Review by Hiru1998+ -- Like My Mother Before Me

[Hiru1998+]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Like My Mother Before Me" by Naley Gonzalez.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Like My Mother Before Me by Naley Gonzalez is a paranormal fantasy. Alize, a spoiled troublemaking teen, has her life turned upside down when she starts seeing a skeletal figure and a dark entity at her house, leading her to question her sanity. She faces new problems every day while her father refuses to believe her. With her mother dead long ago, her best friend dealing with her own set of problems, and her godmother and father constantly fighting, she finds it hard to deal with her life. Will the boy who keeps on asking her out help her to get out of all these troubles? Is Alize imagining things or is there a mental illness that runs in her family?

There were so many things to love about this book. Naley Gonzalez did an amazing job in developing the characters. You can see Alize becoming more responsible, friendships growing stronger, bad relationships getting to an end, new healthy love affairs forming, and most importantly, family bonds getting stronger. I love the fact the writer made the novel intriguing using Puerto Rican and Mexican cultures. The use of Spanish vocabulary here and there makes it fun, but it never stops the readers who do not have sound knowledge in Spanish from understanding the story or getting the general idea of what has being said. The mystery is not revealed until the end, which will make the reader curious, leading the reader to get through the novel in one sitting. The language is very simple making this an easy read.

Something I did not like about Like My Mother Before Me was that the ending seems somewhat puzzling. I wish the writer elaborated it more. Few characters like the father who refused to understand Alize and his new girlfriend who was clearly there for his money made me uneasy. Alize’s use of drugs and skipping classes at the beginning of the book made me unhappy too.

I rate Like My Mother Before Me 4 out of 4 stars as it was a unique creation despite the very few grammatical errors found. The genius plot made up for those couple of errors for me. The development of the characters surely set a good example for young readers.

I recommend this book as a young adult novel. The problems discussed go hand in hand with the life of teenagers. Nevertheless, adults can enjoy the novel too. I do not recommend it for children as it has some heavy subjects like the use of recreational drugs, rape, suicide, and mental illnesses.

******
Like My Mother Before Me
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes

[Dzejn_Crvena]

Lately, I've been reading books with Latina characters, so I'll give this a try.
I'm fond of Young Adult books with heavy subjects.
Thank you for your helpful review.

[aodonnell]

This sounds like a really intriguing and engaging story that deals with real life issues, despite the supernatural elements. I'll have to keep an eye out for an opportunity to read it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!