The Broposal

3.5 stars. A somewhat uneasy mix of goofy rom-com and issues-driven drama, especially given its publication on the same day that DT declared the end of Constitutionally-guaranteed birthright citizenship. On the one hand you have two clueless Latinx bros, BFFs since childhood, engaging in a fake marriage of convenience and catching feelings. On the other hand, you have deadly substance use, family separation, intimate partner violence, and the looming threat of deportation. The plot is weakened by a cartoonishly evil ex whose increasingly desperate manipulations strain credulity. But I kept turning the pages because the two MCs are absolutely lovely, showing with gestures how much they understand and care for each other, even if their words are not quite there yet.

I suspect that I would have been able to enjoy the book much more if had been published a year earlier, but I couldn't help thinking of the real people whose lives will be devastated by new draconian immigration policies that can't be solved by a wacky escape plan. No fault to the author, of course.

N.B. MC1 is autistic and MC2 has ADHD. Reyes identifies as queer and autistic.