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A review by ankonyx
How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
5.0
Words cannot fully express how much I love this book. I’m so sad that it got so little hype upon publication because this was perfection to me.
This book filled a hole in my heart. The romance was exactly my cup of tea and exactly what I needed in this moment. It’s the perfect banter ‘enemies’-to-lovers (but they both are in denial that they love the other one for the longest time).
All the characters were flawed! I loved the way their history shaped their personality and affected their decisions. Of course Moon wasn’t going to trust Santiago immediately, she has a history of people treating her badly and so she pushed him away. Just!! I love books that have realistic characters that I can fully understand them, even if I don’t agree with their choices! For example, the third act breakup of this book. I detest third act breakups in romances, they tend to drag down the rating for me. I was really annoyed at how this one played out until I thought and read more and realised how much it made sense! Also I loved the resolution and how it leaves the ending slightly open. Usually I don’t tend to like open endings, but it works really well here.
I also absolutely loved Moon. She was fascinating. I would love (hint hint fanartists <333333) if her tarot cards could come to life. The descriptions were wonderful and so poignant.
Also do I have to mention the magical realism? Because it’s fantastic and I loved the (minor spoiler) slow realisation that it isn’t a cursed and can be a gift. (Spoiler over) Reading this makes me really want to learn more about traditional magic, it’s so fascinating.
I will say though that this reads closer to New adult than young adult. Maybe just me, but it felt a lot more like an adult romance even though Moon was 17 at the start of the book.
Content warnings: religious trauma (specifically catholic), abuse (parental, physical & emotional (scapegoat & golden child dynamic)), death of a loved one, suicide, cheating, fatphobia, bullying, [also there’s a lot of internalised hatred that I feel should be mentioned]
Rep: Mexican-American plus-size/fat (woman) mc, amputee (Colombian-American) love interest, sapphic and lesbian side characters
This book filled a hole in my heart. The romance was exactly my cup of tea and exactly what I needed in this moment. It’s the perfect banter ‘enemies’-to-lovers (but they both are in denial that they love the other one for the longest time).
All the characters were flawed! I loved the way their history shaped their personality and affected their decisions. Of course Moon wasn’t going to trust Santiago immediately, she has a history of people treating her badly and so she pushed him away. Just!! I love books that have realistic characters that I can fully understand them, even if I don’t agree with their choices! For example, the third act breakup of this book. I detest third act breakups in romances, they tend to drag down the rating for me. I was really annoyed at how this one played out until I thought and read more and realised how much it made sense! Also I loved the resolution and how it leaves the ending slightly open. Usually I don’t tend to like open endings, but it works really well here.
I also absolutely loved Moon. She was fascinating. I would love (hint hint fanartists <333333) if her tarot cards could come to life. The descriptions were wonderful and so poignant.
Also do I have to mention the magical realism? Because it’s fantastic and I loved the (minor spoiler) slow realisation that it isn’t a cursed and can be a gift. (Spoiler over) Reading this makes me really want to learn more about traditional magic, it’s so fascinating.
I will say though that this reads closer to New adult than young adult. Maybe just me, but it felt a lot more like an adult romance even though Moon was 17 at the start of the book.
Content warnings: religious trauma (specifically catholic), abuse (parental, physical & emotional (scapegoat & golden child dynamic)), death of a loved one, suicide, cheating, fatphobia, bullying, [also there’s a lot of internalised hatred that I feel should be mentioned]
Rep: Mexican-American plus-size/fat (woman) mc, amputee (Colombian-American) love interest, sapphic and lesbian side characters