4.5 // felt seen, represented, validated, and many other things. the writing was a clear highlight of this book for me (especially with the use of a collective voice throughout), along with the vivid depictions of each Brown Girl and their respective experiences. looking forward to more of this author’s work and I hope to see a more individualized story given her expressive and clear prose.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Representation: Full cast of BIPOC women and queer people

A group of friends who grow up in Queens, New York City, a vibrant and eclectic borough. Languages from all over the globe, the scent of the ocean, dollar stores and subways, girls trying to reconcile their immigrant backgrounds with being Americans and coming of age. They roam the streets of NYC, pine over crushes, have broken hearts, trying to be dutiful daughters and heed their mothers. As they age, their paths diverge - some choose to remain home, surrounded by familiarity, while others feel drawn to other places and skylines, the unfamiliar. A portrait of life for women of color, exploring race, class, marginalization, finding their place in the world while many forces work to keep them down.

Rating 4/5 I really enjoyed the collective way this book was written in. There isn’t a singular person, it’s always “we” and names are said, but always as part of a group. The prose in this is very lyrical and beautiful. It shows us the whole range of experiences, from girls who are dutiful and do all their mothers say, to those who are rebellious and want to forge their own path in life. Those who follow career paths laid out for them, and those who choose to go against what is expected of them. We see queer women, those who don’t fit the mold. But we also see in the end they return to each other and to Queens, where their true heart is.

a fantastic, beautiful, very relatable novel that i will be recommending to everyone i know.

I have never read a book written like this before. The content in it is very good, but it is not written like a normal story. It is written in stanzas, so more poem like. I have a very hard time classifying this a novel, it feels more nonfiction to me. It was a very quick read. I read the whole book in just a few hours. As a brown girl myself, I appreciated the light the content of this book sheds on different cultures, immigration and colonization.

I never use this word to describe a book but it was poetic. I loved it! It's intimate portrayal of Brown girls growing up on Queens (likely applies to all 5 boroughs) was hard to put down. Made me feel like I was back in NYC.

I highly recommend listening to this via audio. It’s a very lyrical love letter to brown women (all brown women), Queens, and the daughters of immigrants.

What a wonderful book. A powerful, beautiful, lyrical, imaginative, poetic book about the lives of immigrant brown girls living in Queens, NY. This coming of age story gave me major feels because I grew up singing all the songs, experienced some of the same sad experiences in the book. The girls in this book are a beautiful, complicated mess just like me. It was wonderful to read and see representation of myself. The book also discussed misogyny/misogynoir, microagresssions, colonialism, and imperialism…all the sacrifices, horror, wonderful times of living in the US. A literal timeline up until the current time. Her writing reminded me of Diane McKinney-Whetstone l. I loved it. Five Stars for sure. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.