e-Audio, 08:46:08
Narrated by: Victoria Villarreal & Maya Van Wagenen
Release Date: March 26, 2024
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: March 26-27, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this e-audiobook from the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Ableism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol
For Readers Interested In: Contemporary, Chronic Illness, Realistic Fiction,Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn’t life-threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life.
Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership. Beautiful, talented Terpsichore will help Dolores win back her ex-best friend, Shae. And Dolores will convince Terpsichore’s mom that her daughter has the social skills to survive public school. It seems like a foolproof plan, but Dolores isn’t always a reliable narrator, and her choices may put her in danger of committing an unforgivable betrayal.
Making her fiction debut, award-winning author Maya Van Wagenen (Popular) tells Dolores’s story with humor, heartache, and an occasional bit of telenovela flair.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I noticed last year that I hadn’t read nearly as many chronically ill books as I should have. And that bothered me. So I was on a mission looking for everyone that was released or going to be released. And I came across this one featuring an illness I hadn’t even heard before. So I immediately went and added it to my TBR. And mannnnnn I’m so glad I made this a priority.
Ok so the first thing I loved about this was the main character. She was hilarious. With her particular illness she had issues with her bladder, so she did things like making a list for restrooms that she’s used and giving them a rating. And the reviews were hilarious. This book made me laugh so much. In the synopsis when it says it is written like a telenovella, they weren’t lying. I will say I wasn’t really I was surprised she didn’t do her due diligence and research everything about the illness she had. She let that doctor say that to her and then she didn’t care to look into it herself. And like I get it, she felt defeated, but I thought she would still do it. Or maybe that’s just me lol Because with my anxiety I feel better prepared for things when I know literally everything about it. So I would have at the very least researched it.
I did think there should have been more of a look at her family. She was interesting, but I just felt like there was a story there. And the freaking ending seemed to come out of nowhere. I mean I saw that things were hitting the fan, but I didn’t know it was THAT bad. It just felt like really out of left field. I think I needed a litttttttle bit more of their family squabbles. Or at least a few more glimpses into the fact that they weren’t actually happy.
The other characters were ok, but Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones? She was amazing. Her mother? Yeah she was not IT. But Terps was so amazing. I loved watching her grow into her own and evolve. She was so smart and I loved watching her. I wish we had some chapters from her POV, but I think it would have taken the surprise factor from it. Especially the search she did. I enjoyed seeing her taking back her life.
This book was nothing like I expected it to be. It sounds terrible, but I expected it to be about her doctor appointments and her trying to live with her illness. But I got this and then some. It really was like a telenovella. Like legit, this book was fun enough to read, but also to watch on the tv.
Overall, I give this
