I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter: A Time magazine pick for Best YA of All Time

The book heavily focuses on Julia’s Mexican upbringing, with her parents holding different expectations for their daughter, compared to American culture. Whether it’s fantasy or contemporary, I love world building. I really enjoyed learning about Julia and her family’s background and her past interactions with them. I admit that it was very frustrating to see Julia’s mother restrict her daughter’s life so much, but it showed how much Amá struggles to understand her daughter. Their disagreements, from Julia’s style to her post-graduation plans, really showed the difference between Mexican and American culture.While there is some humor in the novel, between Amà beliefs on American culture, Julia’s POV, and her interactions with her friends, I Am Not Your Perfect Daughter is a heavy novel for its discussion on grief and depression. The on-going mystery in the novel involves Julia trying to figure out Olga’s secret relationship, but her investigation takes a bit of a backseat as Julia deals with her depression. I did not see Julia’s mental illness coming, but it made sense as we see Julia grieve over her sister’s death.There was some sexual tension/sexualization in the novel distracted from the story, but I can understand why it was important to include in how Julia views life in her area of Chicago and Mexico. Although I don't normally read YA, I enjoyed I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter for its diverse discussion on culture and mental health, as well as being an all-around great contemporary read.

I received this as an ARC before publication day (even though I’m a little late posting my review) so thank you to the publisher, I’m always grateful to be given lovely books to read and review.I thought this book was wonderful right from the very first page , I’ve not read any young adult books for a while and I don’t know why as I just love them when I read them .Julia is an incredible character she made me laugh and cry! And she reminded me so much of my teenage years and a little of my daughter now who’s 13 and feeling all the emotions that you feel at that age, Julia’s character actually gave me a little insight into what my daughter might be thinking or feeling in certain situations. The themes running through the book really make you pause and take stock. I would recommend this book to anyone .