How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alverez
This book was one that really changed my perspective on familial ties. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is a story about four sisters whose family is forced to flee their home in the Dominican Republic due to the country being ruled by the infamous dictator, Trujillo. This book is written in what I recently learned was reverse chronological order, meaning that the book starts from when the sisters are adults and continues the perspectives of the sisters as they get younger, revealing more and more about their past. The book brings up a lot of cultural issues within the LatinX/Hispanic community, as well as shows interpersonal relationships between families and how the two factors intersect and contribute to different aspects of our identity. Truly an amazing read, especially for my first gen LatinX/Hispanic girls and boys who had to struggle with finding their place in the world.
The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer
Now, I know what y’all are thinking. But this series has come and gone throughout my life, it was the first book series that I had completely finished. Usually, I am not a romance girl, but the craziness and dramatic turns that this series takes are honestly so well written for its time. In the last couple of years, there has been a new installment of the series called Midnight Sun, where we get to see Edward’s point of view on the happenings of the series which honestly was funnier to me than romantic. You get to learn so much more about him as a character than when you are seeing through Bella’s perspective in the original series. Every time I re-read this series it brings back so many memories, and I feel like I always catch something new about each character. So, despite the author’s rather controversial past and the crazy ass plotline, this one is a definite 10/10 for me.
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
This one is a recent read for me that I haven’t completely finished yet. But when I tell you this is probably one of my favorite books on the list. The story is about a set of Puerto Rican siblings whose mother joined the radical party in Puerto Rico and abandoned them. With the scene being set in Brooklyn, New York, we meet Olga, a wedding planner who works for Manhattan’s most powerful people, as well as her brother Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, who is a local congressman who is trying to stop the gentrification in LatinX neighborhoods across Brooklyn. Olga meets a man named Matteo, who she starts to have romantic feelings for and who later helps her reveal many hidden family secrets. Olga’s mother comes into the picture as a devastating hurricane comes barreling through Puerto Rico. This story talks about love, political corruption, and cultural relations to familial ties, as well as questions the idea of the American Dream. Even though I have not finished this book, I can say that many plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat. This book has so much to offer and opens your eyes to experiences that are completely different from yours, so if you can, please give this book a read. I promise you won’t regret it!