Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz
4/5 Stars
Premise- (3.5/5) Not going to lie, the first reason I picked up this book was because the cover was really pretty. When I read the inside blurb I picked it up. I’ve been reading kind of a lot of contemporary YA lately, which is kind of unusual for me, but this looked like a very important book – A story about immigration, by an author who has experienced the difficulties of the American immigration system firsthand. When Jasmine’s world gets turned upside-down by the realization that she’s an undocumented immigrant, she feels her hard work, incredible scholarship, and American dream slipping away. But she is determined to find her way–and her place in her country.
Characters- (4/5) Jasmine is such a complex character. She has enormous ambition and a lot of excellent qualities, like being driven, hardworking, and crazy smart. But she’s flawed too, and throughout the book she’s very aware of those flaws and struggles with them. Her family was great; her relationship with her parents and brothers was loving and supportive, even if they disagreed sometimes. Royce (whose name bothered me a little but I got over it) had a great relationship with Jasmine and a complex relationship with his parents and brother. Jasmine’s friends kept things interesting, and it was really uplifting to see them supporting her.
Plot- (3.5/5) This book covered a lot of time–pretty much an entire school year. The plot wasn’t too complex or full of complicated plot twists, but it told an important story. Between Jasmine’s family’s struggles and her developing romance with Royce, there were a lot of subplots. Nothing blew me out of the water, but the stories were interwoven pretty well. It was also a great representation of the ups and downs of life in high school, especially for a student as motivated as Jasmine.
World- (3.5/5) I actually really liked the high school setting for this book. Sometimes that particular setting drags on me–I think because it’s often filled with the high school stereotypes, the bratty cheerleaders and jerk jocks and edgy outcasts. But de la Cruz didn’t use those stereotypes. She made Jasmine’s school a fairly supportive environment, and I liked that. I liked Jasmine’s home too. It felt very cozy and real, someplace I’d like to visit.
Writing- (3.5/5) I did feel like this books was a little longer than it needed to be and that simple character actions were over-explained sometimes. That being said, I read this book in just a couple days, so those stylistic choices didn’t do too much damage to the story. I’ve never read anything by de la Cruz before, but based on Something in Between, I would read more of her work.
Overall- (3.6/5) Something in Between doesn’t make my all-time favorites list, but it tells a really important story. That story, that of undocumented immigrants and their families in the United States, is especially critical to listen to right now. America is really struggling with the issue of undocumented immigrants in politics right now, and stories like Jasmine’s humanize immigrants and remind us all of the incredible challenges which they face. Full of complicated relationships and inspiration, Something in Between is an encouraging tale and important tale of romance, identity, and family which brings to light the difficulties facing many undocumented immigrants in the USA.