body image – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Title: How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe

Author: Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 8/10/21

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age, Social Media, Body Image, Self Love, Family, Romance, Mental Health

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Hating Game meets I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in this irresistible romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.

When her twin sister reaches social media stardom, Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s camerawoman. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers and her fate begins to shift in the best way possible.

Most notable is her bunkmate and new nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy Moon has ever seen.

Moon is certain she hates Santiago and that he hates her back. But as chance and destiny (and maybe, probably, close proximity) bring the two of them in each other’s perpetual paths, Moon starts to wonder if that’s really true. She even starts to question her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.

Could this summer change Moon’s life as she knows it?

I am in LOVE with this book. Where do I begin? First the title intrigued me, and the character’s name being Moon. Because I love all moon things. Then the cover with a curvy girl, the moon above her and all that pink and purple tones. That’s where my love for it starts – but then the story takes me on an emotional journey and that’s when I fell hard.
Moon Fuentez is so relatable. She’s an artist and calls to the artist in me. I want to follow her Fotogram account, I want to buy her tarot cards, I wanted to know this girl and we definitely get to know her in this story. Her twin is Star Fuentez and her opposite from their body size and beliefs about lifestyle. Moon honors the old ways, honoring the Earth, delving in the mystical – and Star is a religious model (I didn’t even know those existed!). Moon has a lot of family secrets that are revealed little by little as she gets to know Santiago, a boy on the tour. I love how Moon grows on this tour. She’s there to basically be her sister’s assistant but she learns that she has a light around her too and embraces it in the end.
Speaking of Moon and Santiago – theirs is an enemies to lovers romance which so much spark. They are enemies, then sort of friends, which was fun to watch because Santiago really is such a grump and likes to anger Moon haha, and Moon makes him laugh. I mean, Santiago already had me with his kitchen skills. They are the cutest couple.
This story takes sensitive issues that Moon is dealing with and weaves them into the mystical and natural fabric of our world and universe. I thought it was beautifully done. I felt embraced in Moon’s experiences with La Raiz. I love how Moon learned divination with her Tia, the only person who has shown her real love (besides her dad). It’s a heartbreaking story at its core, a girl just wanting the love of a parent. But Moon is strong in the end to make decisions that are healthier for her heart, soul and mind, even if it hurts a lot.

Triggers: suicide, child abuse, depression

This story is sex positive but Moon struggles with her mom’s views on sex and body image. It reminded me of my own Catholic upbringing but obviously Moon’s mom took it to the next level by slut shaming her, blaming her – her own child, for how miserable she felt inside. Her mother needed help and never got it but it conditioned Star and Moon from childhood that sex was an evil act. Moon has other people in her life explain to her why it wasn’t how her mom portrayed it to be, which is great.
Depression is mentioned because some characters in the book go through it. Moon has her own coping mechanisms, ones that she realizes she has to work through.

Is Moon Fuentez real? Because I want her to be – I want to buy her beautiful tarot cards and pick flowers with her. I want to check out her artwork in a museum, I want to see the images she captured on her beloved camera. I fell in love with Moon and Moon with Santiago and this whole story about nature’s magic, how even in this amazing, big universe, we are all connected, even in our pain. This is a book I connected with wholeheartedly, it really touched my heart, and I can’t wait to have it in my hands as a physical book.

🌙 ~ Yolanda

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Title: Pumpkin (Dumplin’, #3)

Author: Julie Murphy

Format: eBook (borrowed)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 5/25/21

Publisher: Blazer + Bray

Categories: Young Adult, Body Image, LGBTQIA+, Romance, Coming of Age, Small Town, Contemporary

Waylon Russell Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. His plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, and finally go Full Waylon, so that he can live his Julie-the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music-Andrews truth.

So when Clementine deviates from their master plan right after Waylon gets dumped, he throws caution to the wind and creates an audition tape for his favorite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape accidentally getting shared with the entire school. . . . As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king.

Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one thing to do: run—and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bang. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson.

Waylon will need to learn that the best plan for tomorrow is living for today . . . especially with the help of some fellow queens. . . .

I watched the movie Dumplin’ but never read the books and didn’t even know there was a book two! But I loved the cover of this one and decided to borrow it. I’m glad I did!

Waylon is fat, gay and has plans to leave the small town he’s from after graduation. Luckily he has a very supportive family and a lesbian twin sister, who is his best friend. He thought he knew his plans for life after high school but plans are changing and maybe for the better, though it doesn’t seem like it at first.

I loved a lot of things about this book. We meet Waylon, who is gay and out of the closet but still holding back a little and still exploring everything about his sexuality. He’s meeting guys, but still wants to meet the guy who won’t be ashamed to be with him in public. He is trying out drag, even though he doesn’t know how to put on makeup and enjoys being on stage. Waylon’s family is awesome. They are so super supportive from his grandparents down to his twin sister who is also part of the LGBT+ community. She has a girlfriend Hannah, who I believe was in Dumplin’.

We have a lot of representation and diversity in this story. There is an LGBT school club called Prism and mind you, this story is set in a small town in Texas. There is a m/m couple, and a f/f couple, which I adored because these couples were in loving relationships and we get to see that love. And of course there is a drag show – I feel like there should always be a drag show in this series!

Waylon doesn’t only deal with being gay but being fat as well. For the most part he is confident about himself until he is with his ex-friend Kyle who used to be fat and lost weight or if he’s an event where his body would be exposed, like the pool. But mostly Waylon doesn’t let it stop him from living. He is a good son, grandson and brother – he’s funny and charming.

I enjoyed the romance! For one, his sister, Clem and her girlfriend Hannah, are the whole opposites attract cuteness. Waylon has some prospects as well and the chemistry with Tucker is heart-thumping! I mean, Tucker was flirting-flirting! I totally understood Waylon’s insecurities about the whole thing though.

Triggers: bullying, body shaming, homophobia, alcoholism

Waylon has a supportive group of people in his family, but at school it’s a little bit different. He doesn’t do anything to stand out and say he’s gay – he tries to blend in, even though he is out of the closet. Many of the jocks bully him about being fat and gay – that’s why it was interesting to see Tucker’s reaction to it all, since he was a jock too or friends with them.

Kind of wished I read the two previous books because I don’t know if I missed anything? I felt like I did because there is a cast of characters I don’t remember such as, Millie and Callie. But even without reading the books, I enjoyed Pumpkin a lot.

Overall I thought this book was fun, heartfelt, well-written and a joy to read. I cared about Waylon and his lovely family and the sparks between him and Tucker were undeniable. It has a happy ending and this should definitely be made into a movie like Dumplin’.

📚~ Yolanda

Quotes From the Book:

Ground shifts around you and you figure out the fastest way to fall is to stand still. But sometimes when we know we need to take a leap, we’re jumping off the wrong cliffs.”
-Pumpkin by. Julie Murphy