StephanieRidiculous

Wow, what a listen! I highly recommend the audio book for this; the narrator did an excellent job. 

This was such a great demonstration of culture shock. I felt so deeply for Fabiola, trying to navigate the unknown with so little support from those around her. I also definitely did not see the ending coming, which I usually do, so shout out to Zoboi for taking me by surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed Fabiola being such a spiritual character, even when no one else around her participates/understands. I loved that she never compromised that part of herself. There were so many beautiful moments of family/friendship and Fabiola just sitting deeply in those moments and enjoying the joy before the wave of culture shock/loneliness took over again that I really resonated with. 

Very little happens directly on page, and descriptions are not overly graphic aside from one of the final scenes of fighting, but there are TW/CW's for drugs/dealing, violence/abuse, gun violence, police brutality. 

Minor spoilers:
I felt like the romance was a bit rushed. I know young emotions fly fast, and even faster when things are tumultuous/traumatic - but it still felt too fast. The seriousness of Fabiola's relationship after only two or three dates was too much - more happening on the page would have helped me buy into it. I also wish that the domestic abuse with Donna was touched on a little differently. I'm constantly struggling between an authentic story vs. wishing there was a deeper message for the reader - it's not an authors job to tell you what is right or wrong, tolerable or unacceptable, etc. but I will always struggle when things like domestic violence are not called out/addressed in the narrative. I know that there are pleas for Donna to not go back to the abuser, but it just felt like not much was really done to really help her get out/stay out and so it ends up being really normalized and basically accepted. I also longed for Aunt Jo to get more involved; if she had a conversation with Fabiola about a school fight it feels like she should have been more involved with one of her daughters routinely getting heavily abused. 

All in all, great read. 

An absolute delight & a great cozy winter read. Quirky, funny, touching, sad, but hopeful still. Read in one sitting & loved every minute.

My one complain, which is a minor thing, is re-attributing the invention of “Elephant Ears” (aka Fry bread) to European white people is a touch unsavory to me, but this truly is my only critique. 

A moving look at racism in America. JHG's commentary on the white man's prejudice still ring true today, despite being written almost 50 years ago. A stark wake up call for the Trump era.

Not exactly what I was expecting, but a charming & light read all the same. The world is full of wonderous things we often over look, and this encourages us toward appreciating bug, bird, and plant along the way. 

I learned some cool new facts & will be looking up the authors other works, so all in all a good time.

 A very effective and compelling way to tell a personal account of the Holocaust. I found the interactions between father and son also interesting; a contrast that showed a bit of what it was like living with a survivor of so much trauma. In particular I found it interesting that Spiegelman doesn't seem to have painted their relationship as something other than what it was, even when it made himself look bad. I appreciate that candor for the sake of story and documenting history.