As a latina I LOVE seeing representation in my YA books. I wish I had these types of novels when I was younger. It brought a lot of very important issues to the forefront and I identified with Moon's struggles.

What a great book!
Moon loves in the shadow of her sister Star, but when they go on tour forget everything changes. For better or for worse, Moon isn't quite sure.

I an unable to review this title, as it was archived before I had a chance to download and read it. This feedback is only to stop this title from adversely affecting my netgalley feedback rate. If in the future I have the opportunity to read this title, I will post a proper review here.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe follows Moon who has a twin sister, Star, a social media star. When Star is offered a spot on a summer tour for influencers, her mom will only let her go if Moon goes with her. Moon is then offered a spot on the tour as the “merch girl.” Moon is also Stars’ photographer which, is why she got to go. Moon is stuck with Santiago a grumpy, but good-looking guy as her bunkmate and her new nemesis. Moon finds out she'll be working the merch with him. By chance or destiny, causes their paths to continue to cross. While on your, many things come to light and, Moon realizes that she is ready to be herself, follow her dreams.
This is the second book by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland that I have read. Raquel wrote Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything which, was in my top five books of 2020 and, this one I can see being in my top ten of this year so far). Moon is a character who I fell for right away and was rooting for from the first page. So many feelings happened to me while reading this joy, laughing, and sad, even swooning. I adore Moon, her growth, personality, witty, snarky, funny, she’s real; I could keep going on. She's not just a photographer for her sister, but she runs her own popular art account that her mom or sisters doesn't know about. Raquel's description of her art makes me wish I could see it in real life. I love Moons' passion for flowers and words it made me fall in love with this book even more.
I like the take and talk about influencer culture. it was handled well and covered many important topics within this theme. The way the magical realism elements are written in a way that is simple to follow, real and is easy to believe. Even though Moon grows and changes, I feel that Star, her sister, is the character that has grown the most in this book. We aren't talking about their mother because I can't without getting mad or spoiling many of the parts of this book. Moon's relationship with her aunt is my favorite relationship in this book.
My second favorite relationship is between her and her moody yet dreamy bunkmate Santiago. I’m not going to talk much about them because I didn't know anything about them other than Moon is certain she hates him, yet their paths are
drawn closers over the summer.
If you are looking for a breathtaking,
raw, magical realism elements with
enchanting writing that talks
about important topics, this is
for you.

This book was inspiring, emotional, heavy, sweet, FUNNY, beautifully written, and honestly, life changing. I have no words. I love it.

DNF at 25%. I think this is a case of right book, wrong time for me. I think I may just not be in the right place for a YA book and may try again another time but for now this isn’t working for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe is a journey of Moon falling in love with nature, Santiago, and most importantly, herself. She's a teen girl who has been through a plethora of trauma---familial abuse, slut shaming, fat phobia, religious trauma, etc---and I couldn't help but want to wrap my arms around her. The book read to me like a journal or diary of Moon's.

Some of Moon's phrases felt a bit unnatural to me (The only one that comes to mind at the moment is "heckle"/"what the heckle?" something similar to that. I think it might be more believable or passable if it came from Star, but it didn't seem right coming from Moon) and I do think the book went on a bit longer than it needed to. All in all though, How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe ended up being a decent YA novel that a specific audience might really enjoy.

“It’s hard being human. It’s too easy to get pulled under by what makes us ache and bleed.”
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Moon and Star are twins, but couldn’t be more different. Star is a social media influencer with a Christian following, whereas Moon is her photographer and self-acclaimed sidekick happy to fade into the background of her sister’s bright future. Their mother highly favors Star and when she has a chance to go on a summer influencer tour, both sisters pack their bags. Moon hopes to save some money to escape her overbearing (and abusive) mother and shallow sister so she can go to college in New Orleans close to her Tia, who supports Moon’s tarot card and nature photography. The first day on the tour Moon meets her celebrity crush…and his surly brother who seems to hate her on sight, but after months together in close quarters, Moon realizes a lot about her life, herself and what she wants in her future.
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I 👏🏻 AM 👏🏻 OBSESSED! I know I’m not going to give this YA book its due justice, but I’m going to try. Moon’s first person point of view really pulls you into her story and the writing was just so incredibly gorgeous. Moon’s relationship with nature was unlike anything I’ve read before. I wanted to shake her sister & SMACK her mother more times than I can count. I don’t think I’ve hated characters so much since I read about Umbridge & Voldemort. I also got serious Selena-falling-in-love-on-a-tour-bus vibes as well! I felt ALL the things reading this amazing novel about self discovery, standing up for yourself and, most of all, loving yourself. I’m so happy I read this one for #latinxheritagemonth What a fantastic young adult book.

CW: body shaming, violence, physical abuse, mental abuse, mental health issues, suicide

Beautifully written and introspective, Moon Fuentes will delight readers who fell in love with Vasquez Gilliland’s first novel. This book will appeal to a wide variety of YA readers in its explorations of identity, family, and relationships.

Top 5 Reasons to Read this Book
- Moon is the best! She has doubts and fears at the beginning of the book and it‘s amazing to see how she conquers these and moves forward with her life.
- I love road trip type stories and this one was a lot of fun! It was especially great to read after being kept away from traveling and concerts for so long.
- The relationship between Moon and her man felt believable. Sometimes, YA romances can be rushed or way too cringy, but this one was really well done. It was perfectly paced and felt well developed.
- This book was painfully honest in so many ways. One of the ways was talking about how Moon was the “underdog sister”. She was the one no one really looked at or paid attention to. Vasquez Gilliland does a great job of allowing us to feel this pain of Moon’s and then helping her to reach her true potential.
- This book was very relatable. I think everyone can relate to Moon or something that she goes through at some point.

Do you ever go into a book thinking it’s going to be just OK but have it completely blow your expectations out of the water? That’s what happened to me with How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe. I was expecting a typical young adult contemporary novel (a genre which I’ve been sort of so-so with lately) but what I got instead was an absolutely breathtaking, raw, and beautiful story steeped in magical realism and stunning observations.

The novel follows Moon Fuentez, who is the self described “weed” or ugly duckling in the family in comparison to her social media star (non pun intended) sister, who is actually named Star, and is beloved by everyone and blatantly favored by their mother. Moon’s role in her family is to assist Star with whatever she needs to build her fame, including being her photographer and accompanying her on a tour of the US for rising influencers.

I always love a book that takes a critical look at influencer culture, and thought that this would be my main draw to the story. However, while the book definitely did critically look at Star’s life and choices (and the prices she paid for her fame), what really made the story stand out was Moon’s beautiful narrative. Told in short, blunt sections with cheeky titles, I appreciated the way she wove both past and present elements of the story together with her own ramblings, musings and questions for the universe. The narrative style combined perfectly with the elements of magical realism that were present in the story, and they were so well done and added the perfect ethereal fantasy note that was just believable enough. While reading, I felt like I was suspended in this magical limbo between contemporary and fantasy and I adored it. Especially interesting was the juxtaposition between Moon’s spirituality and connection to the earth and Star’s uber-pious and Christian aesthetic that she built her social media platform off of, and their mother who seems to (unwillingly) believe in both.

The story encapsulates a rawness through Moon’s narrative about what it means to feel deeply insecure and turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms to feel validated. However, Moon really goes through a journey throughout the novel to understand that she does have value, worth and beauty, and just because it’s different than her sister’s doesn’t make it less special and/or valid. I especially loved Moon’s talents with photography, creating her own tarot deck, and her musings about physical intimacy and the stigmas surrounding it for women. There’s a romance that Moon falls into in the novel that is complicated and messy but also very special, and is a key part of helping her understand her wants, needs and motivations. I thought the romance was written well and contributed to Moon’s story without taking away from it.

There were often portions of this story that were heartbreaking, but in a way that made it more special, too. Moon’s journey to fall in love with the universe (and herself) often means ruminating on and/or confronting traumas that have happened in her past, from her toxic relationship with her mother to her father’s mental illness and departure from her life. There are sections of the story that hurt my heart to read, but they were important in order to gain a full picture of who Moon is and how she’s been shaped into the person she is today. Even Star is not exempt from personal traumas (despite Moon’s assumptions at the beginning of the story) and I thought it was important that Star’s own troubles were somewhat revealed and explored toward the end of the story too, and that her and Moon were able to start being honest and open with each other about their pain.

Overall: How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe is a stunning story that expertly touches on so many different experiences, traumas and growth and weaves them together in a beautiful novel with the perfect hints of magical realism. I loved flawed, eager, and honest Moon with my whole heart and selfishly wish there would be a sequel (though I don’t believe there will be and I understand why!) This is a really special read.

This book is much needed but was difficult for me to get through. The fat phobia and toxic family member felt familiar and painful. Once I got past my own discomfort, I appreciated Gilliland's plot and the slow burn between Moon aka Luna and Santiago. Their combative yet playful banter helped the story along. They had a natural chemistry. However, they both had serious insecurities that made it easy for each of them to push the other away, often out of fear of deception. Santiago has a physical disability and Moon has been abused enough to truly believe that her body is unacceptable. Although I've seen these emotions play out in one other romance book, I've never read one where the main character and their love interest are dealing with this at the same time. It's pretty heartbreaking because their fears are not unfounded.

Fat and disabled folx are often pushed aside as unsexy. The most common terms I've heard to describe us are more along the lines of "brave" and "impressive." Which is extremely frustrating. Gilliland shows how those compliments can come across as condescending and backhanded. Why are we brave? For going about our lives in our bodies? Is it impressive that I can do so much despite my perceived disadvantages or is it just that you can't fathom being able to be happy and successful in my body?

"You can only save yourself," Tía continues."This doesn't mean others can't help you. But if you're looking for them to give you your worth, to give your life meaning? They will always fail you."

Moon Fuentez is a good example of why sharing someone's blood does not make them your family. When your family member hurts you and does not seek to repair this wrongdoing and make sure they never do it again, they are toxic. It is never okay to accept abuse, no matter who the abuser is. It is not up to you to fix them. Sometimes, those relationships just can't be repaired. It's okay to walk away for your own safety and peace of mind.

This book is technically a young adult romance, but I felt that the emphasis was more of self-love, never giving up, and Moon's connection with nature. The scenes where she's connecting with her tarot or with plants and flowers are my favorites. I can picture the lighting and the beauty of the scenes.

My only critique of this book is that I couldn't tell whether or not the phrases that the teens/young adults used were accurate.


Verdict:
I believe that this novel can be empowering for folx who are going through these issues and helpful for those who never have or will. Empathy is key to being better friends and humans.

I was so excited to read Raquel Vasquez Gilliland’s next release after loving their debut (sia martinez). But sadly i was disappointed that i couldn’t finish it. There were so many “jokes” about God and Jesus that i just ended up feeling so uncomfortable. I know that so many people go through religious trauma and tend to cope with it by making jokes. and i’m normally okay with it but this took it a bit too far in my opinion. I ended up spoiling myself for the last bit and i was right in a lot of my theories from the beginning of the book. I would still recommend this since i know it’s a book that resonates with so many people. but sadly it just wasn’t for me.

I cannot start this review without stating first how much I love this cover. It is truly so beautiful and deserves a spot on everyones bookshelves. I thought that this book was just amazing. On every page I thought that there was substance that truly added to the story and made it as a whole that much stronger. I also adored the incorporation of lighthearted humor. I think that there was a great balance of emotions and also these sort of ice breaker moments. I really enjoyed Moon as a character, and thought that I saw a lot of myself in her. This is a random note, but I also adored the names of the characters in this story. I also really enjoyed how this was a character driven novel. I loved the diversity in this novel, the character development, and the overall message that we deserve more than we think. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and I thought that it was done SO well in this story. I truly think that this is a story that many would enjoy, and that the author is one to look out for.

There are not many books that I wish I could read again for the first time, but this was definitely one of them. Moon was such a lovely and relatable character and I wish I could know her in real life. The story itself was well paced and wonderfully written. The prose really stuck with me and there weren’t many pages that contained zero quotable passages.

This book also features one of the best slowish burn romances I have read in a minute. I was expecting it to be insta-love or something like that, but it was so much and deeper than that. I loved the interactions between the MC and her love interest and I found myself smiling every so often at their conversations.

Raquel’s ability to write a realistic and likable character who is beautiful inside and out was out of this world. I cannot wait to see what else this author has in store for us.

Moon Fuentez has constantly lived in the shadow of her internet-famous sister, Star. So when an opportunity for Star comes along, and Moon needs to go along with her, she's less than enthused. But seeing it as an opportunity to support herself through college and the start of her own artwork, she reluctantly goes. While Star is busy meeting fans and living in luxury on this tour, Moon is assigned to sell merch with a brooding guy named Santiago, living off popcorn and grilled cheese on the tour bus. As the trip continues, Moon begins to find more of herself away from the identity of her sister, and grows into a more confident young woman.

As I say in most of my five-star reviews, this book was by no means perfect. There were parts that were predictable (here's looking at you symbolism), and parts that didn't interest me (which often happens in the YA contemporary fiction genre). But this book was worth it for the romantic plot. That definitely wasn't perfect either, and it had me screaming internally at the characters for all of their communication issues (a staple conflict of contemporary YA), but it was so fun to read the interactions between Moon and her romantic interest. The end was a little too tidy, but I loved it.

If you enjoy a brutal, slow burn romance, this one's for you. Highly recommended, buying a copy for my personal bookshelf, and rereading it post haste.

“How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe” is a beautiful young adult contemporary romance that portrays so much, and it was a beautiful story to read.

What stood out for me in the story is Moon’s character. I just loved her to bits. From the beginning, your heart goes out to Moon for always being in the shadow of her twin sister, Star. Moreover, Star never takes her seriously, and her mother mostly demotivates her, and Moon never feels like things will go her way. Hence, it was beautiful to see how she gets confident and accepts and loves herself throughout the story. More than anything else, I loved how the author magically portrayed this, symbolizing the Moon and the stars.

Secondly, I loved the book because of Santiago. True, the guy was not my favorite character initially, but the author added layers to him, where you start to feel for him. I loved his no-nonsense attitude and the chemistry he shares with Moon. The author wrote their romance in a gradual yet realistic way that just warmed my heart. Even the supporting characters like Andro were charming and added well to the plot.

Thirdly, I liked how the author portrayed the family dynamics. Throughout the story, you see Moon’s difficulty with her mother, and I kept wondering how it would turn out. It was interesting to see how the author kept the storyline honest and something you would do if you were in Moon’s situation. On a side note, I loved the scenes where Moon references fireflies descending on her.

Overall, “How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe” was a fine YA contemporary romance that stands out because of the author’s modern story-telling.

How Moon Fuentez Fell In Love With The Universe follows a story about Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s camerawoman when her twin sister reaches social media stardom. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers and her fate begins to shift in the best way possible.
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Most notable is her bunkmate and new nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy Moon has ever seen.
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I really love this book! I love the author descriptions, it was written beautifully. This story is funny and cute at the same time. I really adore Moon smart mouth! I wish I could talk back at the people who talk bad about me😂 I could relate with Moon with how she felt with her parents and her sister. I love Moon character so much! While I laugh and cringe for some cheesy scene, I actually teared up a bit. This was my favorite read for this month :)
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Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the for review copy!

To be honest I just don't know where to start when it comes to reviewing How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe. This book was just amazing and it was everything I didn't know I needed. This author sucked me in with her vivid storytelling and I felt like I was there with Moon the whole entire time. The story is mostly character driven, but it just really works. I laughed, cried, was angry and just felt everything all at once.

Our main character Moon has a twin sister Star. She describes them as close, but it's clear as we get into the story that this relationship isn't healthy. Moon doesn't feel like the "good" sister. She's the "ugly" and "unwanted" sister. I want to start off by saying that many times this book isn't easy to read. There are darker sides with abuse and Moon is treated in ways no one should be treated. Ever since her sister became popular and a social influencer, Moon has been volunteered to be her photographer and even has to sacrifice her summer, so her sister can go on a tour. Moon isn't excited about this, but it ends up being the best thing to happen to her.

What I really loved is that Moon really starts thinking about herself more and more during this book. Even when she gets snide remarks from her sister or threatening phone calls from her mother she slowly starts seeing she deserves to be there and do what she does. Because Moon is also very talented. She has her own account with a lot of followers, working on a tarot deck and is just amazing how she is. It was so hard seeing her dismiss compliments or even not being able to believe someone could think she was "hot". I could seriously ramble on about how angry her mother and sister made me.

The book is split between the present and Moon looking back at different memories in her life and it all fits together perfectly. The story about her father is truly sad, but I loved reading the memories she had of him. How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe is about growing up, sexuality (it's very sex positive), accepting yourself, learning to love yourself, grief, love and very complicated family relationships. Also, I don't want to talk too much about the romance, because this story is so much more, but Santiago definitely made this book even better. Yeah, he started off as a grump, but I truly believe he got Moon to open up and starting seeing how much she was worth. I appreciated that the romance didn't take over the story, but really complimented it.

All in all, I won't forget How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe anytime soon. It's something that hits you in all the feels, but it does have many lighthearted moments that made me laugh. There was a really good balance. If you haven't read this one, I definitely recommend picking this one up!