Most notable is her bunkmate and new nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy Moon has ever seen.
Moon is certain she hates Santiago and that he hates her back. But as chance and destiny (and maybe, probably, close proximity) bring the two of them in each other’s perpetual paths, Moon starts to wonder if that’s really true. She even starts to question her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.
Could this summer change Moon’s life as she knows it?
My friend S gave me this book for Christmas (we have a habit of accidentally giving each other gifts way after the events they were for), so I read it a week or so after I got it. I mentally put every latine kids' and young adult book in my to read list, so I was happy to receive this book. It's so great how there's so much more latine representation now than there was when I was a teen. I only remember one or two YA books with latine protagonists, and one was about undocumented immigration and the other may have been about gangs. I feel like nearly everything else that I read had white protagonists. I was on board for body positivity and tsundere pairings, but this book really blew me away.
Non-spoilery summary: Moon overcomes her trauma and low self-esteem to come out from her sister's shadow and let herself find love with a hot guy who does the same. This book celebrates food, spirituality, art, and finding the beauty in the world and in yourself. I very much enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
~
Spoilers below, because I'm incapable of talking about a book without talking about everything. For trigger warnings, see the list at the end of this post.
Moon and Star are fraternal twins who were raised by their narcissistic, fatphobic, ashamed of her heritage, looks-obsessed, militant Catholic, religiously, verbally, and physically abusive mother. True to narcissistic parent form, thin, beautiful, white-passing Star is the favorite/golden child, and plus-size, brown-skinned Moon is the scapegoat. (Weird theme to have for January, right? I swear it's accidental.) Strangers ignoring Moon to gawk at and beg Star for her signature/a selfie cements Moon's low self-esteem. Seeking the love she doesn't get at home from boys, Moon accidentally acquires a Reputation and incurs the wrath of her mother. Moon and Star are close, but when Moon begins to be seen and acknowledged for her art while on the influencer tour, Star cannot handle not being the only one in the spotlight and sabotages her. There is a happy ending, but it's realistic. I loved Moon, felt for her, and rooted for her. I'm glad she was able to get everything she deserved.
On to the love interest. Santiago is a really hot buff guy a year or so older than Moon, whose grumpy demeanor and chip on his shoulder instantly annoy her. A misheard conversation makes him 'dislike' her. Lots of attraction, "nooo I'm supposed to hate him!!" thirsting, fun cute flirty banter, and cooking and sharing meals together (Santiago is a world-class cook) take them from enemies to lovers. This was very fun to read, even if I wanted to smack them in the beginning. Moon and Santiago's insecurities are similar and cause them to withdraw from/get mad at the other at various times, usually also due to misunderstandings. Santiago's older brother is the inventor of the Instagram-like app that Star and the influencers create content on, and is also very attractive and rich. Consequently, Santiago is used to people overlooking him or using him to get to his brother. Santiago is missing a hand and is used to dealing with microaggressions and ableism from people; that is his source of low self-esteem. He and Moon bond over the "in their more famous siblings' shadows" thing and over their similar trauma from losing a loved one in a car accident. Oh, and also delicious food (which Santiago is a snob about). Like yes, their relationship is very YA-ish, but it's also realistic and wonderful because they have to deal with and overcome their insecurities and traumas in order to let themselves fall in love.
Other random stuff I want to talk about:
Star's type of influencing is being a "religious model". Wut. Like she'd post pictures of herself with a bible verse. It makes no sense and is kind of hilarious because one of the first scenes we meet her in, she's in a bikini at the beach to take pictures for her account. Much Christian so spiritual wow. At one point she's blessing her fans and putting her hands on their heads like the pope?? LMAO
Moon loves flowers and does flower/plant/rock art, which she photographs and turns into tarot cards, something she keeps from her mother because she knows she wouldn't approve (Christians consider tarot cards to be demonic). Thanks to influence from her bruja-y aunt, she's getting more into pre-Christian/pre-Columbus types of spirituality and belief from her LatAm indigenous heritage. It's understandable that she would, as her mother's traditional Catholicism is used to shame and abuse. Even their priest is a huge judgy bitch to Moon. I did like how Moon pushes back as best she can against the shitty stuff she's been taught, and stands up to people when they're inappropriate or racist to others. She's working on standing up for herself too.
The women in Moon and Star's family are subject to a curse called La Raiz: after the first time they've had sex, flying insects are drawn to and surround/cover them. Moon is distressed by and ashamed of this, as she sees it as a physical manifestation of her "sluttiness" and failings (plus, yikes, bugs). This isn't really addressed, but I think it's not necessarily a curse. Moon says that sometimes the insects come when she's by herself out in nature creating her art, and the bugs surrounded her when she's engrossed in it. Also, when Moon sees Star making out with fellow influencer Bella, fireflies surround them too (Star says she hasn't had sex, but it's not stated whether she slept with Bella. I'm leaning on the side of she didn't). I believe the so-called "curse" is actually drawn to love, and the reason Mrs. Fuentez says she trapped the curse in a jar and is therefore immune is because she is a psychopath incapable of love, so it never happened to her. In my opinion, the "curse" is a manifestation of the immense spiritual power and magic that the women in Moon and Star's family are capable of. Moon knows how to use tarot cards and do obsidian mirror divination from her aunt, and she starts selling her tarot card decks. La Raiz and Moon's abilities give this book a magical realism label, in my opinion.
Did your jaw drop, spoilers reader, when you saw that Star kisses a girl? Mine did! It's kind of satisfying and funny because Star spends the entire book being this super-Christian little goody two-shoes Catholic, all judging Moon for having slept with guys, and it turns out she's queer! Bella is a makeup influencer, and she and Star met at a different influencer event the previous year; they clearly had a fling that didn't end well (my money is on Star having freaked out due to internalized homophobia). Because Star gets all weird when Bella is mentioned, Moon assumes they're nemeses. lol This isn't delved into as much as my Christian queer ass would have liked, but that makes sense since this is Moon's story, not Star's. I would actually love a companion book with Star's point of view, since I want to really delve into how she dealt with her attraction to Bella and falling in love with her as a conservative Catholic. We get the idea from this book that Star was in denial about being queer/in love with Bella and chose to ignore it until the kiss. I felt for her, despite her repeated bitchiness, and it's clear being the golden/favorite child did not inoculate her from her mother's abuse and expectations.
Moon has body image issues due to her mother's constant fatphobic verbal abuse. It's clear that much of the mother's hatred and abuse of Moon is because she looks like her (brown skin, tendency towards curviness). Moon is a size 16, which, lack of size standardization in the fashion industry aside, is just barely the first size in plus-sizing. That's only one size bigger than I am. It also turns out that Moon is not fat and ugly but rather curvy and beautiful (and has low self-esteem). That's... kind of a pet peeve for me, and I'm not even in the fat community. See the fourth paragraph in this other book review to see what I think about that. Obviously people can be and are fatphobic to size 16 individuals, and we are always more critical about ourselves than others are of us, but like... sigh.
Anyway, fantastic book that broke my heart and inspired me and will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended. Rachel Vasquez Gilliland, turn this book into a series so I can keep hanging out with Moon?
Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: January 19
From: Christmas gift from a friend
Status: keeping tentatively
See my aesthetics moodboard for How Moon Fuentes Feel in Love with the Universe!
Cover notes: I like the purple, flowers and moon on the cover, of course. I think it's dreamy and fine for the book. Not sure about the lavender background with the circle of night sky at the top, suggesting she's inside of a lavender cone for some reason? The illustration more or less depicts how I see Moon.
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