This is an important book about consent, sexual assault, gender, sexuality, neurodivergence (specifically autism and selective mutism), coming of age, family dynamics, friendship, and more. YA needs more books like this one. There is so much representation and such important topics are covered so naturally. When specific characters are meant to not handle something with grace, it is clear they are in the wrong. Otherwise, all of these sensitive topics are handled delicately and with respect. The story really reminded me of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (a book I love and am lucky to get to teach) and felt like a more current version in a lot of ways. The author included great content warnings at the start of the book as well. I will definitely be reading more books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC!

This book offers so much - questioning sexuality and gender identity; recover from trauma; recognizing abuse and rape. As a survivor, yes victims struggle with the identifying the act of rape.
This author does an tremendous job showcasing a neurodivergent character - Ari struggles with functioning in public situations.
Ari goes to her first party - struggling with selective mutism, her parents are thrilled. She goes with a boy she trusts - even though her friend has warned her to stay away from Luis. Ari thinks she's just jealous - as they dated once upon a time.
A few days later, Ari is contacted by TLOSC - asked to join the group. Ari shows up - surprised to see people she knows. And accept her. Though she hides the truth, Ari wants Luis to pay for his abuse. His targeting and grooming isolated girls. Girls new to school. Girls surrounded by rumors. Girls who easy prey.
Well done.
Thank you for telling this story - it matters!

This book was heavy, with lots of anger burning through me! This book is about figuring out sexuality and consent. It touches on an important and sensitive topic.
I loved the characters and the writing style of the book.
I recommend every teenager of every gender read this book.

This book deals with a group of kids, all loaners, who are preyed upon by Luis from the book’s title. As each begins to connect with another, they find similarities to their stories and strengths as a group that they didn’t know they could have. The story is simultaneously nerve-racking, for fear that the kids will get into trouble when they try and figure out how to take Luis down, and satisfactory when they manage to get in a dig that hits home.

I especially love how the neurodivergent Ariana is able to find her moments of strength despite often not being able to speak!

My only concern with the book is that a couple of the scenes had my hair standing on end because, as a middle school teacher, I know how prevalent cameras are outside of schools. There is no way that the kids would not have been seen executing one of their plans. It makes me wonder when the book was written or how recently the author was in a school setting.

Leaving that aside, it was an outstanding book, and I listened to it all weekend, absolutely enthralled. I would highly recommend it, not just for its lessons and refusal to accept “boys will be boys” and sexist behavior, but also for its sympathetic portrayal of LGBTQ, minority, and neurodivergent teens. Well done!!

My thanks to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Balzer + Bray for the voicegalley advance audio edition of this book. Please note my review is independent and my opinions are my own.

#TheLuisOrtegaSurvivalClub #NetGalley #harperaudio

An amazing book! John Tucker Must Die vibes but with a girl who is autistic and her selective mutism prohibits her from talking freely. The girls get together to out the bad boy and make their own friend group and support one another. So glad the boy finally got his dues.

Ariana Ruiz doesn't have many friends and most people pretty much ignore her. Until Luis Ortega. Luis is the most popular guy at school, so Ariana can't believe her luck. She doesn't talk but Luis doesn't mind. After a party were they have sex, Ariana feels pretty confused, she's not mad at him per se but she feels really weird about it and doesn't think she actually wanted it but it's not like he asked... Then, a rumor about it starts in the school and Ariana receives a message about getting revenge on Luis... But is it really what she wants?

I liked this book, it talked about hard subjects that are not easy for me to read about but it was done in a great way. I definitely related to Ariana in a lot of ways and I loved seeing her through her journey. The side characters were great, I loved the whole group though it took me some time to fully distinguish who was whom. I was really into the romance part and I really liked seeing this relationship evolve and grow.
I did feel like the characters read a bit young for their age but I didn't mind. I was not a fan of the parents though, especially the mother and while it did raise some interesting points, the resolution of this situation rubbed me the wrong way. That was the thing that put me off the most in this book, what kept me from giving it more stars.
Overall though, this was really good, I would definitely recommend it and I cannot wait to read more books or stories by Sonora Reyes.

THE LUIS ORTEGA SURVIVAL CLUB is intersectional, autistic & queer John Tucker Must Die meets Laurie Anderson's SPEAK. It's a must read that will immediately draw in readers of realistic or social justice fiction. Includes an unlikely group of friends supporting each other through hardships and successes.

When the whole school thinks they know what happened between Ariana Ruiz and Luis Ortega at that party, Ari starts receiving unwanted attention and rude comments. As an autistic girl with selective mutism, she struggles to speak her truth and struggles even more to understand what happened and who's behind it. As Ari investigates the rumors, she connects with a group of students who have their own reasons to be against Luis Ortega. As they plot their revenge, their lives will be changed forever.

This book starts off heavy. I was very interested in the paths the main character would take and was very disappointed.
She ended up far-fetched situations quite often. I was expecting something more realistic.
Our autistic heroine is very hard to like as she blames the wrong people and her logic is very hypocritical. For someone who is unlikely to be sarcastic she herself is very sarcastic. And she thinks too much like a neurotypical person. What a let down.

Anyone interested in reading this book should review the trigger warnings beforehand.

I loved this story and the neurodiverse main character, Ariana, and the insight into her struggles to interact with the world as a whole and develop friendships. She manages to find a group of fellow high schoolers who have also been victimized by a particularly toxic student and they form a support/revenge group of sorts. With their help, Ari is able to confront the reality of what happened to her as well as become a mouthpiece for other victims of Luis.

This was a tough read, but the friendships are so sweetly done and I liked the way Ari's selective mutism was presented and the acceptance of her need for accommodations.