aromanticreadsromance's reviews
242 reviews

When I tell you I have never clicked so fast on a "Read Now" on Netgalley IN MY LIFE! I've also never immediately started reading an ARC after downloading it, but with this one, how could I not???! Sonora Reyes has become one of my favorite authors this year, and for good reason. I fell in love with their books because of the queer, mental illness, and autism reps (OwnVoices), all focused on Mexican-American characters.

Like Sonora Reyes' other books, The Broposal is not without trauma (pleeeease check content warnings!!), so don't go in expecting a just light and fluffy fake dating/marriage of convenience romcom. Like seriously, this book is HEAVY. Of course, Han and Kenny together are FLUFFY PANCAKE MAGIC (pancakes have nothing to do with the book or their relationship, but the word fluffy reminds me of pancakes because who doesn't love a fluffy pancake). If you're not a fan of friends to lovers romance books, I still think you'd like this one! The way Han and Kenny slowly come to realize their feelings for each other is beautifully done. The buildup in tension was just... UGH. Chef's kiss. At so many points I just wanted to (consensually) smush Han and Kenny's faces together and be like "WAKE UP ALREADY, YOU'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER GOSH DARN IT." Han's realization that he was in love with Kenny was also complicated by the fact that he thought he was "straight," LOL.

When Han loses his job that promised him a green card, he fears impending deportation to a place he hasn't been to since he was a young child. His best friend and roommate, Kenny, offers to marry him so Han can get his green card and eventually become naturalized. Kenny has been in an on-again-off-again abusive relationship with a girl named Jackie since high school. Abuse is about power and control, and I loved how Sonora Reyes depicts its cyclical nature and how it typically gets worse over time. They made it clear that no matter the reason for it, there is no excuse for Jackie's abuse. She is a grown woman making her own choices. Ironically, Jackie works at a shelter for women escaping abusive relationships; I appreciated this detail because a) I'm sure there are more employees who abuse their partners working at shelters than we'd ever be comfortable with knowing, and b) it made it that much harder for Kenny to acknowledge the abuse (not that I wanted it to be hard for him, but it was that much more realistic in showing how abuse can have a stranglehold on so many people).

I also loved the jellyfish motif, and how it kept repeating itself throughout the book!

Last point: I was endeared by Han's emotional constipation and his overuse of the term "bro" to avoid expressing any type of vulnerability. I loved that he watched Disney movies to make himself cry (relatable, honestly).

I can't wait to read whatever Sonora Reyes writes next (which will apparently be out in 2026)!

I liked this one a LOT more than We Came to Welcome You. Both the book/writing itself and the narrator!

Okay this felt super loooooong (it could have/should have been a lot shorter, imo. it got really repetitive) but read this if you like slow burns! I'm talking we don't get a first kiss until the 60% mark! The magic system in this was fascinating and neat (I'd love to read more books with this type of magic) but sometimes confusing. I'm not gonna lie, I also sometimes forgot who certain side characters were, lol. There were so many names mentioned that they jumbled in my head. This read like a fanfiction or Wattpad book (which isn't a bad thing!). It kind of reminded me of E. L. Massey's hockey fanfics. It was a good palate cleanser.

It's kinda half open door half closed door. We see the start of sex scenes but never the whole thing (it fades to black after a few paragraphs), if that makes sense.

I'm not mad that I read this because AB and Matthew's relationship was really cute and sweet and well developed (it kinda had to be, with how slow that burn was lol but the payoff was gratifying with the emotional depth involved in their relationship before they actually got together). I thought the distinction between fate and Bonding was really interesting!

Oh…. my GOSH????!

There is SO much to digest here that I’ll be thinking about this book FOREVER.

I loved this even more than Their Vicious Games. The found family is STRONG. The messages on gentrification and classism and typecasting yourself and others and being more than just one ‘type’ … there were points where I stopped breathing and I had to relax my shoulders because they started creeping towards my ears. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK.

wow ok Viv is my new problematic fav??? Vivian is such a morally gray 17-year-old girl (but weren't we all morally gray at 17? cmon don't lie to yourself you totally did some questionable things as a teen) that I couldn't help but root for anyway. On the surface, she's pretty "unlikeable." She's vain, only seeming to care about her twitch follower count. She made a list of her classmates who were most likely to shoot up their school AND POSTED IT TO HER SOCIAL MEDIA (really uncool). She started rumors about a boy that further ostracized him from their peers. Worst of all, she lied about the circumstances of her baby sister's death. Once they learned the truth, the people in Viv's life were much more forgiving than I would have been (and I like to think I'm a fairly forgiving person, at least not someone who holds grudges).

At first I had trouble getting into the book, and I thought I might DNF it. But after the first 10 percent, I swear it becomes so fast-paced and bingeable. I couldn't believe how fast I flew through the rest of the book. I just had to know what happened next! You can feel Vivian's grief and guilt and pain through the page. It was so visceral.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

I loved the discussion of anti-Blackness (specifically internalized, but also externalized) and the stigma against natural hair. And how straight hair is seen as "more professional" or "presentable" and curly or coily hair is seen as "sloppy" or "wild."

Marlene's mom thinks she's protecting her daughter from getting made fun of by taking her to the salon every week to straighten her hair. She intends to help her daughter but doesn't realize that she's actually harming her daughter. Her mom's parents taught her to hate her natural hair, and now she's passing that belief onto Marlene.

The illustrations are gorgeous and the story is heartwarming! 

Some favorite quotes:

"Adults are such weirdos. They say stuff like, 'It's what's on the inside that counts!' Blah, blah, blah. But then the one thing they can't stop talking about is looks! Did you see what she was wearing? I would never let my daughter out like that. When I was young, we would never dare leave our houses looking like that."

"I wondered why our best meant not ourselves and why adults always told me so many things that didn't add up. Be yourself, honesty is the best policy, and then don't be yourself, be what other people want. I wanted to be myself. I wanted that to be enough and for everyone to love me. Especially my mom."

This is my favorite of the three Vega family love stories so far! (It was also by far the steamiest/spiciest.) I just love a good second chance romance. The flashback scenes were well done and not overused. I also love how chill the best friend's brother trope seems to be, compared to the brother's best friend trope. Sofi's best friend (Kamilah!) is nothing but supportive of Sofi's relationship with her brother.

Sofi has major daddy issues, and she projects that trauma onto Leo. I didn't necessarily like this because I didn't find the characterization fair to Leo, since he's always shown up for her and is nothing like her father. Buuuuut I understand that trauma distorts reality, so I can see why Sofi would feel this way, even if it wasn't correct. She knows how to hold a grudge and run away from her problems rather than face them head on. Everybody in Leo's life seems to misunderstand him, so I can see why it hurt so much that Sofi saw him in the same way.

The third act breakup felt over the top and overdramatic (I feel this way about most third act breakups). I expected the breakup because the other two books in the series had them too, but I just wanted to grab their shoulders and shake both of them (well, I would be nice and only grab Leo's good shoulder) to stop trying to intentionally sabotage their relationship by picking a fight! Go take a second to calm down first before having a conversation because otherwise you'll say things you regret and don't actually mean! I honestly didn't think the family meddling was THAT bad, especially compared to what Papo did to bring Kamilah and Liam together.

Also, I love that his pet name for her is bombón. Their relationship dynamics are so tender and sweet, ugh.

I love the entire Vega family and can't wait to see what Natalie Caña writes next.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

Came for the beautiful cover. Stayed for the beautiful writing.

I don't normally read books with royal characters because honestly monarchies are stupid and outdated and why can't we just burn the system down already. But throw in a Black monarchy in Julian Winters's universe, and I'm sold. I instantly felt compassion for Jadon, who was wildly misunderstood by his family, so-called friends, and the press.

Growing up in the public eye is messy. Like imagine if your teenage mistakes were magnified (i.e., blown out of proportion) and turned into front page news stories. I lowkey wouldn't survive all that scrutiny (not today, and definitely not as a teenager, when I'm still figuring out who I am and not being given the room to change and grow). Newsflash: teenagers make lots of mistakes, and they're allowed to be messy!

Jadon's been taught to not speak out on issues where his opinion "won't make a difference" because his island's tradition is neutrality in international affairs. So at first he's silent on issues like transphobia because he doesn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing and get blasted in the press (again). Throughout the course of the book, though, he learns to use his voice, even going against tradition by attending a protest with one of his friends. He learns that breaking tradition is a good thing, and something younger generations celebrate!

Oh yeah, and the romance between Jadon and Reiss is well developed and sweet. Jadon opens himself up for the first time and learns how to fully trust other people. The friendships he develops are just as satisfying.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

So cute!!! Loved the illustrations and prose.

I cannot say enough good things about this book and its author!!! We NEED more platonic love stories (because platonic soulmates ARE a thing)!! Casey and Hayden's friendship was so beautiful. Both started closed off but slowly opened themselves up to each other.

This book has OwnVoices Deaf-Hard of Hearing representation (through Casey) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder representation (through Hayden). Casey is Polish-American and bisexual, and Hayden is Cuban-Italian American and aroace. I could relate SO much to both their storylines! Sydney Langford really captured not only what it's like to be a teenager but also what it's like to be a (newly) disabled teenager. I'm not Deaf-Hard of Hearing like Casey, but I was born with a vision impairment that didn't get diagnosed until I was a teen. So let me tell you the medical ableism against children and teenagers is alive and well. I had multiple doctors who didn't believe me and told my parents (while I was in the room, no less!) I was making it up for attention (which... if I wanted attention, there were far more effective ways to get it). It broke my heart to hear Casey (and I'm sure the author as well) go through a similar experience. Here's a radical idea... why don't we just... believe kids?

I also loved the discussion of grief related to Casey's sudden hearing loss. Grief doesn't just happen after a loved one dies, and I think we need to talk about non-death related grief more.

There's also a splash of romance in this (obviously not between the MCs, but between Casey and someone else...) that I really enjoyed, but it was not the main focus (nowhere near it).

Sydney Langford's sophomore release can't come soon enough (but unfortunately the world needs to wait until 2026) (srsly sydney if u need alpha beta and/or arc readers hmu ily) !!!