June 10, 2024
Poet and novelist S�nchez's (Lessons on Expulsion; I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter) storytelling talents turn inward as she frankly examines the impact of mental health struggles on her life as the daughter of Mexican immigrants growing up in Chicago in the '90s. S�nchez's essays weave around many topics, providing listeners with a full sense of her character and the experiences that shaped her resiliency. Her burgeoning career as a poet, author, and essayist is punctuated with a myriad of depressive episodes, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, and hospitalizations to treat her mental illnesses. S�nchez is forthright about her romantic relationships and sex life, as well as her abortion in her thirties. Intimately narrating her own story, she brings complete candidness and a bit of the bawdy to a memoir that covers a lot of ground. Her story is bursting with references and influences, and listeners will know what to read, watch, and where to visit next. VERDICT Ultimately landing on a message of hope and solidarity, S�nchez's writing is authentic and real about what it means to be a first-generation Latina. A solid addition to the feminist author memoir genre.--Lizzie Nolan
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