![Yo no soy tu perfecta hija mexicana [I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510+gLRxR8L.jpg)
Erika L. Sanchez, a Mexican-American novelist, has been greatly recognized for her outstanding literature throughout recent years. Erika earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. On 2017, Sanchez published her empowering novel called, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” and has since then made a huge impact on critics and mainly teenagers. It’s really no surprise that her young adult novel won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature; Sanchez has been recently named a Princeton Arts Fellow and has received many acknowledgements because of her great work. Sanchez’s piece of literature has impacted hundreds of teens as it touches upon relatable, major conflicts that Hispanic families encounter, which makes readers feel identified and intrigued by this compelling story.
The author narrates the life of Julia, a bold and rebellious teen, after her ‘perfect’ sister, Olga, dies in an accident. Julia is a complex character who feels left out from her family as she has always been different and expectations to what a Mexican lady should and shouldn’t do are always present reminded by her mother. Different from Julia, Olga seemed to be the perfect daughter, always helping around the house, doing what her parents wanted her to do, obeying the rules, and going to a close to home college. Nevertheless, Julia finds out some strange objects in Olga’s room that arouses curiosity and makes Julia question whether Olga was actually as innocent and a goody two shoes as she made it seem. With determination and help of her best friend as well as lover, Julia seeks to find the truth about her dead sister’s hidden, intriguing life.
As previously mentioned, Julia lives in a household where expectations and limitations are always present. Erika Sanchez does an amazing job portraying how the life of a Mexican young girl is. I felt greatly identified as I grew up in a strict, Mexican household. There are all these responsibilities thrown at girls from a very young age. They’re expected to be the ones staying at home, helping mothers cook, clean, etc. while the guys just go work or stay home doing nothing or at times, just drinking. Julia, however, opposes to these norms, but feels guilty for it as her mother always compares her to her sister and even boasts about how great Olga was. Sanchez creates a strong, hard-headed character and gives motives for her defiant actions, which because of her actions and personality, a captivating plot is produced.
I could really relate to Julia and her personality; she’s smart, reserved, loves reading and writing, and doesn’t follow on the expectations her Mexican family have. Since I can remember, I was always expected to clean the house, wash clothes, and cook. I’m expected to clean all the mess even if it’s all my brothers and I absolutely hate that. This book felt close to home as I’ve had similar thought that Julia had. Additionally, alike her, I am often compared to my siblings to notice how one is better at some things than the other, which is actually really upsetting. Erika L. Sanchez’s novel had a positive impact on me because her life was relatable and her story was truly captivating.
“I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” is genuinely one of the best books I’ve read since I could really identify with the protagonist. The plot of Julia’s story is interesting and keeps readers entertained while also revealing the truth about how Mexican families are. I believe it sets an important message to people, mainly teenagers. We are too often pushed to our limits and people still expect more from us. Teens are expected to always obey their parents and do everything they want, especially in Mexican families, where everyone has a significant role. In her novel, Sanchez reveals how everyone has secrets and literally no one is perfect, but that is okay, that’s how life is.
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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Reviews with images
Underwhelming (Spoiler Alert!)
I want to preface this by saying that I am not the exact target audience. I'm soon to be 20, and this book may have spoken to me better if I were still 13, perhaps. Though, there's some subject matter that I don't know if younger teens should be exposed to...Let's start with the pros, though! This book did an amazing job at portraying vibrant aspects of Mexican culture. I adore books with POC main characters that have their backgrounds interwoven into basically every aspect of life, from their meal times to their beliefs to their family interactions. It makes the characters feel more whole! I love how a complex family dynamic was shown, too. I also appreciate how good the author is at the imagery despite being tasked with describing things through the lens of the teenage main character. Speaking of which, the main character also has a very prominent personality, which I know is difficult to accomplish while juggling so many other characters!However, when we cross over into the cons, the list gets more lengthy...Though the MC has a prominent voice, it's not exactly a likeable one. That seems intentional with the nature of the story, though, so it's not that big a deal - or...it wouldn't be if virtually every other character wasn't *also* deeply unlikeable. The MC is a crude and bitter character, her mother is emotionally immature, her dad is just a shell of a character with a tad of art dashed in at the very end to hint that he was *once* interesting, her best friend Lorena is judgmental, there's a random stereotypical gay character tossed in, the late older sister Olga that gets mentioned so much seemed to have a static personality at best, and all the other side characters were either props, rude, or too bland to mention.I'd like to note how the MC also has a very unhealthy relationship with food and uses overeating as a coping mechanism at times of stress, but this is neither truly acknowledged nor condemned in the book...not a good message to the younger teen girls this will find...What's more, this book drags on forever and ever. The exact message could honestly have been achieved in 1/4 of the pages. The scandal of Olga's? Not even major, and it's hyped up through the whole book. It's the same with her quince earlier in the book. It's built up as something major just to flit by in a few pages, but maybe that's the point?The character development in this book was fade to black at best, if existent at all. Julia (the MC) is depressed...and then she goes to Mexico and on meds, and she's not as much anymore! Off to university! The end.The plot was basically the diary of an angry, grieving, first generation teenage girl who eventually goes to college.If you heavily relate to the MC, this could be for you. It's nice to know you're not alone in your experiences, after all! But if not, I honestly can't recommend this book. It's not even poorly written by any means, it just kinda builds up a whole lot to go absolutely nowhere. The author may be better suited to more adult fiction...
Top reviews from other countries
Sarah J
Sehr gutes Buch in mittelprächtigem Format
Reviewed in Germany on June 19, 2021
Sarah J
Reviewed in Germany on June 19, 2021
Der Schreibstil ist flüssig, und auch für Nicht-Englischmuttersprachler recht gut zu verstehen, da es sich um ein Jugendbuch handelt. Die Autorin lässt manchmal ein spanisches Wort einfließen, schließlich sind alle Charaktere Mexican Americans. Das stört aber nicht, weil es bekannte Wörter wie señora oder sie erklärt das Wort anschließend. Das Buch gibt ein eindrückliches Bild davon, wie eine Familie mit dem Tod einer Tochter/Schwester umgeht, wie die vermeintliche Idealvorstellung einer Tochter aussieht und was es heißt, als Tochter einer mexikanischen Mutter aufzuwachsen.
Das Buch hat mir wirklich gut gefallen!
Ausgabe/Format: Für das Format möchte ich eigentlich 2 Sterne abziehen, aber 3 Sterne sind für den Roman zu wenig! Die Fotos zeigen, wie klein die Ausgabe ist (ca. 10x8 cm/ungefähr Din A 6). Das Format passt also in jede Tasche, was an sich nicht schlecht ist, aber sehr ungewöhnlich. Noch störender empfand ich die Innenseiten. Ich hatte mich schon gewundert, dass das Buch über 600 Seiten hat. Das liegt daran, dass das Buch um 90° gedreht werden muss und eine Doppelseite dann von oben nach unten beschrieben ist. Man klappt also von unten nach oben um, nicht von rechts nach links. Die Blätter sind pergamentdünn, wie bei einem Telefonbuch. So klappt man häufig zwei Seiten um und vor allem, scheint häufig die nächste Seite schon durch.
Der Druck wurde auch nicht gründlich gesetzt oder anschließend nicht mehr kontrolliert, immer wieder fehlen Leerzeichen und zwei Wörter sind zusammengeschrieben, was in einer Fremdsprache noch verwirrender ist als in der Muttersprache.
In einer anderen Ausgabe hätte ich dem Buch 5* gegeben!
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