Book Review

BOOK REVIEW



by Cynthia Rodriguez






"Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, & Cultural Shifting"



edited by Robyn Moreno & Michele Herrera Mulligan




Finally, a book by and about Latinas I can relate to. Although, I must say I kind of give it two ratings, 4 for an overall good, fun read, but 3 stars for not always sticking to the topic. I felt some of the stories strayed a bit too much into other issues that I felt really didn't apply to the title of the book such as focusing on being a single Mom, or other such topics. Not that there's anything wrong about writing about being a single Mom, except that's not what the book is really supposed to be about. The other thing was a few of the stories did a little too much of the Spanglish for me. Okay, I get it, already. Throwing around a few phrases here and there is one thing, but with a few of the stories, it was a little bit overkill, then it double whammies when some people use the Spanglish AND translations. It's like reading everything twice in a row.

On a positive note or two...or three, LOTS of good stuff that totally vetoed the negative. From the beginning of the book I found myself almost cackling laughing at some parts thinking to myself, "do I know these people? How do they know my family?..." So much of it, certain words, phrases, mannerisms described seemed to mirror so much of what I grew up with, and I understood that it explained ALOT of why I am the way I am today. It helped me gain a new appreciation and respect of and for my people that I truly needed in my life, and didn't realize I was so hungry for. It smashed through all the stereotypes I grew up hearing and seeing, that I still hear and see today, actually. It helped me realize the issues I've had all my life with my ethnicity and gave me ideas on how to deal with it. It also taught me how to be more vigilant of society's ignorance, and how to handle certain situations when such action is called for. I know, it may sound like I'm giving this book mucho props for such a revelation, but you gotta give credit where credit is due, and this is definitely one of those moments.







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