e-Audio, 02:15:56
Narrated by: Zac Aleman, Andre Bellido, & Alejandra Reynoso
Release Date: April 23, 2024
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: May 1, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM App (I received a copy of this e-audiobook from the publisher and the app in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Domestic Abuse, Mention of 01/06/21, Anxiety spirals
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Animals, Novels in Verse, Realistic Fiction, YA, Racial Ethnic Diversity (Cuban), Socioeconomic Diversity (Houseless, Immigrant)In this stirring young adult romance from award-winning author Margarita Engle, love and conservation intertwine as two teens fight to protect wildlife and heal from their troubled pasts.
Ana and her mother have been living out of their car ever since her militant father became one of the FBI’s most wanted. Leandro has struggled with debilitating anxiety since his family fled Cuba on a perilous raft.
One moonlit night, in a wilderness park in California, Ana and Leandro meet. Their connection is instant—a shared radiance that feels both scientific and magical. Then they discover they are not a huge mountain lion stalks through the trees, one of many wild animals whose habitat has been threatened by humans.
Determined to make a difference, Ana and Leandro start a rewilding club at their school, working with scientists to build wildlife crossings that can help mountain lions find one another. If pumas can find their way to a better tomorrow, surely Ana and Leandro can too.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I almost didn’t read this, but I was enticed by the animals lol As someone that’s not a fan of novels in verse or anything to do with cops or the FBI, but it’s Margarita Engle so I had to try it. And tho I wasn’t a huge fan of the time slips, the rest of it was great.
Ok since this was a dual POV I wanted to talk about the main characters. They both had their own things going on, but the way they connected in order to help the animals was beautiful. I loved how they advocated and then came together to help the animals and their home being threatened. And them spreading their love to others at school even though they were being judged? That is brave. I love to see people invest in the things they’re into.
However with the romance, I just basically ignored it. It seemed choppy and like instalovey because it seemed so sudden. But in reality it was most likely over time. And then the book is already so short and I finished it even faster because I sped it up. Idk it always just feels ill timed and I think I would have prefered it better had they been besties and then got together in the epilogue? Idk even the being mad that they moved because they loved them felt a bit much. But that may also just be me.
Novels in verse aren’t my jam because they usually feel like (my coworker said it best) time jumps. Idk I feel like it makes the story seem choppy? But Engle always makes me ignore that. I always feel like the subject of the story is what matters most for her, not how its delivered. Like I went and looked up other places that have these types of animal crossings because I read this.
I’m not saying I’m a convert to novels in verse, but I am saying I will read whatever Margarita Engle puts in front of me. Also, I read a review that there was a connection to her other books in this?? And wow, I didn’t even put two and two together.
Overall, I give this
