making a new life for yourself in the old neighborhood isn't easy. the people who you left behind want to bring you down to their level, even as you try to rise above. vanessa has been rising above for years, but now that she's got sal in her home, in her life, the temptation is there. sal doesn't have the practice of resisting. he's known deprivation. he knows what it is to have no control. being on the outside, not having a routine, it's terrifying. how is it possible that he'll stand strong?
he's been aware of vanessa for a long time. for a long time, he wondered why she picked someone else, someone who was no better than he was when she could have had anyone. she was so good. and he was so bad. but they are so good together. the chemistry between them. their shared history. i loved the slow burn of this romance until it ignites. and then it's all fire. i love these characters and loved all the touches of latino culture.
part of me prefers the successful latino stories. the stories of middle and upper-class latinos, partly because part of me feels the stereotypes in play in the latinos from the wrong side of the tracks, the ones in gangs, all west side storied. but these stereotypes chafe because they don't reflect me as a latina. that isn't to say it's not authentic. and so at the end of the day, i just have to celebrate that these characters are latino. and that culturally things are represented authentically, even if it isn't a mirror to my experience as a latina, it is still a reflection.
**thirsty will publish on march 13, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/random house publishing group (loveswept) in exchange for my honest review.
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