Amor.

by Sofía Aguilar

amor. is a tender open letter to the author’s lover, referred to only as "amor." Spanning nearly a decade and dozens of California scenes—from the outskirts of San Francisco to the poppy fields of Chino Hills, from the longing adolescence of a Pomona high school to the cool deserts of Joshua Tree—the author attempts to write down the couple’s origin story and subsequent life together. Through short vignettes, she transforms mundanity into beauty and brings to light the smallest, but most important, acts of affection.

Straddling the boundaries between poetry and prose, fantasy and truth, storytelling and documentation, memory and myth, she paints a portrait of a relationship formed and moved by honesty, respect, longing, and healing. How out of mutual kindness births an equal partnership and admiration for each other and the land they love.

Told with quiet urgency and powerful intimacy, this chapbook is a testament to the person the author chose and chooses to love every day, written with the hope that readers will not only be able to love more freely, but also make it more known.

28 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2025

About the author

Sofía Aguilar is a Chicana writer, editor, and library professional based on the traditional homelands of the Tongva and Chumash peoples, now known as Los Angeles, California. Her work has appeared in the L.A. Times, Refinery29 Somos, and New Orleans Review, among other publications. She is the author of zine and chapbook publications including STREAMING SERVICE: golden shovels made for tv (2021) and STREAMING SERVICE: season two (2022), both self-published; LOS ANGELES: the zine, co-edited with poet Paula Macena; and amor., published by Bottlecap Press in March 2025. Her debut children’s picture book Queer Latine Heroes: 25 Changemakers from Latin America and the U.S. from History and Today is forthcoming from Jessica Kingsley Publishers in September 2025.

Reviews

[Z Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

amor. is a tender, lyrical journey and open letter about young love and its transformations. Sofía Aguilar crafts a poetic memoir-in-verse that reads like one long, breathless confession of admiration. Raw and reverent in its vulnerability. The collection blurs the line between poetry and prose, resembling love letters stitched together by time, companionship, and emotional togetherness. What stood out most is Aguilar’s ability to distill everyday moments. Her language is lush, sensory, and full of emotional texture. It’s clever and creative and keeps you engaged through its entirety. 

I loved the way Aguilar writes about body and geography, not just as setting, but as memory containers. Reading amor. felt like witnessing someone trust you with their most sacred memories. As someone who also writes about softness and love, this book cracked something open in me, especially the part on learning to ask for tenderness. It reminded me of what it means to be seen and to allow yourself to be loved without shrinking. ❤️

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great, swoon-worthy romantic poetry chapbook! Aguilar does a great job of pulling the reader in right away, and if you're a hopeless romantic like I am, you'll enjoy this book.

The description and imagery were so well done, and I loved how introspective it was. It read like a big love letter to the speaker's lover. I particularly loved the line, "...how to fold my lovers into myself."