A review by hothotheat
Esperanza by Jaime Hernández

4.0

read this a few months ago so i don't really have SPECIFIC critiques for it that i remember. I didn't mind the ray parts as much as other people do but I agree they were dragging at times. the thing is that vivian is really a vivid (lol) character that demands attention a lot so she tended to make them at least interesting to read. something I always notice re: reading locas is that they really are skilled at writing realistic relationships and dynamics that make sense and partly hurt to read because it makes sense. the parts that focused on hopey's transition to being a teaching assistant (I forgot what it was called lol) and "ghost of hoppers" were easily the strongest parts of the volume though, and the ones that I went back to reread later. part of that is because to me, those parts are the ones that best attack the themes of coping with change and the inevitable passage of time that is strongly felt throughout the volume imo.