This is Why They Hate Us is a book about love and friendship. It’s about being in the midst of our expectations and feelings. How we think things should be or go, only to find they’re different when we’re in it. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving L.A. for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with.
Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways. There’s stoner-jock Tyler Montana, who might be just as interested in Fabiola as he is in Quique; straight-laced senior class president, Ziggy Jackson; and Manny Zuniga, who keeps looking at Quique like he’s carne asada fresh off the grill. With all these choices, Quique is sure to forget about Saleem in no time.
But as the summer heats up and his deep-seated fears and anxieties boil over, Quique soon realizes that getting over one guy by getting under a bunch of others may not have been the best laid plan and living his truth can come at a high cost.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: homophobia, suicidal ideation, biphobia, depression, anxiety
I’ve been looking forward to This is Why They Hate Us since it came across my Twitter page. I loved Quique’s character narration. The way he conveys his own life to us. At the same time, I loved how into his feelings were – the good and the bad. The ways he struggles to open up and get help, but also his longing. All the people who pull us into different directions. The people we become around others.
That feeling. Of changing who we are, of our moods and lives being so dependent on our reactionary emotions? That got me. How our entire day can be changed that way, but also how it shouldn’t be that way to healthily cope with relationships and people. In This is Why They Hate Us Quique has to navigate his bisexual identity and feelings for others. How does one gauge interest if you’re unsure if it’s safe to do so?
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Summer can be a time of magic and romance. But it can also be a time to look inwards and at ourselves. To take some time and space to sit with our emotions and the turmoil. This is Why They Hate Us is about figuring out our friendships and selves. About what a relationship, of any sort, means to us. We can keep pieces of ourselves from people. But the strength and courage to be authentically ourselves, to share our feelings, is terrifying. And This is Why They Hate Us falls into that space. Find This is Why They Hate Us on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.