I didn’t like this book.
Scratch that, I didn’t like most of the book.
The novel is about a family of cursed Dominicans who immigrated to New Jersey; specifically about Oscar de Leon and his family. Oscar, unfortunately, is a “stereotypical” nerd who actively annoys me with the language used: everything is centered around comics or fantasy books or amines. There is no off switch.
There’s a reason I don’t hangout with one-dimensional people in real life, so why should I hangout with one-dimensional characters? Also, if this book was set in the current age, Oscar would be part of the incel community.
There are redeeming factors in the novel, like the tales about Oscar’s sister Lola, the family curse, and the history and politics of the island. Those chapters were enticing, and I thought the interleaving of Spanish slang in the text was fun, albeit sometimes annoying due to having to look up phrases.
Overall, disappointed at how this was 11th on the list.