⇒ PDF Free The Dirty Girls Social Club A Novel Alisa ValdesRodriguez 9780312313821 Books

The Dirty Girls Social Club A Novel Alisa ValdesRodriguez 9780312313821 Books

Download As PDF : The Dirty Girls Social Club A Novel Alisa ValdesRodriguez 9780312313821 Books

The Dirty Girls Social Club A Novel Alisa ValdesRodriguez 9780312313821 Books

Okay, so most people who know me well know I read this book years ago. At the time of its release, it was hyped as the Latinx “Waiting To Exhale” and I think the hype and comparison was well deserved.
Before I keep going further, this review is going to be a reflection of my own feelings about it, as it touches so many topics, that re-reading it as a 31 year old had a much different effect than when I was 16 and had no real life experience.
This book touched on domestic violence, homophobia, racism/colorism, and so many things it’ll be hard to touch everything in a single sit down for this review. Just know, whether you like the book or not, its story feels just as relevant now, if not more, than when it was released in 2004.
First thing I’d like to mention is how biased I am. I’m an Afro-Cuban woman who normally identified as African-American(which isn’t untrue, but identity is complicated) up until my 20’s. To see two Afro-latinx characters have to face the abuse they had, reminded me just how ignored our abuse in the Latinx community tends to be. I also lived in JP(Jamaica Plans, a neighborhood in Boston) so I can honestly say it brought out the JP I remembered, and brings to mind The Pineapple Diaries if you like Latinx narratives set there =)
DGSC focuses on 6 characters who all identify as Latinx but are different sizes, races, religions, political affiliations, you name it.
It might confuse some people to have to remember that many characters, but since I was listening to the audiobook, each voice was unique so I always knew who was talking when prompted.
There was Usnavys (which couldn’t get more Puerto Rican/Dominican if you ask me) a light skinned, plus sized Afro-Latinx woman who was ultra-feminine but street smart. Elizabeth, the explicit looking Afro-Latinx woman from Colombia, who was a closeted lesbian, conservative Christian and a newscaster. I mention them first because they reminded me the most of myself, being Black and essentially a pariah in the Latinx community. Sara, Elizabeth’s best friend and a white Jewish Cuban with an abusive husband. Amber/Cuicatl, a Mexican/Indigenous brown musician seeking to validate her roots before colonization. Rebecca, a white Catholic latinx with racist/prejudice parents, and Lauren, another White Latinx woman with an eating disorder, with a non-mf factor boyfriend who aint ish.
A lot right?
Domestic Violence
Trigger warning for survivors of DV. It’s not pretty or glamourous. It’s actually pretty graphic. It brought me back to my own abusive father hitting and beating on my mother growing up, and I’m telling you, you never get truly over abuse, so it’s best to know that before you read it. It showed it in such a real way(and I mean from my own experience. Someone’s experience can be totally different, and abuse isn’t always physical like it was in this book) I was really uncomfortable. But lemme just say Sara had the bombest kids ever. Her sons did not for one second normalize that abuse, so when push came to shove, they snitched on that non-mf factor father of theirs. This is so important in a latinx home, because the more you see it and ignore it, the more desensitized you become to it. I can’t help that some imagery loses it’s effect on me, because I grew up in a house filled with violent imagery. I haven’t normalized it per se, I’m just always thinking “it could be worse”, which I admit is problematic as well.
Colorism/Racism
This is where things are the most uncomfortable for me. I grew up part Miami, part New Haven, so my experiences as an Afro-Latinx person have changed based on location. The term Afro-Latinx didn’t exist when I was a kid, so since I didn’t want to confuse people, I’d just say AA because it was easier. Latinx culture is diverse, and beautiful, there isn’t a question about that. But it can also be an ugly, negative and dangerous place for Black-Latinx people like myself.
So many times the white latinx women so easily threw around how “disappointed” their parents would be if they dated Black, and that’s what Black latinx people hear their whole lives. That literally no one wants us, so take what you can get if it’s light :p That damages so much of our self esteem, and I had to come to terms with my own feelings about being dark skinned(I’m actually quite dark. Most Afro-Latinx on screen don’t look like me, so I usually have and still continue to look up to AA actresses and entertainers, because it seems like they don’t allow certain Afro-Latinx looks to make it to the small or big screen).
I think the plot brought out the conversation, but some points were a little out of touch, mostly since it was written so long ago. Rebecca’s love interest was a (swoon) British-Nigerian man, but I beg to differ that he’d never experienced racism living in the UK. Most black people experience racism, even if just through microaggressions. The author is a mixed race/white passing latinx woman, so I think that was just a little out of touch, but not enough for me to hate the book.
Overall, there’s so much I could bring up, but my review would be too long.
The author narrated her own book, and since she’s latinx, I’m glad she did. She did the accents, both Bostonian, and non-American latinx really well, as well as the Spanish being on point, so it’s going to suck when I read the sequel since she doesn’t narrate.
If you’re looking for an inclusive book that showcases different narratives of latinx women, I’d highly recommend. Especially as an audiobook =)


Tags : The Dirty Girls Social Club: A Novel [Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>Alisa Valdés-Rodríguez's vibrant, can't-put-it-down novel of six friends--each one an unforgettable Latina woman in her late '20s--and the complications and triumphs in their lives</b> Inseparable since their days at Boston University almost ten years before,Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez,The Dirty Girls Social Club: A Novel,St. Martin's Griffin,0312313829,Contemporary Women,Reading Group Guide,060403 SMP Trade Paper-SMP Trade Paper All Prior,AMERICAN FIRST NOVELISTS,Boston (Mass.),Cultural Heritage,FICTION General,FICTION Women,Female friendship,Fiction,Fiction - General,GENERAL,General Adult,HISPANIC AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,Hispanic American women,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Psychological fiction,Women's fiction; latino fiction; hispanic fiction; chick lit books; chick lit novels; friendship fiction; books about friendship; female friendship; latinas; boston; contemporary fiction; modern women; contemporary womens fiction; latina authors; marriage life; hispanic authors; women authors; women fiction; books about women; top books for women,Fiction Contemporary Women

The Dirty Girls Social Club A Novel Alisa ValdesRodriguez 9780312313821 Books Reviews

Now and then, I enjoy reading something fun and different, way out of my normal genre. I found this book to be very easy to read, filled with a lot of great insights to life and love, friendship and relationships. I like the idea that friendships formed in high school and college can last a lifetime. Here are some of my random comments about the book.

1. The author is a pro at writing in the first person and giving us a sometimes hilarious stream of consciousness as each of the six girls tells us what is going on in their lives at a given moment. We receive these extremely private thoughts and private reactions to what is being said about them that makes us understand and enjoy each of the characters. For me, this is the main core of the enjoyment of the book. It is surprisingly well done and intimate and as we move from first person of one of the characters to the next, and hear her side of the equation, we understand and more fully understand the relationship.

2. Each of the individual stories is fun and interesting if not a bit exaggerated. But this is what makes a fun story. Something very significant happens over the course of a year to each of the girls as their very unique and successful lives morph primarily through their choice of relationships with men. Each of the girls have this Latina girl baggage of growing up that affects their choices and make them do sometimes foolish things.

3. An additional genius of the book is to show how important these friendships really are and how each of the girl's lives is enhanced and aided by the other five girls and their opinions and the strength they offer to each other through some very difficult and trying times. It's clear that on their own, they may have faltered and could have made bad decisions. It reminds me somewhat of the friendships in "Sex and the City" series.

4. Each of the girls are from "Latina", yet totally different backgrounds and I think there was a lot of good information about how difficult it can be for people from different backgrounds to be approved of and successful in the American culture.

I think you'll find this to be a pretty fun and easy read full of mischief and fun, while still a pretty strong and insightful group of stories that fit very well together.
Okay, so most people who know me well know I read this book years ago. At the time of its release, it was hyped as the Latinx “Waiting To Exhale” and I think the hype and comparison was well deserved.
Before I keep going further, this review is going to be a reflection of my own feelings about it, as it touches so many topics, that re-reading it as a 31 year old had a much different effect than when I was 16 and had no real life experience.
This book touched on domestic violence, homophobia, racism/colorism, and so many things it’ll be hard to touch everything in a single sit down for this review. Just know, whether you like the book or not, its story feels just as relevant now, if not more, than when it was released in 2004.
First thing I’d like to mention is how biased I am. I’m an Afro-Cuban woman who normally identified as African-American(which isn’t untrue, but identity is complicated) up until my 20’s. To see two Afro-latinx characters have to face the abuse they had, reminded me just how ignored our abuse in the Latinx community tends to be. I also lived in JP(Jamaica Plans, a neighborhood in Boston) so I can honestly say it brought out the JP I remembered, and brings to mind The Pineapple Diaries if you like Latinx narratives set there =)
DGSC focuses on 6 characters who all identify as Latinx but are different sizes, races, religions, political affiliations, you name it.
It might confuse some people to have to remember that many characters, but since I was listening to the audiobook, each voice was unique so I always knew who was talking when prompted.
There was Usnavys (which couldn’t get more Puerto Rican/Dominican if you ask me) a light skinned, plus sized Afro-Latinx woman who was ultra-feminine but street smart. Elizabeth, the explicit looking Afro-Latinx woman from Colombia, who was a closeted lesbian, conservative Christian and a newscaster. I mention them first because they reminded me the most of myself, being Black and essentially a pariah in the Latinx community. Sara, Elizabeth’s best friend and a white Jewish Cuban with an abusive husband. Amber/Cuicatl, a Mexican/Indigenous brown musician seeking to validate her roots before colonization. Rebecca, a white Catholic latinx with racist/prejudice parents, and Lauren, another White Latinx woman with an eating disorder, with a non-mf factor boyfriend who aint ish.
A lot right?
Domestic Violence
Trigger warning for survivors of DV. It’s not pretty or glamourous. It’s actually pretty graphic. It brought me back to my own abusive father hitting and beating on my mother growing up, and I’m telling you, you never get truly over abuse, so it’s best to know that before you read it. It showed it in such a real way(and I mean from my own experience. Someone’s experience can be totally different, and abuse isn’t always physical like it was in this book) I was really uncomfortable. But lemme just say Sara had the bombest kids ever. Her sons did not for one second normalize that abuse, so when push came to shove, they snitched on that non-mf factor father of theirs. This is so important in a latinx home, because the more you see it and ignore it, the more desensitized you become to it. I can’t help that some imagery loses it’s effect on me, because I grew up in a house filled with violent imagery. I haven’t normalized it per se, I’m just always thinking “it could be worse”, which I admit is problematic as well.
Colorism/Racism
This is where things are the most uncomfortable for me. I grew up part Miami, part New Haven, so my experiences as an Afro-Latinx person have changed based on location. The term Afro-Latinx didn’t exist when I was a kid, so since I didn’t want to confuse people, I’d just say AA because it was easier. Latinx culture is diverse, and beautiful, there isn’t a question about that. But it can also be an ugly, negative and dangerous place for Black-Latinx people like myself.
So many times the white latinx women so easily threw around how “disappointed” their parents would be if they dated Black, and that’s what Black latinx people hear their whole lives. That literally no one wants us, so take what you can get if it’s light p That damages so much of our self esteem, and I had to come to terms with my own feelings about being dark skinned(I’m actually quite dark. Most Afro-Latinx on screen don’t look like me, so I usually have and still continue to look up to AA actresses and entertainers, because it seems like they don’t allow certain Afro-Latinx looks to make it to the small or big screen).
I think the plot brought out the conversation, but some points were a little out of touch, mostly since it was written so long ago. Rebecca’s love interest was a (swoon) British-Nigerian man, but I beg to differ that he’d never experienced racism living in the UK. Most black people experience racism, even if just through microaggressions. The author is a mixed race/white passing latinx woman, so I think that was just a little out of touch, but not enough for me to hate the book.
Overall, there’s so much I could bring up, but my review would be too long.
The author narrated her own book, and since she’s latinx, I’m glad she did. She did the accents, both Bostonian, and non-American latinx really well, as well as the Spanish being on point, so it’s going to suck when I read the sequel since she doesn’t narrate.
If you’re looking for an inclusive book that showcases different narratives of latinx women, I’d highly recommend. Especially as an audiobook =)