that the child's activity plays a very big role in how many calories are consumed? Not all bodies burn calories at the same rate often because they reside in different environments (temperature is a factor) and have different levels of activity c) (maybe she wouldn't know it as a chemist, but as a biochemist I have to specify) metabolic rate is influenced by a lot of factors including hormonal and there is also the VERY IMPORTANT act of nutrient absorbtion. As a person who experienced bouts of mal-absorbtion due to intestinal issues (which can be affect further by our gut flora) I can tell you that sometimes you need to eat 30% more of the predicted calories to maintain your weight. 5) The character calling everything by their chemical name. My dad is a chemist and a cook. His first advice to me was: "get to know the salt you have in your kitchen, because different salts will give you different saltiness, depending on what impurities you have in the salt." So no, table salt is NOT sodium chloride, although that may be the main ingredient. Vinegar is not acetic acid, the main ingredient is water, acetic acid is at most 5% of the solution, and then you have other metabolic fermentation products which give it its taste. I've actually tasted 5% acetic acid solution made from pure (glacial) acetic acid. It tastes wrong, a bit chemical. My mom's technician made me a salad with a such a solution and I could tell from the first bite something was wrong. No, she wasn't supposed to use chemicals in my salad, but scientists are a bit reckless (and I was fine). 6) My biggest issue was the way sexism in academia was portrayed in the story (and other recent stories, including Aly Hazelwood's Steminist romances). Sexism in academia was way worse in the 50s, and rape and sexual assault definitely happen--but they're not the main issue. Sexism in academia was and remains subtle, pervasive. It's micro-agressions more than scientists ripping skirts open. It's repeated small attacks and insults, which most people won't perceive on a quick glance as being an insult. And the damage accumulates and accumulates until many women leave the field. Why is this violent representation of sexism a problem? Because the women who experience the most common form of sexism in academia aren't taken seriously, and their complaints are then easier reframed as them not being good enough. If you think I'm exaggerating check the news on the class action lawsuit brought by women at Walmart. It made it all the way to the Supreme Court. The women argued that systemic micro-aggressions and systemic subtle sexism was preventing women from achieving managerial positions; I believe at the time more than 80% of managers were male. The women lost and one male judge even said that "he doesn't believe that something so small as a micro-aggression could have such an impact even if its pervasive. By showing people only the most violent, ehinous acts, we desensitize them to the real damage, and the mundane yet very efficient discrimination occurring most often in science. If you're curious to read believable scientists in fiction I recommend: "Arrowsmith" by Sinclair Lewis (main character is male though), "The Heart Broke In" by James Meek (realistic, both male and female scientists represented), "Transcendent Kingdom" by Yaa Giasi (excellent portrayal of the conflict between religious and atheist scientists).
hey! so as a half latina specifically argentinian i have very strong emotions about carrie soto is back. personally i adore tjr and i think her representation of a hispanic is fine because in this day and age ur dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t. secondly and more importantly a big complaint was that the spanish was wrong BUT it isn’t it’s just the argentinan dialect of spanish and slang i think the effort put in to put it accurately is appreciatable.
As an amputee, I really appreciated the accurate descriptions of chronic pain in Tomorrow and Tomorrow… what I personally didn’t enjoy was how his arc revolves around a girl. I would’ve preferred his arc revolved on self acceptance, but I’m just biased lol.
I’m glad to know the representation felt accurate ❤️ I agree about his arc being tied to Sadie, but I do appreciate that it was a friendship not a romance (despite the complicated feelings involved)
I’m Cuban American and absolutely loved Evelyn Hugo. I can understand why other Cubans wouldn’t (we are not a monolith) but I’m personally more concerned with her characters feeling complex than being entirely accurate to their ethnic background. That being said, you can absolutely tell TJR isn’t Latina by the way she writes her characters speaking Spanish. It was extremely noticeable in Carrie Soto because the way we communicate is not quite as simple as “random sentences in Spanish.” Spanglish often has regionalized but distinct grammar rules that are hard to replicate if you’re not intimately familiar with them.
I’m glad to know you enjoyed Evelyn Hugo as a Cuban American! And that’s a great point. I had read several criticisms of the Spanish in Carrie Soto which definitely added to the impression that the representation was not as accurate or well researched as we would hope.
Being Venezuelan-American and having really liked Carrie Soto is back , I don’t understand why we feel the need to keep writers in the boxes that society has put them in (or were “born into”) this is so scary as it limits creators range and censors their own voice. Gaining insight into the Latino in America perspective is not very hard, there is so much information out there that I am sure TJR put to good use. If we can only read latin American characters from latin people then prepare for them to the disappear from the US market (based on a simple population % + lack of Latin American writers representation in the US market) I loved Carrie Soto, she was a credible flawed character with bad ass skills, top notch work habits, and unapologetic attitude. despite a misogynistic society. Someone who even though was extremely successful needed to grow in other areas of her life (don’t we all). This book inspired me to work harder on what I love to do and I highly recommend the ride!
In Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, there is a whole passage on this since they made the japanese game and were not japanese. About how representation matters for these groups and that if we were never allowed out of our "boxes" (ie: if white female authors can only write about white female authors), we do a great disservice to art, literature, etc
I was about to disagree, but I think you're right. I was thinking that as mexican I wouldn't want an American writing about it. But as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, there's a big difference between being half American and completely from other country. I just hope this won't make people look for American authors writing about the Latina experience, leaving actual Latinos without a voice
Interesting to hear your reasoning behind not reading Carrie Soto is Back. As a LatinX women I didn't find the character of Carrie Soto to be stereotypical, but I'm not of Argentinian/Latin American descent, so that could be why. I have read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and as a Cuban American, I can say that I didn't find the representation of Evelyn Hugo to be stereotypical either. I actually found it interesting and fairly accurate that the author would write about a LatinX individual trying to assimilate to American culture and trying to "pass" as caucasian during that time. From what I know about the experience of my grandparents/parents as immigrants to the US, this happened frequently during that time. Given the diversity within the LatinX/Hispanic communities, it would likely be impossible to write a character that pleased everyone. I also think the intent of the story/the characters story arc need to be taken into account. This author isn't writing a story focused on a first generation Argentinian-American discovering the balance between her ethnic heritage and American culture. A story like that would probably be best coming from a LatinX author, someone with personal knowledge of that experience. CSIB and TSHOEH are focused on different facets of those characters, they discuss their heritage, but it isn't the focus of the story the author is trying to tell. I agree that if writing outside of personal experience there needs to be appropriate research done and care taken, but I think at the end of the day, every LatinX/Hispanic individual is going to have a different opinion after reading CSIB and no one opinion or group of opinions can be considered "right" or "wrong." Disappointed to hear that readers feels the author has been dismissive of criticism of her writing of LatinX characters, but at the same time, maybe she has been listening to individuals who feels she's appropriately/accurately writing them. Not everyone can be pleased.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and such a balances take! I agree with so much of what you said here. The last note on TJR is, unfortunately, not the case. She has been outright asked in interviews about Latina readers' concerns and has brushed those concerns aside. Reading her response to concern and criticism in those interviews is what made me decide not to read the book myself.
@@PlantBasedBride Thank you for more insight into her comments. That is really unfortunate to hear. As someone who doesn't have personal knowledge she should be open to learning from those that do.
I've said it before but I'll say it every time: it's so helpful to have a reviewer you trust give their honest opinion about these wildly popular books. If you're up for it I hope you do this every year! 📖
as someone with chronic pain, Sam’s portrayal was incredibly surprising, I am not sure if the author is familiar with the symptoms, but I felt deeply represented and less alone, in a sense, being an audiovisual creator myself too I hope to find more books that talk about Chronic Pain in the future, as it is definitely one of the most common invisible disabilities out there ):
I’m so glad to know from multiple of these comments that the representation of chronic pain and living as an amputee are accurate, though I am so sad to know how many people live with invisible pain every single day ❤️
Hey! I know Talia Hibbert’s book Get A Life, Chloe Brown has chronic pain rep with a lead character with fibromyalgia and All’s Well by Mona Awad (I think) has chronic back pain. You may have already read these but thought I’s bring them up anyway!
I only recently started reading TJR for my book clubs and Seven Husbands was my favorite book last year. As someone born and raised in Ecuador I really enjoyed seeing such a popular book have a Latina protagonist! I haven’t read Carrie Soto yet but if the main character is anything like Evelyn Hugo, I think it offers great insight into the Latinx experience, especially those that are trying to make it in certain fields (acting for Evelyn, tennis for Carrie) and as an artist myself, I’m always thinking about how my identity is tied to my aspirations and what it means to see more diversity in these fields. I can totally empathize with the fear that it’s a white author trying to appropriate another culture, but given how much I loved how Evelyn’s character was written I would actually love to see if I feel the same about Carrie Soto!
I would love to hear your thoughts if you get around to it! I always appreciate hearing more perspectives. I loved Evelyn Hugo and didn’t notice any issues with the representation, but I’m not Latina so that’s not saying much 😅❤️
I totally agree that the idea that you have to love yourself to form deep connections with others is super harmful and gate-keeping. It always felt to me like saying, "if you have low self-esteem you don't deserve love." and I'm like... eww. No. Work to love yourself, but if you want romance, you should not have to put that away on a back shelf until you work through your shit.
Yes yes yes!! I was not in a good place with my self esteem when I met my husband, and his unfailing love for me despite my many flaws helped me SO MUCH to learn to truly love myself (it’s still a journey, of course, but it’s staggering how far I’ve come) ❤️ everyone deserves to be loved no matter how much they may struggle with self love!
I really love your reviews and trust you as a reader. There are books we've both read that we've rated differently (e.g. What Moves the Dead was a five-star for me!), but I typically know when you give something one star I can trust it's because it's either really harmful in its depictions of certain people, or really poorly written. I think the 3-5 star range can be really a lot more about personal taste but you've never steered me wrong on ones to stay away from whilst also being incredibly transparent about your personal preferences guiding some of your higher ratings, which is exactly how it should be! I am doing a genre reading challenge in my work book club this year and we started with Fantasy, because that was the most popular. We chose a book I'd never have chosen on my own, and I think there's something so valuable about that, which is why I love it when you do this challenge. :)
I'm from Brazil, born and raise, and I have 1001 problems with TJR, none of them are regarding representation. 😂 I really don't care that she wrote latina characters, they all felt like regular real people and she's super successful here, never heard anyone complaining about her in this sense.
@@PlantBasedBride but brazilians are latin americans too! I'm so late to be answering this, but I couldn’t resist lol TJR is BIG here, and my problem with that isn't her interest in writing latine characters, but how overrated her books are, imo
You may be interested in the fact that a bunch of booktubers recently released a project they did called 10 Years of Goodreads Choice Awards winners. There is a playlist. They each took one of the categories and read the last 10 years of winners. So it's a lot of videos but really interesting.
