Wednesday, July 3, 2024

The Luis Ortega Survival Club

             


Title: The Luis Ortega Survival Club
Author: Sonora Reyes
Publisher: Balzer & Bray, May 23, 2023
Pages: 315
Genre: YA LGBT Fiction

Ariana Ruiz wants to be noticed. But as an autistic girl who never talks, she goes largely ignored by her peers—despite her bold fashion choices. So when cute, popular Luis starts to pay attention to her, Ari finally feels seen.

Luis’s attention soon turns to something more, and they have sex at a party—while Ari didn’t say no, she definitely didn’t say yes. Before she has a chance to process what happened and decide if she even has the right to be mad at Luis, the rumor mill begins churning—thanks, she’s sure, to Luis’s ex-girlfriend, Shawni. Boys at school now see Ari as an easy target, someone who won’t say no. 

Then Ari finds a mysterious note in her locker that eventually leads her to a group of students determined to expose Luis for the predator he is. To her surprise, she finds genuine friendship among the group, including her growing feelings for the very last girl she expected to fall for. But in order to take Luis down, she’ll have to come to terms with the truth of what he did to her that night—and risk everything to see justice done. 


Pay really close attention to your trigger warnings on this one. The author has done a really good job outlining them at the beginning of the book, but man. This definitely prickled all of my most testy emotions.

This book is somewhat of a nightmare. Beautifully written and compelling and important. But also scary and infuriating. Also full of hope, but then fiction gets to do that. I don't love that it makes me remember all of those news stories (and personal stories) that didn't have quite such a successful ending. 

If you can read something like this, I highly recommend it. If you can't, take care of yourself first. 

Ratings
Stars: 5/5

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