Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz

Ordinary Girls is a memoir by Jaquira Diaz that spans a wide range, beginning with her childhood in Puerto Rico and her family's move to Miami. Sadly, like so many ordinary girls, Jaquira experienced chronic instability, a culture that views women as sexual objects yet not beautiful unless they have the "right" skin tone or the "right" hair, and a family that was just not there for her in any way and even allowed her to be abused, but she never gave up on herself. Jaquira has such a strong voice that despite having a somewhat scattered structure and style, this was an enjoyable and powerful memoir. I read Educated around the same time and was struck by the fortitude of these two young women who were so drawn to books in chaotic environments and were able to carve a path for themselves while showing such empathy for their toxic parents and their younger selves.
I was torn on my 3 star rating because I really love Jaquira's intelligence, vulnerability, and even humor, but just didn't love the nonlinear structure of this book and wasn't able to get fully immersed.

Thank you to the publisher for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for this book. The paperback comes out today, June 16, 2020.

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