I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Publication Date: October 17, 2017

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 368

Summary:

It's not easy being perfect. Living up to other's expectations can place a great deal of pressure upon a person - a feeling Julia Reyes is all too familiar with. Throughout her whole life, Julia has dreamed of becoming a writer and disclosing that her parent's sacrifices were not fruitless ambitions. Yet when secrets begin to resurface from her sister's grave, Julia begins to learn that her family isn't all what they seem and that some truths may be better left buried.

Plot:

Sanchez's plot line immediately harnessed my attention when I first learned of its emotional appeal. However, I was slightly disappointed by the plot's development. Julia's story focuses on a multitude of diverse events that do not fuse cohesively together. As a result, I found it difficult to form a detailed depiction of each of the novel's events, as limited time is directed towards each particular aspect.

Characters:

I enjoyed reading about Julia's character. I found her passionate aspirations to be relatable yet feasible, a component that heightened my reading process. However, there were several instances where Sanchez revealed the outcome to a particular solution at a future point in the novel instead of enabling the reader to share in Julia's experience, an aspect that served to dampen my enjoyment of the story.

Setting:

I found Sanchez's depiction of Chicago to be imaginatively configured yet realistically set. Each of the story's included bookstore, restaurant, and park enabled me to grasp a broader picture of the novel's world and gain a better insight into the characters' personal lifestyle.

Review:

I am giving I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter two and a half stars out of five. I would recommend this novel to those who enjoy contemporary, or who have enjoyed The Siren by Kiera Cass or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Thanks for reading :)