Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing Group for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this memoir. Edgar Gomez is a second generation NicaRican writer who grew up in poverty largely due to the limited opportunities available to his parents. Throughout the book, Edgar’s mother holds down multiple jobs just to provide for her two, young boys – the stress of it all leading to multiple health complications throughout her life. As he gets older, Edgar inherits similar struggles, as he works his ass off to create a stable, happy life for himself. Complicated further by the prejudice that accompanies being an out, young queer kid in Florida. Even still, Edgar is able to find the joy, beauty and humor from all corners of his life.

There are times where Edgar’s writing style felt a little green, but the more I read, the more I appreciated its rawness. It’s through his unfiltered voice that we experience the nuances, humor and vulnerability of his journey.

In my wildest dreams, everyone who voted for Trump would read this and feel compassion for the immigrant experience. But, given the current climate, I know better than to be an idealist. So…my current dream is that at least a handful do. Because Edgar’s story deserves to be told. In a world where hateful rhetoric from our leaders shapes a harmful narrative about our neighbors — Edgar’s story highlights the truth of the real, hardworking, joyful, community-minded people that make our world a more beautiful place.

Memoirs are often focused on people that have experienced something rare: maybe they were a child celebrity, or they found themselves in a cult, or they were a part of something historic. In contrast, Edgar’s story has elements shared by millions of people in the US. However, it is rare in a different way: we hardly ever get to see stories like these published and promoted.

There are so many threads woven together in his narrative: fighting to make a living in the grueling service industry; navigating the impacts of generational trauma; finding self-acceptance and community as a queer Latinx person; the lasting toll of poverty and racism. If it sounds heavy, it is - but it’s also woven with humor, joy, love, and resilience. His writing pulls you in and his stories stay with you long after you’ve finished reading. I read this in less than 24 hours because I never wanted to put it down.

In short: I loved this book, I think about it often, and I’m so glad it was published. Highly recommend.

Thank you Crown Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown, and Crown publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gomez shares his life story in such a raw, vulnerable, and honest way. I am so genuinely impressed at his level of emotional maturity and his ability to be so self-elective at a relatively young age.

He shares the struggles of his childhood into adulthood while dissecting his family trauma, what the American Dream truly means, and sexuality.

While Gomez is reflective and has gained momentum in his career, relationships, etc., the last cluster details the ongoing struggle and reality of the modern day American. I love how the last chapter really displayed the reality of his family life and the average American family sharing his mom’s gofund me.

Definitely recommend this book overall!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When I say I closed this book and RAN here to review it…

Alligator Tears hit me at the right time—with the uncertainty in the United States and just feeling bereft, a memoir like this that reminds me what it is to be American, what it is to see goodness in the world even when bad things are happening, what it’s like to dare to dream for something different. These are broad strokes that spoke to me at this time, but there’s a lot here to admire.

There’s humor, and queerness, and found family, and heartbreak, and growing up poor, and single moms, and absent dads, and reconciliation, the pandemic, being a writer, being an advocate.

These essays, connected together to form a narrative of the author’s life over a large span of time, speak to the hope of the human spirit, even when everything seems stacked against you. Gomez would go from talking about sex to making a philosophical argument about ICE, immigrants, and drag queens/queer communities showing up for the greater community.

Inspiring and exactly what I needed to fill my own bucket—a story from a person who is demographically very different from me but who I could connect to all the same. This is what literature is about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this ARC.

Wow. Just wow. This one was phenomenal. I love the way Gomez writes; his work is honest, funny, poignant, and oh so readable. This collection was such a beautiful blend of deeply personal stories from the author's childhood and young adulthood (spanning family life, coming of age and into his queer identity, and launching their writing career) mixed with thoughtful and crucial social commentary. The essays were expertly paced and flowed seamlessly into one another. I cried several times and laughed even more. This memoir may be short but it packs a powerful punch!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. This was a great read about the authors family life and coming to terms with his sexuality. The writing style flowed well. 3.5 stars

Alligator Tears was an unflinching, honest, and engaging set of essays that follow Gomez’s life from a preteen, when his mother’s Bell Palsey first arose, to the present, just after he published his first book, High-Risk Homosexual. The writing was lovely; he has a way of capturing his thoughts and experiences that make it very readable. I felt the ups and downs with Gomez, and, at his core, he is a likable person who is trying to do the best thing for his family and himself. The intersection of being queer and Latinx is difficult and unique, yet is not always highlighted.

I laughed and I cried. I absolutely loved this book. It was written so well. Thanks for sharing stories about your life Edgar. Thanks NetGallery!

I liked this one a lot but didn't love it. as always it's hard to rate memoirs but something about the writing style fell just a little flat for me, so this might be around a 3.5, rounded up. that said, I still found it a compulsively readable, relatable, honest, funny and often v poignant collection of memories. made me wanna hug Edgar Gomez and also be his pal.

thank you crown publishing and net galley for the arc!

In Alligator Tears Gomez offers intimate stories and insightful social commentary to explore his childhood and identity in ten stunning, witty and inviting personal essays. He takes readers through his tumultuous childhood, growing up Latinx and poor with a single mother raising two kids who is just doing her damn best to get by. He writes about his queerness and love; about Florida and substance abuse; about his absent father and his fierce love for his mother; about fake friends and faker teeth; about the Pulse nightclub tragedy and the pandemic. For what seems like a lot of ground to cover in 256 pages of words, Alligator Tears never once made me feel like it was doing too much. Quite the opposite, I only found myself wanting more and more. Each essay flowed seamlessly in to the next and I couldn't wait to hear what story Gomez had to tell me next.

This collection will move readers, just like it moved me, in ways they won’t see coming. Gomez has a gift for storytelling and a narrative voice that I am excited to follow. A must-read essay collection for 2025.

thank you to netgalley, crown publishing and edgar gomez for the privilege of reading this book early in exchange for a review.
this book was great and completely engrossed me into edgar’s stories. as a floridian, and someone who grew up queer in a small town longing for more, this book felt kindred to me.
i loved hearing gomez’s stories of growing up in his culture and trying to find himself within that, being queer, appeasing his parents, amending relationships and longing for a life outside of the mundanity.
you’re not going to want to skip this one! add this to your tbr now!

Edgar Gomez offers readers a look at the struggles of a young, gay, Latin male growing up in Orlando, FL and trying to piece together his life. Gomez was raised by his mom who worked at Starbucks at the Orlando airport until COVID limited travel and other health issues impacted her ability to hold a job. Gomez had numerous low-paying retail jobs to help his mother when he was in high school and then beginning his writing career. This collection of personal essays focuses on the effort it took to publish his first book, High-Risk Homosexual. Recommended for Florida library collections because of its focus on Latin culture and the impact of the Pulse nightclub shooting.