Book Review: How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love With the Universe by Rachel Vasquez Gilliland

When her twin sister reaches social media stardom, Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s camerawoman. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers and her fate begins to shift in the best way possible.

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.

Trigger warnings: parental abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, religious abuse, parent throws knives at teenaged child, controlling parent, narcissistic parent, neglect, off-page past suicide, off-page past death from car accident, off-page past loss of limb from car accident, slut-shaming, bullying, creepy adult man gropes teenage girl, creepy adult men hit on teenage girls, street harassment, racism, xenophobia, colorism, fatphobia, abusive parent controls/restricts what her children eat, mental illness, ableism, sexism, linked aquaphobia and gephyrophobia due to past trauma, parental favoritism, insects and bugs show up in this book a lot, internalized homophobia, on-page sex scenes, underage sex, bad sex, a character experiences hunger, food restriction, lovingly detailed descriptions of food and eating

All About That Bass

I've been wanting to do this exegesis of “All About The Bass” ever since it first came out, which was ages ago, but this blog has basically been Procrastination Central since its inception so whatever. I love this song, but I have issues with it. 

Yeah it’s pretty clear

I ain’t no size two

But I can shake it shake it

Like I’m supposed to do 

I’m glad your not being a size two doesn't keep you from shaking it, because it shouldn't (full disclosure: I danced to this song like a mad fool at my cousin’s wedding). But you’re “supposed to”? Why, because you’re a larger lady? Because you’re a lady in general? Who told you you’re supposed to shake it? Why can’t you just shake it because you want to?

I’m not going to criticize the grammar (double negatives, etc.) used throughout the song because it is standard in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). What I have an issue with is that the singer, Meghan Trainor, is as white and blond as they come and is using AAVE in the first place. I was disappointed when I saw the music video and learned she is white. Cognitive dissonance, linguistic cultural appropriation. AAVE has entered the mainstream (aka white) cultural consciousness, though, so am I being oversensitive? Is it now ok for white people to use it in songs? I'm feeling the answer to both of those questions is no. I don’t know very much about Meghan Trainor so I don't know if her background is inner-city or urban and if she grew up speaking AAVE. Her music video is a preppy pastel retro wonderland, so I rather doubt it. I wish I could remember the source of this quote: "It is profitable to be black or gay as long as you're neither." 

‘Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase

All the right junk in all the right places

 Well. I kind of hate that use of boom boom, as well as the stale platitude that males lust after women’s bodies. Putting the accuracy of that mentality aside, it shouldn't be just blindly accepted as a fact of life. We should expect better from men and boys.

Also, what about people who have all the wrong junk in all the right places, or all the right junk in all the wrong places, or all the wrong junk in all the wrong places (me)? What constitutes right and wrong, in terms of junk and its placement? Just kidding, I know. Women are supposed to look like Jessica Rabbit or Beyonce. 

I see the magazines working that Photoshop

We know that shit ain't real

Come on now make it stop

If you've got beauty beauty

Just raise ‘em up

‘Cause every inch of you is perfect

From the bottom to the top 

YAASSSSSS. This makes the song for me. 

Yeah my mama she told me don’t worry about your size 

Aww, that’s nice. My mama has told me to exercise more and not eat so much in order to lose weight since I was a teenager. 

She said boys like a little more booty to hold at night 

But at least she never made males’ opinions or desires the yardstick for what my body should look like. My health is the reason she tells me what she does. That’s vastly more important than making males desire me. I’m glad she never taught me anything so damaging.

Also, are there really (white) mothers out there sincerely using ‘booty’? That’s horrifying. 

You know I won’t be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll

So if that’s what you’re into then go ahead and move along 

YES PREACH IT.

Then in the chorus she goes into how she’s “all about that bass, no treble”, which I think is supposed to signify bigness vs. skinnyness? idk. This is not clearly explained and inaccurate musically because the song’s score includes a treble clef. It kind of has to. 

Hey I’m bringing booty back

Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that 

Girl, please. Ain’t no white girl bringing booty back (oh no I’m doing it too. I’M PART OF THE PROBLEM). If anyone brought booty back it was Beyonce or JLo way back in the nineties, not some white girl who has only just become famous because of this song.

Also it’s not very nice to address all thin women as skinny bitches. They can’t all possibly be bitches. This brings up an interesting point, though: when you have a group of people who have historically been oppressed or seen as less than, they are naturally going to feel and express resentment towards the oppressors/dominant group/group who they are constantly being compared to unfavorably. When the oppressed group rejects the acceptable mold and breaks free from trying to conform or be conformed to it, the pendulum will swing in the opposite direction (i.e., the resentment and bitterness against skinny bitches or whites or whoever). This is not as bad as the original bias or racism and is a result of the injustice.  It is very easy to want to be like “f*ck skinny bitches” like Nicki Minaj, but the skinny girls aren't the issue. It’s that the diversity of body sizes isn't accepted with all types of bodies being seen as equally beautiful, and that instead only one type is held up as acceptable (the thin supermodel body type). Remember, however, that one of the steps of grieving is anger. 

No I’m just playing I know you think you’re fat

But I’m here to tell you

Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top 

This is what keeps this song from being skinnybashing, as poorly skilled in reading comprehension and culturally unaware Natalia Kills thought. While most women have body image issues due to this society and its messages, not all women think they’re too fat. There are women and girls who wish they weren't so thin, who wish they had curves instead of being shaped like a tongue depressor. But they too are perfect, just as bigger women and girls are.
 

Here’s the music video, which I mostly like (just like the song!). I do wish the whole thing were just that Polynesian/Pacific Islander fellow doing his thing, because, to quote a YouTube commentator, he is a “dancing god”. I like the palette/look, the diversity of the people (always a bit off to have white singers with backup dancers who are WOC, though) and that the thin girl in the worrisome plastic wrap corset loosens up and dances friendly-like with the others at the end. I want almost everything Meghan Trainor wears in this video.

I don’t think I have ever been as hungry for anything as Meghan Trainor is for fame. Look at her face. It’s like Rachel Berry from Glee but more. That woman would do anything. It scares me a bit.

Also here is my favorite cover (1940s jazz retro style). That girl’s voice! And she plays the upright bass. Visual and auditory puns, y’all.