This was a fun one. It had some cute romance and drama as well as some heartbreaking moments. I also loved all the Disney aspects.

audiobook specific: the narration was good. I liked the voice and the pacing.

content warning: grief, death of parent

This was a very mature teenager, and also at times flet like it was too unrealistic, but I liked the connection to grief and the family.

The Quince Project by Jessica Parra is a delightful and heartwarming story about family, tradition, and self-discovery. The novel follows the journey of a young Latina girl preparing for her quinceañera while balancing her dreams, cultural expectations, and friendships. Parra captures the vibrancy of Latinx culture with humor and sensitivity, making it a relatable and uplifting read. Perfect for anyone who enjoys coming-of-age stories with a strong focus on family and identity.

This book had one of the cutest covers I’ve seen in a long time. But man, it was definitely more sad than I expected it to be. Please read the content warnings before you’re expecting a super cute, fluffy book like I was.

Ok so the characters were some of the best. I loved Castillo because she reminded me so much of me. I too have a problem with thinking that if I can control things, then I can keep other bad things from happening. (I am also a huge planner because of this lol) I also related to the fact that they were all Disnerds. I WISH I lived that close to one of the parks. My husband would be sick of me lol Anyways, did I agree with everything she did? No. But I did understand it. She was grieving and thought the only way was through. She felt like she had no one. And I completely understood that. But I was grateful that Parra showed that they weren’t just super forgiving to her. They made her work for it and I thought that was so real.

The person that she was helping tho? I did NOT like her. I felt so bad because Castillo was doing all of this to help her but I knew when things came out she was going to say something like, “you used me” when in actuality she used her too. She just told her upfront. (Now the lying was another story. I can’t help you there girly pop lmao) And I didn’t like that that was her friend. Why? Because we love a platonic boy/girl friendship. But I didn’t like it because it was too easy for him to drop her because she hurt his bestie. And like, is this going to happen every time?

This brings me to the romance. There is a REAL meet cute. I’m talking wasting stuff on the other and everything. So again, I was upset that he was like, “gotta go check on my friend” and then needed time from her. I get it but like dang, I’m upset too? I’m using my teen brain here lol but I’d be mad at him too lol This is probably why I haven’t written anything lmao BUT again, I liked that he made her work for it and didn’t just forgive her right away because she deserved that time to sweat it out.

I thought it was going to be a fun Disney romp about quinces with a fluffy romance because of its pink cover, but nope. It’s a emotional book about a girl navigating grief and finding support and love along the way. And I couldn’t be more happy to have read this!

I get it, missing the tilde en años is a big deal, but the amount of times this book used it as like its an end of the world kid of thing. It threw me off so fucking much. It overwhelmed me with Star Wars references and Disney references.

I did get a lot of the reasoning and I understood the role she took after their mother passes away, I just didn’t like it. I didn’t enjoy it.

I got an alc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Quince Project by Jessica Parra is a delightful and touching novel that puts a YA spin on The Wedding Planner with a Star Wars-themed quinceañera. The story follows a Cuban American, Disney-loving, aspiring party planner who bends the truth to land a job planning a quinceañera, hoping it will secure her a prestigious internship.

Parra's writing expertly balances whimsy and authenticity, capturing the essence of quinceañera traditions. While the novel reads as YA, it also addresses heavy topics like loss and grief, demonstrating how to celebrate life even after experiencing loss.

The Quince Project is both a love letter to Latinx culture and a reminder that the best parties often happen when you let loose and let life unfold. Stacy Gonzalez's narration in the audiobook adds further depth and authenticity to the experience.

Overall, it is another win for me from Jessica Parra!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a cute little read that didn't feel too young despite being YA. The main romance (and side romances) weren't too overdone, and I enjoyed the cultural aspects included. The narrator did a good job.

I don’t read too many YA books these days but this one was pretty good. I like how the MC had to overcome some really big challenges both personally and professionally. She learned a lot of valuable lessons over the course of the book and, of course, she fell in love too. I was glad to see their family dynamics shift as well. Just one of those feel good stories.

This was an adorable, fun book.

Cas is so determined and dedicated but life, even for the most determined and dedicated, sometimes has other plans. For everyone. I loved watching how she handled it all and her journey.

And as a Disneyland/Star Wars fan all the little details made it so fun.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a Cham e to read and review.

This was a very good book. I loved the fact that Castillo wants to become a“Fairy godmother” party planner. The Disney vibes are strong in this story. We have Cas, who used to go to Disneyland with her family a lot when her mother was alive. Then we have Paulina, who is a Disneyland food vlogger.
Paulina hires Cas to do her quinceañera. She wants it to have a Disney/Star Wars theme. It stars out great, everybody is excited, but of course, something goes wrong. There is miscommunications and people feel betrayed. It’s up to Cas to do her best to fix it.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the Disney and Star Wars themes. Cas managed to get her family involved and help out. In all it was a cute, feel-good book with a bit of romance. A great YA book!

The audio was very well done and easy to listen to.

I felt a bit strange listening to this book because it feels very young/ YA on the one hand and way too adult on the other. Cas does have that naivety of a teenager. She experiences many things for the first time and learns a lot along the way. I would expect all of that in a YA novel. At the same time, Cas puts so many burdens on her shoulders, basically working multiple jobs while still in high school and taking care of everyone in her household as well as her customers at the same time. I understand why the author chose the ‘caregiver’ role for Cas, but I already felt tired by only listening to her do all these things, and it seemed a bit unrealistic for someone her age to me.

It also felt a bit like Castillo was held to a higher moral standard than everyone else. Most of the other characters fail Cas in one way or the other, but when Cas makes a mistake, it is somehow far worse than when they fail her. I understand that this is about being your own agent and being accountable for your own actions, but it still felt like everyone including Cas was too hard on her. Paulina was one of those characters. Cas keeps saying that Paulina is being reasonable and defending her actions, when Paulina is in fact not being reasonable and using her influencer status as an excuse to receive superior treatment and being rude for no reason. While Cas constantly works to improve herself, Paulina only did very little to redeem herself in my eyes.

The fact that Cas’s sister gets sayings wrong all the time and that is one of her three defining qualities felt a bit like lazy writing to make someone quirky. It’s not original and should not be a defining quality.

Grief over the loss of a parent is a big topic in this book, and I felt like it was handled just right. Cas slowly learns how to open herself up again and enjoy the small and big things in life without forgetting about her mum. The overall message of this book was clear and beautiful.
Something I didn’t enjoy as much was the constant Disney referencing and that cliché that Disneyland is a magical place where everything is good. That felt so corny and inauthentic, almost like the author is poking fun at the reader. There would have been at least a thousand better places as a representation of happiness.

I enjoyed the audio production of this book. The narrator did a great job conveying the culture, so I feel like the audiobook brings more to the table than just reading the book by yourself (unless you speak Spanish yourself, probably).

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to leave this review.

Thank you Wednesday books and NetGalley for the ARC

This was a sweet read and one that touched on important themes throughout that were appropriate for the targeted audience. I would reccomend it!

I enjoyed the audiobook, the narrator was easy to listen to and brought the story to life.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I loved tbe author's first book but this time I couldn't get into this one.

I really enjoyed The Quince Project. It was well written, I liked the growth of Castillo throughout the book. There were a few spots that could have been left out of the book and felt as filler scenes.

The narrator did an amazing job with The Quince Project. She really brought the book to life.

The Quince Project by Jessica Parra
Standalone Novel
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Stars

This book is so heartwarming! It follows Cas and her journey with her sister and dad going through the grief process of recently losing their mom. Cas throws all her time and energy into party planning. She is determined to get a prestigious internship with a major party planner, Mandy, whom she looks up to as a guide/role model through all of her grief. Her mom's happy place was Disneyland and loved the idea of happily ever afters so Cas translates this all over to party planning when planning classmates' Quincenierras, by giving other girls the happy endings she so desperately wants for her family she is trying to heal her grief. However, when scoring a major party deal for a big YouTuber she lies and says she is already an intern at that prestigious firm. Of course between all the party planning and trying to micromanage everyone in her life things start falling apart. I loved this story so much. It was such an adorable and heartwarming tale! Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to be an arc reader for this book! I would definitely recommend it!

This book is just so cute! I absolutely loved every bit of it. I do think it is a bit on the young side, but not in a bad way. Just a fact. Its so just perfect.

I was a huge fan of Jessica Parra’s debut novel, so I’m so excited to have finally read her sophomore novel too! Fun and funny while also digging into some of the more serious elements of the characters, THE QUINCE PROJECT looks at a party planner trying to get her dream internship after her sister’s disastrous quinceañera and her mother’s sudden passing. She books her dream party, and maybe starts catching feelings for a guy along the way. It’s a little bit nerdy (there are so many Disney and Star Wars references in the story) but overall just a fun story. And even as the characters make some questionable decisions, I couldn’t help but root for a happy ending (even if it doesn’t end up being just like the ones in fairytales). There are multiple cute romances happening (and the secondary one is sapphic) but I think that Castillo’s story is still the main element and main draw of the story. Stacy Gonzalez does a great job of narrating and drawing the reader into the story as well! A fun, heartfelt book and definitely worth the read.

What an uplifting, feel good contemporary listen. I loved the layering to the characters how as each of those layers were peeled back, it did a great job of keeping the reader engaged. At the start I was worried the conflict would turn out to be a bit superficial but again the depth of the emotions helped it to take off and I found myself rooting for Cas and Po and all the other supporting characters. There is quite a bit of internal dialogue as Cas wrestles a lot with thoughts and feelings she's been harboring but I appreciated how self-aware she became, not trying to skirt around her mistakes, but being ready to face them and own up to her actions. The cover is a bit deceiving and if you go in expecting a happy go lucky story, it does get quite emotional, but the author did such a good job of handing all the sensitive topics and rounded out the conclusion with a great message of, 'progress over perfection', which I will definitely be holding onto. Happy Reading :)

I listened to the audio and it was good for the first half then something changed and I found the narrator a little irritating.

I couldn't finish it so I grabbed a copy of the book and finished it by reading. Definitely a much better book than the second half of the audio was giving me.

The story is about Cas and her dreams to become a party planner and when she finds out that an party planning guru is looking for an intern, she pulls out all the stops to get the kind of experience she needs to make her dreams come true.

Its super cute and I really enjoyed all the mishaps.

4 stars

I loved this one so much. Watching Cas find her confidence while navigating through issues with both her friends and her grieving family was the real heart of this story wrapped in the glitz and glam of planning the perfect quinceañera.

The narration by Stacy Gonzales was excellent and I could practically smell the popcorn on Main Street! I highly recommend it for anyone who loves a good party, good friends, a splash of romance, and all the Disney vibes!

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ALC. All opinions are my own.