e-ALC, 07:48:36
Narrated by: Yenni Ann Wong, Daisy Guevara, Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes, Elena Rey, Victoria Villarreal, Kyla Garcia, Alejandra Reynoso, Diana Bustelo, and Rene Ruiz
Release Date: May 26, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: May 26-27, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby ( I also received this as an e-ARC from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Self Harm, Grief, Chronic Illness, Homophobia, Infidelity
For Readers of: Catchy Title, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Full Cast Audio, Middle Grade, Paranormal (Ghosts), Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Latinx/ Mexican), Realistic FictionThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Mexikid in this heart-warming novel with illustrations about four friends and the magical bookstore that holds them together.
Cat, Sofia, Ana, and Mari are best friends. Nothing, nada, can break their bond. When Cat’s mom scolds them for their loud cackling at the bookstore, calling them a bunch of chismosas, the name sticks. Cat creates the The Chismosas Only Book Club, giving the girls a way to stay connected as they begin high school.
But ninth grade is hard, and it seems like no amount of conchas y libros y risas at Milagro’s Books, founded generations ago by Cat’s great-great-great-grandmother, can repair the ever-growing cracks in their friendship. But maybe the spirit of Milagro herself can . . .
Brimming with whimsy and heart, and woven with black-and-white graphic novel chapters, this enchanting book celebrates the magic of friendship, the embrace of ancestors, and the power of stories to hold us together.
Also available in Spanish, from Vintage Español.
*MY THOUGHTS*
All I needed to see were the words “book club” in the title and I was done for lol I knew this was going to be my kind of book from that alone. And it was…. for the most part. I enjoyed the plot and everything, but there were too many POVs. But still hella good.
So what I said about the book club and the plot, I loved that part. They were all different and they all had different lives happening, but they could always find a book to bring them together. I thought it was hella sweet and I really liked getting to know all of them. I also thought it was cool af the way they got the book choices lol The ghost thing was cool af. I wish there had been a bit more about it in the book.
Normally this many POVs wouldn’t trip me up, but pair that with the all the fact that all the girls had different lives, and different things happen to them, along with the other things that were still happening, like the book club that stopped happening because of all this stuff. It just seemed like there was too much going on for this one book. I think if it had been split up between person to person in separate books I think I would have liked it more. For this to be a MG book it was kind of confusing. I think there should have been a little more distinction.
But even with all that I still thought it was entertaining. I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to know why they were all acting the way they did. And I REALLY wanted one of them to go off on one of the people who was doing her dirty. I wanted her to get mad enough to say something. I won’t say if she did, but I wanted her to. And I don’t condone violence, but one character deserved a punch in the face for what they did. But see, that’s what I mean when I say it was too much going on in this book. I didn’t really know what to think.
This was a lot. After having had the time to go back and think about things and really think about my rating, I still don’t know what to give this lol I liked it but I also was a little confused by it? So it was entertaining and I think it couldn’t have been a little different and better in some places I guess. But still, pick it up and make your own decision. At the very least I need to know what you think of the way the books are picked LOL (Also on that same note I need someone who wrote all the books down. I need the book list from this because I didn’t write them all down lol)
Overall, I give this
