Dirty Girls on Top (Hardcover)

by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (Author)
Key Phrases: New Mexico, Joe Segura, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Valdes-Rodriguez introduced these caliente chicas in 2003's successful The Dirty Girls Social Club. Now, five years later, the sucias reunite at a New Mexico resort, and the passionate and provocative getaway signals more changes for the crew. Usnavys—a United Way executive, self-proclaimed plus-sized manizer and sex blogger—is married to sedate Juan, who cares for their daughter while Usnavys begins an affair. Lauren is a journalist and bulimic whose fiancé, a former drug dealer-turned music industry professional, has a little something secretly going on the side. Rebecca, a magazine publisher, has dreams of a baby with her husband, but they can't conceive. Sara, a Latina Martha Stewart, is frightened and exhilarated by the reappearance of her abusive husband. Cuicatl, a wild Latina rock star, must face her feelings for her older manager, and a fickle public. And Elizabeth is slowly realizing her lesbian partner doesn't want to parent their recently adopted son. Friendships are strengthened and threatened, and facets of each woman's life crumbles while others blossom. The prose is fast and casual, and the plot moves at a fast clip. (July)
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From Booklist
In her debut, The Dirty Girls Social Club (2003), Valdes-Rodriguez introduced six feisty Latina friends, and the genre chica-lit was born. Now the sucias reunite five years later. Lauren’s low self-esteem has her dating cheaters and battling bulimia. Former playgirl Usnavys feels trapped as a wife and mother. Successful publisher Rebecca struggles with her failure to conceive. Elizabeth adapts to life as an adoptive parent with an unsupportive partner. Amber, now a rock star called Cuicatl, is seeing her popularity falter. Sara’s deranged ex-husband, Roberto, has returned just as she’s begun dating. Each woman is so preoccupied, it takes a near tragedy to bring them together. Valdes-Rodriguez has matured with her characters, relying less on steamy sex and brand-name-dropping and more on emotional development. Balancing six story lines is challenging, but her fans will be satisfied with the resolution in this interesting sequel. --Aleksandra Walker

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (July 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031234967X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312349677
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,557 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars eh. quit with the sterotypes already, February 4, 2009

By	Sam Parker (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

a truck driving lesbian whose girlfriend hits their kid because it's a boy and she's a man-hater, and yet looks like "practically a man" herself. come on. i get that the characters are homophobic, but does the author have to be too?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "The Latina Waiting to Exhale", November 29, 2008

By	G*R*C* - See all my reviews

Except there are two more women involved and it's not nearly as interesting. The worst part is that I thought this, and right there on the back, was the New York Times' identical description. When a story has already been told before, I'm not so sure it's a compliment.

There was potential for this to be so much better, but it fell way short. I also found some of the character's voices to sound forced ("my nondemoninational Christian background" as Elizabeth described herself--WHO SAYS THAT?) and all of the details on who ordered what food and who was wearing what outfit added absolutely nothing to the story. While this is geared towards female readers, the author should know we care more about the story than the clothes the characters wore and the food they ordered. Oh, and the men are either perfection or the biggest a-holes you'd never want to run across.

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your time and money, August 3, 2008

By	Minnie2 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

I struggled to make my way through Dirty Girls on Top and only finished through sheer force of will. The characters are very undeveloped and there was little plot of which to speak. It took me a least a hundred pages to begin to differentiate between the six main characters (I still got Sara and Rebecca confused at the end of the book). There were a lot of sex scenes, all of which were uncomfortable and awkward. The constant dropping of mall brands got to be comical by the end of the book, as did the strange lectures on Hispanic identity politics liberally sprinkled throughout the narrative. My favorite was the part where one character lectures another about human sacrifice in different world cultures as an attempt to minimize Aztec mass killings. The passage concluded with the two copulating at an Aztec pyramid. Oy.