Breakup From Hell / Ann Davila Cardinal / Book Review

 Mika is ready to get out of this town. Small town life, familiar faces and familiar places, just isn't for her. Sure, her friends want her to stay, and her Abuela won't even let her consider leaving. But that hasn't stopped Mika from applying to college in California. 

So when another boring Sunday sermon leads to a run-in with a new boy in town, of course Mika is interested. And he's interested back. Plus they share the same interest in horror novels. So what if Abuela doesn't approve?

But when strange things start happening when Mika is with Sam--and then even when she isn't with him--Mika starts to think that Sam isn't quite who he says he is. This isn't any old high school relationship. It's something straight out of the horror novels they both love... something devilish.

Thoughts

This book is an unfortunate case of a good concept, bad execution. I loved the idea of an ensemble cast with superpowers coming together to fight a demon ex-boyfriend, but the overall product wasn't well put together. Overall, this was a disappointing start to 2023.

Pros

• Casual Spanish: Code-switching is a natural part of the Latinx experience, and so it’s great to see that switch between English, Spanish, and something in between so casually included here in this book. The Latina main character uses Spanish when natural, like when talking to her Abuela, And this book doesn’t make a big deal out of that. It’s the current convention to include words spoken in foreign languages in italics, but that’s a convention that I don’t like--especially when the language employed isn't "foreign" to the main character. This book does not employ italics to include Spanish, because Spanish is just a natural part of the life of our protagonist, and I appreciate that. 

• No Solo: So many romances-gone-supernaturally-wrong have a “strong, independent” female lead, which ends up being to her detriment when she finds herself in danger with no friends or support group around here. That is not at all the case here. Mika has a great friend group around her, friends who are constantly concerned about her and involved in her business. They’re not overbearing. They are just friends. And I love that she’s got this great group of people who are involved in her life. It’s much more healthy that way. 

• Religious Main: It’s so rare to see a religious protagonist in contemporary fiction that is not meant to be, explicitly, religious fiction. Our main character here was raised Catholic, and she is still actively attending mass and Catholic school. While it remains unclear whether she herself prescribes to this belief system, it is so nice to see the representation of a religious main character and a religious family. 

Cons

• Too Suspicious: This book is promoted as a romance gone wrong, and so there needs to be at least a little bit of chemistry here. However, Mika was almost immediately suspicious of her love interest. That suspicion never abated, and so I found it very hard to believe that they were actually interested in each other at all. She never seemed to be fully invested in a relationship with him, so I never bought it. 

• Secrets: Sure, it can feel like parental figures are keeping secrets from us when we are teenagers, but I don’t think that’s generally true. And I especially don’t like books that play into that trope as though parents really are keeping secrets from their children. Maybe Abuela really does want to keep their heritage a secret from her granddaughter, but when it is actively  affecting their lives, how stupid would she have to be to keep it a secret still? It made no sense to continue keeping this secret. The cat was already out of the bag. It was really hard for me to sink into the world when the little pieces weren't clicking.

• Lacking Cohesion: This story really never stops to tie all the pieces together. There is a lot going on , and it doesn’t  make one cohesive picture. A lot of the parts are good. I loved the ideas and concepts woven into this book! But we never really settle down. We really needed one main plot to latch onto, but instead, I just got a bunch of mysteries. They were demons and super powers, family struggles and family secrets, religious mysteries and more. Everything was very on-the-surface, and there was nothing underneath tying the worlds together. It was too much.

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

4/10

Fans of Tori Bovalino's The Devil Makes Three will enjoy this devilish new contemporary tale. Those who loved Adam Silvera's Infinity Son will love this new cast of superpowered teens. 

Details

Publisher: HarperCollins US
Date: January 3, 2023
Series: N/A

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Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.