.5 stars
I must admit that when I saw this title and read the blurb about a half Jewish half Puerto Rican girl, I was giddy with excitement. I wanted to LOVE this book. I was happy to find a book written from a background that is so close to mine. I was happy that this was YA contemporary, and not a political book. Because most Puerto Rican authors insist on writing about political stuff even in the YA genre. Unfortunately, my giddiness died as soon as I started to read. I was extremely disappointed when page after page, I found that Micol Ostow, the half Puerto Rican half Jewish writer of Emily Goldberg learns to salsa, had filled the book with hurtful stereotypes of life in the US territory of Puerto Rico.
It's never my intention to post bad reviews. Why? Because sometimes, I do think we tend to be meaner than we should be when we don't like a book.
So, you might ask, why am I posting this review about a book that I've been fighting with since I started reading it, when I know it's going to be a .5 star review? Well, because this book has touched a nerve. No, it's not touched a nerve. It's released a deep rooted patriotism that I only exhibit for the mainland most of the time, because of the way the book portrays the US territory of Puerto Rico.
From the moment that I met Emily, on the first page of the book, I had problems relating to her. I didn't think her voice was particularly teenager-like, and it irked me no end that the pages were sprinkled with hurtful stereotypes that are not even true.
FYI, Puerto Rico has road and street signs, there is a.c. almost everywhere, especially funeral homes, fast food places, private homes, etc, and movies start when they are meant to start. This idea that there is something as Puerto Rican time, which means that they don't keep to the schedule is erroneous, and deeply stereotypical. In Puerto Rico like in other countries, there are all kinds of people, punctual people and those who don't care for time. Movie theaters are not dirty, not more than here on the mainland. People don't drive like crazy, not any worse than here on the mainland. And even though I grew up in Bayamon, and they are called the cowboys, I've found people in Tampa who are even more "vaqueros" than those people in Bayamon when it comes to driving.
I find it incredible, that someone who is Half Puerto Rican has littered her book with punch lines and jokes that are driven mainly by the stereotypes surrounding the island. One thing that has been on my mind since this hate relationship with the book started is this: Had this book been written by a so called "white" person, would people have complained? Would people had called to boycott the author? I think the answer is yes, it's deeply troubling that no Puerto Ricans, half or full, have actually complained about how much stereotype is there in the book.
The characters
Emily Goldberg is a pill. Even when I should have been feeling sorry for her, I couldn't. Why? Because I doubt there could be anyone more stuck up than her, I don't even think that Blair Waldorf would have been this bad.
Lucy, Emily's cousin is nicer, even when she's being bitchy, and her plight renders her more interesting than Emily.
Most characters felt flat, and without any real depth, such is the case of Tia Rosa, who would have been a great character, if presented with a bit more depth. After all she's the exact opposite of Emily's mother and it would have presented us with a real confrontation between her upbringing and her Puerto Rican family.
The storyline
I still find it hard to believe that Emily's mother, Gloria, kept her Puerto Rican background to herself, never sharing anything about the island with her children. It's just impossible for me to believe that. Even though my children were not born in Puerto Rico, or the mainland, I've never stopped talking to them about the States. I've even mentioned my father's family with whom I have no real relationship.
I'm disappointed that the book didn't deal with Emily's Jewish background versus her Catholic family's one. I was looking forward to funny situations that could come up because of the difference in religious beliefs, not from a stereotypical point of view, but from a more human side.
The more Emily resisted, pouted and bitched in the book, the more I care less about her friends, her boyfriend and her relationships with the people around her. It made the antagonist, Lucy, be more likeable.
All in all, Emily embracing her Puerto Rican family and cultural background, came a little too late for my liking, which didn't help ingratiate the main character with me.
Other notes,
Another thing that irked me was that no one bothered to proof read or correct the grammar of the few Spanish sentences that are sprinkled around the book. I think that it shows a very lazy attitude towards a "foreign" language, which is central to the story, as she's surrounded by it.
I do hope Ms Ostow does a bit more research before writing another book set in Puerto Rico.
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