Abigail Arvisu > Recent Status Updates

“A musician’s hands are their livelihood. How often had Saskia heard that as a child, her mother thrusting mittens into her tiny palms. But she’s free from all that, now. Free from the piano. Free from computers. Free from her mother’s judgment. And, apparently, free from this place.” - Kapelke-Dale

A strong reminder of everyone’s fragile livelihood: their body. Your health is your wealth.

This story has a lot of twists and turns that are very meaningful and so captivating that I can’t put it down. It helps that there is a perfect pace of the book woven through it from the beginning.

I have a theory of how the main female characters, Isabel and Luana, are connected through the infamous/famous Matteo Russi, but I find it fascinating that this book speaks to how at different points in your life, you and others may get to know a person in a very different way while them still being true to themselves.

The systemic oppression is a cycle that defaults to hurting low-income, unrepresented, and diverse communities; it’s hard to break out of, and when one thing goes wrong, it trickles down to everything else and makes it worse. It’s a tough reality to recognize, but even tougher to live through.

I will have a lot of favorite quotes from this short book, but one I don’t want to forget is “‘If they give us papers, psychiatrists will get rich because we’re all crazy.’” (Cornejo Villavicencio, 94)

This book shared a clearer perspective that is distinct from other stories in the same genre. Other books do not come close to this one. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time from how much of myself felt exposed just in the first chapter; the detail is real, and many know that because they’ve lived alongside it. Enjoying it very much so far!

I started it late 2022, but it is taking me much longer to get through.

I began with no expectations or prior knowledge of the story, and even though it is sad through the fourth chapter, I very much enjoy the writing and have sympathy for the main character with hope for his future in the rest of the book.

I like the twists and turns of the plot

Moving through Tara’s semesters are a struggle and so are the breaks in between.

Tara has attended university; I recognize her struggle to be so behind and realize it, yet the key to her success was reading the textbooks in her courses of her first semester in college. This and an awakening of respect for history reminds me of my own learning in college. I admire Tara’s patience to have to go back to work for her father at the end of the semester.

Sad still, scary at times, but ever entertaining and filled with lessons of a growing girl’s mind.

I have restarted this book about where the mother is recovering from the first car accident. I am now at a part about Tara’s brother, Shawn. I decided to try to finish this book when I heard of a journal YouTuber I follow mention she read this in May (last month). She mentioned it was a good book but very sad. I figured there were lessons I could learn from this sad book.

I began reading this online in February and am not entirely sure which page I’m on, but it is very interesting! I will come back to finish this super soon! (My hold on Circe was made available, so I’m going to try to finish that one first!)