diversity spotlight thursday

Created by Aimal, you can check out the rules here. Basically, every week you list

1. A diverse book you have read and enjoyed
2. A diverse book that has already been released but you have not read
3. A diverse book that has not yet been released

If you check out my Diversity Spotlight Thursday tag on the right, you can see my other Diversity Spotlight Thursdays! This week I’m going to be focusing on Latinx representation, because of all the Stiefvater stuff that’s been going on.

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera

Yuri Herrera explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back.

Traversing this lonely territory is Makina, a young woman who knows only too well how to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her brother, she is smuggled into the USA carrying a pair of secret messages – one from her mother and one from the Mexican underworld.

This was a very strange little novel that I read last year. In the end, I don’t think I ever did write a review, because I had such mixed and complicated thoughts about it! However, you can read some excerpts from it here!

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera

THINGS/PEOPLE MARGOT HATES:

Mami, for destroying my social life
Papi, for allowing Junior to become a Neanderthal
Junior, for becoming a Neanderthal
This supermarket
Everyone else

After “borrowing” her father’s credit card to finance a more stylish wardrobe, Margot
Sanchez suddenly finds herself grounded. And by grounded, she means working as an indentured servant in her family’s struggling grocery store to pay off her debts.

With each order of deli meat she slices, Margot can feel her carefully cultivated prep school reputation slipping through her fingers, and she’s willing to do anything to get out of this punishment. Lie, cheat, and maybe even steal…

Margot’s invitation to the ultimate beach party is within reach and she has no intention of letting her family’s drama or Moises—the admittedly good looking but outspoken boy from the neighborhood—keep her from her goal.

I’m not really sure what to think of this one! One blurb calls it a Latinx #ownvoices novel inspired by Pretty in Pink (ALL things that interest me!) but I can imagine Margot being an incredibly annoying narrator. Nevertheless, it is still on my TBR, but I think I’ll do some research before purchasing. If you’ve read it, please let me know your thoughts!

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens.

The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family.

OK so I haven’t actually read When the Moon Was Ours yet (getting to it soon!) but I’m pretty much already convinced that I’m going to love this author. What a brilliant and beautiful cover and concept – I really enjoy magical realism, so this appeals to me on lots of different levels. Unfortunately this isn’t being released until October!

If you’ve done a Diversity Spotlight Thursday this week, please link me – I definitely do NOT need new books on my TBR, but hey, let a girl live a little 😉