This book is one I'll remember for a long time. It's set in Padua Beach, Florida, and the imagery of the place alone was so beautiful, I feel like I'vThis book is one I'll remember for a long time. It's set in Padua Beach, Florida, and the imagery of the place alone was so beautiful, I feel like I've been there too. We start with Adela, one of three perspectives told in this story. She’s been sent to live with her grandmother at seventeen years old because she's pregnant and her rich parents are ashamed of her. They can't have a pregnant teenager in their family. Adela leaves behind a love and talent for competitive swimming, and a chance to make it to Nationals for her high school. In Padua Beach, where she is sent to live, it's a small, close-knit, low-income marsh town on the coast of Florida, and it happens to have a band of girls who live by the sea, in trucks and trailers and on the beach, along with their babies and toddlers. Adela comes across them one day while swimming and the rest is history. I loved this book. I became invested in these girls' lives, and the beautiful writing made it that much better. It's sad and happy and real and I feel I got a chance to see life through another's lens, and what it would be like to be a pregnant teenager in Florida with no family support. These girls had nowhere to turn to except for each other, and I thought their bonds were beautiful, even through the worst of times. Five stars!...more
3.5. The writing was really good, and I was invested in the story, but listen to the Booktokkers - this book is DARK. It's meant to make you feel icky3.5. The writing was really good, and I was invested in the story, but listen to the Booktokkers - this book is DARK. It's meant to make you feel icky. Check trigger warnings beforehand if you need to. I will say the ending was pretty satisfying, but it's still a sad, heavy book. ...more
This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read! Wow. What a life Michelle has had! She writes this real, relatable, and from the heart. I truly feltThis is one of the best memoirs I have ever read! Wow. What a life Michelle has had! She writes this real, relatable, and from the heart. I truly felt I was right there with her, and I appreciated the inner dialogue of her battling the morality of her work as an arranged and contracted sugar baby, the complications that came with hiding her sexuality, and ultimately the explanations of why she made the choices she did. And, the way this is written, I can understand John's predicament of loneliness as well. I have a lot of respect for this woman. I'll be thinking of Michelle's story for a long, long time.
Loading...
