Q U I C K S T A T S
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐. 5
Setting: ⭐⭐⭐
Writing style: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
T H E B O O K
// Content Warning: Bullying / Misogyny / Racism / Sexism / Violence / Xenophobia //
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Age rating: 13+
Genre(s): Contemporary
Pub date: 02/02/2021
P R E M I S E
Sixteen-year-old Ana has just moved to New Jersey from Argentina for her Junior year of high school. She’s a poet and a lover of language—except that now, she can barely understand what’s going on around her, let alone find the words to express how she feels in the language she’s expected to speak.
All Ana wants to do is go home—until she meets Harrison, the very cute, very American boy in her math class. And then there’s her new friend Neo, the Greek boy she’s partnered up with in ESL class, who she bonds with over the 80s teen movies they are assigned to watch for class (but later keep watching together for fun), and Altagracia, her artistic and Instagram-fabulous friend, who thankfully is fluent in Spanish and able to help her settle into American high school.
But is it possible that she’s becoming too American—as her father accuses—and what does it mean when her feelings for Harrison and Neo start to change? Ana will spend her year learning that the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love.
M Y R E V I E W
↬ PRE-THOUGHTS
I'm in the middle of a reading slump but I'm slowly working my way out of it because there's nothing that can stop me from reading (you're welcome for the inspirational quote to use in your yearbook).
I will always have a thing for typography covers because just look at that. It's stunning and the little cartoon people makes it 10 times better.
↬ PLOT
Love in English follows Ana, a sixteen-year-old immigrant from Mexico adjusting to her new life in America. Between stressing over ESL and her father's sudden change in personality, she finds that writing poems help whittle away the annoying thoughts boring into her mind and keep herself grounded.
In ESL, she meets Neo, an immigrant going through a similar midlife crisis and the two of them become firm friends. However, as much as she is attracted to Neo, she finds herself drawn to the cute white boy in her maths class named Harrison (ugh isn't it always the white boys) like a moth to a flame.
Unable to choose between them (first world problems, I know), she ends up making a mess out of everything and tries to fix everything the only way she knows how to.
↬ WRITING AND SETTING
I love how the writer had intentionally censored words Ana does not understand as a person with a simple understanding of the language. However, as the novel progresses, there is less censoring to show how her progress and determination to get better at English. Loved that for her. I believe the main intention behind this was to visually represent language barriers because it is extremely hard to explain without using words. This part hit too close to home: I barely speak my country's language and 9 times out of 10, I feel like an imposter in my own home.
↬ CHARACTERS
Ana writes stunning poetry and I found this bit similar to The Poet X. Her character voice was different than what I am used to and I'm in awe of her brilliance because let's be honest, I would never show my poetry to a native speaker (if I wrote poems) let alone read them out loud. You go, girl.
Do I hate love triangles? Absolutely. With my whole heart. I am fully convinced Neo and Chris are the same people because honestly, they were the same fucking person. I have no idea why she dropped Harrison for Neo (or Neo for Harrison) when neither was the best option and she should have just gaslight gatekeep girlbossed by herself.
↬ CONCLUSION
Pros: easy to understand
Cons: love triangle
Overall rating: 4/5
T R O P E S
Love triangle
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
Argentian main and side characters
Greek side character
B O O K S M E N T I O N E D
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
A D D I T I O N A L R E S O U R C E S
F I N D M E
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