Thursday, February 23, 2023

A West Side Love Story

 A West Side Love Story is a retelling of the classic Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet.   This was a such a great read.  I loved all the drama and indecision that was felt by Mariana and Angelo.   Having to choose between their growing attraction for each other and their loyalty to family is tearing them both apart.  The generation-long dispute between the 2 families comes to a head during the San Antonio Mariachi Battle.  I loved how Priscilla Oliveras mixed the culture and traditions within a modern story.  The subtext about the dangers of gentrification and its unintended consequences was well-written without being an in-your-face lecture.  I appreciate that the story presented both sides with room for the reader to think about the topic on their own. If you are looking for a great romance with minimal steamy scenes this is a great read.


West Side Love StoryWest Side Love Story by Priscilla Oliveras
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

an emotional story of forbidden romance

This book was a wonderful example of a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The growth of the relationship between Mariana and Angelo amidst the strains of a decades long feud was full of emotion and stress. Both adept at managing their own and their family’s needs and struggles makes their burgeoning relationship that much more complicated. You cannot help but root for them to succeed. I also liked the details of the mariachi music and other aspects like the importance of family in their culture. I really appreciated the way the Spanish was woven into the prose and then translated. It was clever and flowed amazingly. If you are looking for a Feb romance read with some steamy scenes that centers around devotion to family while trying to make a forbidden romance work then this is a read for you

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Challenge Prompts

The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:  

  1. Goodreads and Reading by the Numbers #ReadingByNumbers2023 Book # 18 
  2. Library Love  #LibraryLoveChallenge  Book #15   
  3. Literary Escapes  #LiteraryEscapes  TX
  4. Alphabet Soup Author Edition #AlphabetSoupAuthorChallenge  O
  5. Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2023   Book #17
  6. 23 in 2023 # 11 A book by William Shakespeare or a retelling
  7. 52 Book Club  #the52bookclub2023  #20 a Book about siblings  
  8. 52 books in 52 weeks  #18 isn't it romantic
  9. Around the Year in 52 Books #30 
  10. Bookworm #52 Read a "Found Family" story 
  11. BooklistQueen  #booklistqueenreadingchallenge2023  #33. About Adoption 
  12. Beat the Backlist #BTB2023  #37 all the romance 
  13. HP Quidditch 23 #22 Chudley Cannons: Includes a battle
  14. Nerdy Bookworm  #NerdyBookwormChallengeXO #15  Read a retelling
  15. Nerd Daily #thenerddaily #nerdreading2023 #1. RECOMMENDED BY THE NERD DAILY
  16. PopSugar #popsugarreadingchallenge #14 A modern retelling of a classic
  17. Pick your Poison  # 119 A book about finding hope when life is challenging
  18. RAD Challenge #aradreadingchallenge #4 Retelling of a Classic
  19. Read with Allison #16 Romance
  20. Sci and Nature # 7 About Women in Science
  21. Uncorked Reader #UncorkedReading2023 17
  22. Unruly Reader Bingo  #25 After School Special
  23. What's in a Name   #4 Chess Piece 
  24. Diversify your reading #DYRC23  February: Romance
  25. TBRChallenge  #TBRChallenge jun romance

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