A review by tomnoor
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

3.0

I had fun reading this book but it took on soooo many different subjects (immigration, racism, parent death - twice -, sexual assault, coming out, child abuse, religion, patriarchy, YA romance, best friends fighting, folklore and myth, school bullies) and that’s before it got to the stuff about aliens, government sponsored torture, and bioengineered super humans…

For me, this book was at its best when it honed in on the heartbreak surrounding deportation and attempts to cross the border. The alien stuff was, in theory, even a smart way of addressing and critiquing those complex topics in an accessible way for a middle grade audience. The folklore and magical realism were strong too. If this book had been a series, where all those dozens of other topics could be further developed, I would’ve been more game, but as a stand alone book it feel like a ton of serious subjects were introduced without adequate exploration, and they then took away time from the stronger elements of the book as well.

Also, some of the things these teenagers said, especially in the ya romance…just…truly left me cringing.



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