WHAT EVEN // REVIEW: The Go - Between by Veronica Chambers

Title: The Go - Between

Author: Veronica Chambers

Publication Date: May 9th 2017

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone

I Got A Copy Through: The publisher via NetGalley (THANK YOU!)

Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo ||

Blurb Description: Fans of Jane the Virgin will find much to love about this coming-of-age novel from bestselling author Veronica Chambers, who with humor and humanity explores issues of identity and belonging in a world that is ever-changing. 
She is the envy of every teenage girl in Mexico City. Her mother is a glamorous telenovela actress. Her father is the go-to voice-over talent for blockbuster films. Hers is a world of private planes, chauffeurs, paparazzi and gossip columnists. Meet Camilla del Valle Cammi to those who know her best. 
When Cammi s mom gets cast in an American television show and the family moves to LA, things change, and quickly. Her mom s first role is playing a not-so-glamorous maid in a sitcom. Her dad tries to find work but dreams about returning to Mexico. And at the posh, private Polestar Academy, Cammi s new friends assume she s a scholarship kid, the daughter of a domestic.
At first Cammi thinks playing along with the stereotypes will be her way of teaching her new friends a lesson. But the more she lies, the more she wonders: Is she only fooling herself? 

To be quite honest, my mind is in its own new kind of turmoil. I’ve deleted the rambling of this review a few times now, so this is my third (okay, fifth) to do this well:

REASONS I WANTED TO READ THIS BOOK:

1.       It was pitched as a book PERFECT for fans of Jane The Virgin

2.       It sounded like something I NEEDED to get my hands on!

WHAT I GOT FROM THIS BOOK:

1.       It was sort of a third person encounter of EVERYTHING and I felt like it was sort of a narration, not a personal experience.

2.       Other than being rich, having security and staff for everything, there was REALLY NOTHING about her mom in the book.

3.       A LIAR AND A FOOL OF A MAIN CHARACTER who I spent about 60% of the book wanting to shake.

4.       An entire discussion on racism playing out on my head.

WHAT I WANT TO YELL ABOUT:

Camilla Del Valle is a Mexican Girl who claims to be above the whole “Rich Kids of Mexico” thing but is really just one. All she wants is one friend who won’t sell her secrets out to the press or fangirl over her mom, a very famous telenovela star.

Until, that is, her mom makes the family move from Mexico City to LA and her life changes.

NOW, BY CHANGES DRASTICALLY I MEAN:

1.       She is living in Beverly Hills (!)

2.       She goes to a fancy prep school (!)

3.       SHE LIES ABOUT WHO SHE IS, PRETENDING TO BE FROM A LOWER INCOME EARNING FAMILY BECAUSE IT’S LIKE SHE’S PLAYING A PART AND AAAAHHHH. (!!!)

I am SO FREAKING mad about this. LIKE HOW COULD YOU. How DARE you insult people that are actually facing hard financial lives and DON’T HAVE CHAUFFERS, NUTRITIONISTS AND SECURITY GUARDS? How DARE you accept charity from your friends like $100 here and there and DESIGNER JACKETS? WHO ARE YOU?

WHAT WAS THAT BOOK?                 

Apparently, it was OH SO TOTALLY justified because her friends were racist (AGAIN, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT BLATANT RACISM?) and AAAH.

ACTUAL THINGS SAID/ ASSUMED/ LET TO ASSUME BY MC INCLUDE:

-          Mother is a maid (TV Superstar) and father is a gardener (Voices Spanish Version of Iron Man)

-          FATHER EARNS LESS THAN $25 PER HOUR because he’s a MEXICAN Gardener.

-          Daughter works in the kitchen because she’s MEXICAN

-          She can’t afford anything.

I’m so ANGRY at everyone in this book. ANGRY.

SERIOUSLY. Everyone in this book below the age of 20 (except Milly) deserved a GOOD SHAKE AND A DAMN REALITY CHECK.

2 stars and I don’t even know how I got through this book. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Veronica Chambers is a prolific author, best known for her critically acclaimed memoir, Mama’s Girl, which has been course adopted by hundreds of high schools and colleges throughout the country. The New Yorker called Mama’s Girl “a troubling testament to grit and mother love… one of the finest and most evenhanded in the genre in recent years.” Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, Ms. Chambers' work often reflects her Afro-Latina heritage.
Veronica has contributed to several anthologies, including the best-selling Bitch in the House, edited by Cathi Hanuaer, and Mommy Wars, edited by Leslie Morgan Steiner.

A graduate of Simon’s Rock College at Bard, she and her husband have endowed three scholarships at the college in the fields of music and literature.

Have you read anything from Veronica Chambers? Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Have you seen the BRILLIANT Jane the Virgin? It's one of my favourite shows and I could not recommend it enough!