ARC Review: Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira
10:00
Series: None
Author: Monica Gomez-Hira
Published March 2nd 2021 by HarperTeen
Goodreads Synopsis
Jenny Han meets "Jane the Virgin" in this flashy and fun Own Voices romcom from debut author Monica Gomez-Hira.
Carmen Aguilar just wants to make her happily ever after come true. Except apparently “happily ever after” for Carmen involves being stuck in an unpaid summer internship! All she has to do is perform! In a ball gown! During the summer. In Miami.
Fine. Except that Carmen’s company is hired for her spoiled cousin Ariana’s over the top quinceañera.
And of course, her new dance partner at work is none other than Mauro Reyes, Carmen’s most deeply regrettable ex.
If Carmen is going to move into the future she wants, she needs to leave the past behind. And if she can manage dancing in the blistering heat, fending off Mauro’s texts, and stopping Ariana from ruining her own quinceañera Carmen might just get that happily ever after after all.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via Edelweiss. This in no way impacted on my view.
In Once Upon a Quinceañera, high school senior Carmen needs to find a job in order to pass her life skills class, and finally graduate. She thought she was also sorted in a position with a wedding photographer, until he tried to assault her, and she quit. Now, she's working as a Disney princess at a party company. Her relationship with her boss is good, and she's friends with the other staff, but it was almost too good to be true. First, her ex-boyfriend, Mauro, returns and joins the company, and then her estranged aunt and cousin hire the company to perform at her cousin's quinceañera. Because of her cousin, Ariana's actions years ago, Carmen never had her own quinceañera, and it's a bit of a sore spot. Will Carmen be able to deal with the pressure of performing for family she dislikes, with an ex she hates, or will all past differences be resolved?
I so wanted to love this book. As soon as I heard about it, I felt it would be perfect, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I loved the inclusion of Cuban heritage, and spoken Spanish within the book, and seeing a quinceañera being planned and carried out. But, all of the characters were lacklustre, and had so much potential that wasn't fulfilled. Carmen came across, at least to me, as someone who had coasted her way through school, and never really put an effort in, and it’s come back to bite her when she doesn’t graduate. She never really had any get up and go and wasn’t constantly blaming over people for her not succeeding. Yes, her quinceañera was cancelled, but she was still at fault for taking her 12 year old cousin to a party. Honestly, Carmen never grew on me, and because of that, I wasn’t overly fussed about her and Mauro’s relationship. By the end of the book, I think I was reading more to just finish it, rather than really wanting to know how it ends. Could’ve been a fantastic book, but it didn’t work for me.
Dates Read:
March 28-30, 2021
Rating
3 Stars
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