I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Erika L. Sanchez, a Mexican-American novelist, has been greatly recognized for her outstanding literature throughout recent years. Erika earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. On 2017, Sanchez published her empowering novel called, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” and has since then made a huge impact on critics and mainly teenagers. It’s really no surprise that her young adult novel won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature; Sanchez has been recently named a Princeton Arts Fellow and has received many acknowledgements because of her great work. Sanchez’s piece of literature has impacted hundreds of teens as it touches upon relatable, major conflicts that Hispanic families encounter, which makes readers feel identified and intrigued by this compelling story. The author narrates the life of Julia, a bold and rebellious teen, after her ‘perfect’ sister, Olga, dies in an accident. Julia is a complex character who feels left out from her family as she has always been different and expectations to what a Mexican lady should and shouldn’t do are always present reminded by her mother. Different from Julia, Olga seemed to be the perfect daughter, always helping around the house, doing what her parents wanted her to do, obeying the rules, and going to a close to home college. Nevertheless, Julia finds out some strange objects in Olga’s room that arouses curiosity and makes Julia question whether Olga was actually as innocent and a goody two shoes as she made it seem. With determination and help of her best friend as well as lover, Julia seeks to find the truth about her dead sister’s hidden, intriguing life. As previously mentioned, Julia lives in a household where expectations and limitations are always present. Erika Sanchez does an amazing job portraying how the life of a Mexican young girl is. I felt greatly identified as I grew up in a strict, Mexican household. There are all these responsibilities thrown at girls from a very young age. They’re expected to be the ones staying at home, helping mothers cook, clean, etc. while the guys just go work or stay home doing nothing or at times, just drinking. Julia, however, opposes to these norms, but feels guilty for it as her mother always compares her to her sister and even boasts about how great Olga was. Sanchez creates a strong, hard-headed character and gives motives for her defiant actions, which because of her actions and personality, a captivating plot is produced. I could really relate to Julia and her personality; she’s smart, reserved, loves reading and writing, and doesn’t follow on the expectations her Mexican family have. Since I can remember, I was always expected to clean the house, wash clothes, and cook. I’m expected to clean all the mess even if it’s all my brothers and I absolutely hate that. This book felt close to home as I’ve had similar thought that Julia had. Additionally, alike her, I am often compared to my siblings to notice how one is better at some things than the other, which is actually really upsetting. Erika L. Sanchez’s novel had a positive impact on me because her life was relatable and her story was truly captivating. “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” is genuinely one of the best books I’ve read since I could really identify with the protagonist. The plot of Julia’s story is interesting and keeps readers entertained while also revealing the truth about how Mexican families are. I believe it sets an important message to people, mainly teenagers. We are too often pushed to our limits and people still expect more from us. Teens are expected to always obey their parents and do everything they want, especially in Mexican families, where everyone has a significant role. In her novel, Sanchez reveals how everyone has secrets and literally no one is perfect, but that is okay, that’s how life is.

This book was so good I finished it in just three days. I laughed, I cried, and I felt deeply seen. I resonated with Julia because I see so much of myself in her independent, doing things her own way, and navigating life after losing her only sister. The final sentence broke me. Julia holding her sister’s ultrasound and saying, “How amazing is it that I hold a piece of her right here in my hands.” I cried thinking about my own life, about how I now have my sister’s children. This book touched my heart in a way I won’t forget.

I really enjoyed this book which was an easy read. As a woman of Mexican descent, I was happy to support this Latino author. This was a nice coming-of-age-type story. I felt the references with regard to ethnicity and culture were authentic. I wish the ending had a little more punch and had been a bit more controversial, which I can’t really expound upon without giving away the ending. I would purchase from this author again.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez, is a book about a girl and her family. The book speaks alot on mental well-being, grief, cultural expectations, family dynamics, and identity. In the beginning of the book it speaks about how the family is pushing through their grief after the eldest daughter's passing. Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter shows how grief is something many people struggle with and go through at some point in their lives, but that there is a way to make it through those hard times. The family expectations which were put on fifteen year old Julia’s shoulders after her sister's passing was alot for her to handle. Though with the friends and examples she had in her life it made things difficult for her to be able to meet the expectations that her mother had. This book is a very valuable read and I would definitely recommend reading it!!

Such a wonderful book, honestly a very interesting book.

I had to by this book for my English class. Honestly, I never thoroughly read through reading materials for school. But this but was so good and interesting I really enjoyed reading it, and passed the class. This is a book I would've read leisurely.

I started this Y.A. novel because it was listed as a must read on a writer’s blog. Initially, I wondered why this book was so highly recommended because the female protagonist, Julia, seems like an obnoxious, lazy, spoiled, self-centered adolescent. She is highly critical of other people, does not want to help her mother with household duties, and seems oblivious to the difficult life that her mother, Ama, and her father, Apa, face on a daily basis. When Julia’s older sister, Olga, is killed in a car accident, the family is devastated, but Julia seems unable to offer sympathy and support to her parents. Ama does not make the situation easier on Julia when she blames Julia for actions that resulted in the tragic accident, an accusation that could be construed from the spoiled behavior of Julia. I thought, I can’t relate to this girl. Nonetheless, I continued to trudge forward with the novel. I discovered more reasons to understand Julia’s personality and behaviors. She has plenty of reasons to be depressed and obstinate. Her behavior could also be listed as an amazing example of youthful resilience. The novel is told in first person and a reader will observe that Julia has an amazing sarcastic and inventive wit, an insightful take on human hypocrisy, and a broad awareness of literature. She is acutely aware of sights, sounds, and smells in her urban surroundings and likewise when she takes a trip to her hometown in Mexico. Julia’s personality grows on a reader. Her determination to rise above her environmental limitations is admirable. The author, Erika Sanchez, has produced a remarkable coming-of-age story of a city girl faced with extreme poverty, with immigrant parents who have had their own severe trauma; Julia must struggle to survive emotionally and intellectually. There are strong comparisons in Julia’s story with the protagonists in novels like On the Wings of a Hummingbird by Susan Mills and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. If you are considering purchasing this book, your money will not be wasted.

Pros: Mexican culture, themes of family, coming to terms with who you are, inner beauty Cons: Passive, unlikable protagonist who complains all the time, speaks before thinking. I’ll start by saying: This book should be required reading for high schoolers. It deals with a lot of hard-hitting issues, such as sexual assault, sexism, racism, gang violence, the death of a loved one, etc. Additionally, there are quite a few important other topics, such as family relationships, and lots of knowledge about Mexican culture. The book shows Mexican culture very well, from my relatively limited perspective. I grew up around a lot of Mexican families and while at times, the novel can border on stereotypical, it’s rather surprisingly accurate. The author blends Mexican life with the story well, in such a way that you never really forget that Julia is Mexican, causing it to stand out from other books claiming to have similar themes. In regards to themes, the novel also has several prominent and well-developed themes. The ideas of family, inner-beauty, and self-discovery and being true to oneself are omnipresent in this book. The family angle is explored quite a few ways, and quite honestly many pages could be written about how well developed of a theme it is. While the theme of family is quite prominent, the main theme of the book centers around being true to who one thinks they are and discovering their inner-self. Throughout the novel, Julia is trying to figure out who she is, despite her mother pushing her in a direction she does not feel called to go as well and forcing her to accept an identity she refuses to call her own. Unfortunately, there is quite a bit that is executed poorly in this book. Julia’s character is an obvious starting point for this. At her core, she’s a very unlikable character. She complains nearly constantly, is rude to her parents, teachers, and friends far too often. She has a problem of not thinking her words through, and does not do anything to make her situation better. She does not explain her thoughts or actions, especially not if she is in trouble. Additionally, she is almost entirely passive as a protagonist as well. She does not really make any meaningful decisions, things just happen to her and she reacts to them. She never causes the plot to move forward due to ingenuity, trying hard, etc, events and deus ex machinas just fall into her lap. For example, upon returning from Mexico, her mother apologizes for being a bad mom and their relationship is instantly fixed, for seemingly no reason. Additionally, defining what the plot is can also be tricky. The novel opens with Julia’s sister’s funeral and quickly goes on to hint that her sister, Olga, had a dark secret, despite the fact that Olga was the prize child. This seems to be the main driving force behind a few of the things in the book, but is honestly a very secondary plot thread. It took until about two thirds through the book for me to realize that Olga’s secret did not matter as much as the author had made it out to be, nor is it the main point of the book. In the end, the thread gets resolved when Julia reads her sister’s emails, finds out Olga had an affair, and hunts down the man Olga had the affair with. This man confesses that he loved Olga and was going to marry her. Then the book quickly ends after that and this revelation has no real impact on Julia or any other character. Connor, Julia’s love interest and later boyfriend, is a very young adult addition to this book, meaning he seemed to come from nowhere, say all the right things, swoops Julia off her feet, and then takes Julia’s virginity. His main purpose is to be another thing that goes wrong at the wrong time to lead to Julia attempting suicide. To accomplish this purpose, he comes out of nowhere, instantly falls in love with her (and her with him), and they manage a relationship to the point where he can invite her over without his parents being home. Almost immediately after this, however, he suddenly cannot stand not seeing her and is no longer able to listen to her problems. As a young adult, I would have enjoyed this book much more. I could have looked past its flaws and seen more of the positives. I would have learned a bit about myself through Julia. But at this point, I am very aware that I am no longer in the book’s target audience, and as a result, it feels a bit lackluster to me. This leads to much difficulty giving this a rating. Taking the perspective of a young adult reading this novel, I would have given it a 3.5/5. Reading this critically, I cannot think of much I enjoyed compared to my list of complaints. In good conscience, I am unable to give this book above a 3/5.