Avocado Bliss

Opinions: I can't remember the last time I read a book as rich and stimulating as Avocado Bliss! Each page was more exciting than the last and a range of emotions were drawn forward by the complex and realistic protagonists. Rage, anticipation, sympathy, fear, excitement, and utter bliss just begin the list of things I felt during this rollercoaster of emotion! As a reader, I enjoyed multiple things about the book. Setting aside the entertainment aspects (because those are a given with anything written by Robinson or Delgadillo) I was most impressed with the themes taught in this YA contemporary! I learned a lot about getting over stupid mistakes, accepting yourself and each other for your differences, and taking baby steps until you're comfortable in a relationship. Avocado Bliss lays everything out on a table and normalises it for teens! This is also a very engaging feature, as young adult readers will feel more at home with the characters. Guess what, parents? Teens ponder, worry about, and even imagine sex, and so do these characters! Everything about the characters, relationships, setting, and conflicts in Avocado Bliss is entertaining, representative, thematic, and heartfelt. This book will definitely be added to my all-time favourites list!

Is This Book For Me? Sometimes, it's difficult to make up our minds on whether to read a book or not. Here are a few notes regarding whether you should or shouldn't read Avocado Bliss!
Should: If you the type of reader who laughs, cries, screams, and throws books across the room out of emotion!
Shouldn't: If you're here to learn about avocado recipes.
Should: If you could do with learning a bit about self respect, the effects of nostalgia, and first love!
Shouldn't: If you're looking for intense, steamy, full-on romance.
Should: If you've read and loved anything else by either author! Find their other books here: Candace Robinson and Gerardo Delgadillo

Recommended For and Similar Reads: Avocado Bliss is a down-to-Earth, emotionally stimulating, meaningful story that will melt your heart. Every character, every location, and every moment has meaning. You can't pass it up! I strongly recommend this book to anybody who has read and enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz, or Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.

A cute story about two teenagers becoming friends.

I enjoyed the fact that the story was set in Mexico, I’d never read a book based there. I felt like the diabetes respresentation was fairly accurate.

I really loved this sweet teen romance!! Set in Mexico, AVOCADO BLISS tells the story of Dacre, a seventeen year old with Type I Diabetes, and Sal, the daughter of an avocado plantation owner. When Dacre and his younger brothers arrive back in Mexico after spending a few weeks with their father in the states, they discover their mother has moved her MUCH younger boyfriend into their new home. Dacre, struggling with the ups and downs of a teenage diabetic, spontaneously takes a job offer at a local organic avocado plantation. Sal, Dacre’s new boss, is struggling with the death of her favorite aunt and her dad saying she’s a robot at heart. Dacre and Sal eventually discover a surprise friendship surrounded by avocados and danger.

As I said before, I loved this story. Dacre’s and Sal’s “real life” struggles felt very real. I felt Dacre’s experiences with Type I Diabetes were very well portrayed. At first I didn’t understand why he wanted to keep it a secret from Sal, but the more I got to know Dacre, it made a lot more sense. Still, it is always important to have some kind of “life line” in place when you have such a life threatening disease if it is poorly managed.

I loved how Dacre liked how “perfectly odd” Sal was and the teasing banter between them always made me smile. I also, loved the slow burn romance between them!

I haven’t read many books set in Mexica, so I really enjoyed the change of scenery…from the plantation to the jungle to the ruins. Plus, the cultural representations.

I feel like a need to take a star off because I really wanted more explored between Dacre and his parents, and Sal and her friend Flor. I was also a tiny bit annoyed with how irresponsible they both were with what led to the big life risking sequence near the end of the book. Plus, I kinda felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

I will definately be exploring the backlist of these authors soon.

Well if this wasn't the cutest romance involving avocados, then I don't know what is.

The story follows two main characters, Sal and Dacre, with alternating points of view between each character. Sal is such a lovable, type-A YA protagonist, and all she really cares about is her family and their avocado farm. Dacre is such a sweetheart, and is such a great older brother to his two younger siblings, and he also happens to have Type 1 diabetes. The story is set in Mexico, and has a lot of diverse representation which is rare to see in a lot of YA romances.

The story that develops is such a fun road-trip friends-to-lovers romance, and has so many fun bits. Sloths! Jungles! Mopeds! Avocados! A circus!

Truly, this story is so sweet and such a fun journey. I highly recommend!

I was provided a eArc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars.
An amazing take on living with Type 1 diabetes.
Raw and very tender.

“Avocado Bliss”, by Candace Robinson & Gerardo Delgadillo (Evernight Teen), is a sweet, emotional, heartfelt story, with an amazing, realistic depiction of a 17-year old boy living with Type 1 diabetes.
A very slow burn romance set in Mexico, a refreshingly different heroine, Sal, and a hero, Dacre, who stole my heart. Dacre (and Sal, too) is wise beyond his age, but he’s still fresh and full of innocence .
Despite the serious matter, the story is very entertaining and well written and I read it in one setting. The authors must have put a lot of thought into it while also writing a light tale of young love.
Showing how a teen deals with a chronic condition, “Avocado Bliss” is also a story full of humor, with great dialogue and interesting and vivid characters. The love bonds in these two families are wonderful.
Dacre’s predicaments as a diabetic, his experiences and pain are poignant and raw to read sometimes; and his will and tenacity to live a normal life like any other teen are admirable. There’s a message of hope and resilience despite the adversity.
There’s a softness and gentleness about this romantic couple that I loved; their relationship is sweet and light without being cheesy. Dacre’s reluctant tenderness is also very well written and makes him such a touching character and a delight to read.

The main reason I picked up this book was because I have never read one with a diabetic patient as the main protagonist. And I do not regret it. I knew some patients had a really difficult diabetic life but I never knew that they could have such self-conscious and self-esteem issues. I never knew that they could have problems in letting someone love them. So this book provided a great deal of insight on their lives and a different perspective from a diabetic point of view to ponder about.

Having said that, apart from DIABETES which was present throughout the novel, the main setting of the story is in Mexico and is about two fellows falling in love in an avocado farm. There were no of themes that I enjoyed like the carnival, the plum farm, quicksand if the method was true because I have never heard of that technique, the GIFT among others. I ofcourse did not like the party to whom they are delivering their products.
Another theme of the story was about the hero's mother's relationship. And I was able to accept it just fine. Another small theme was Lach , one was Flor and they were just fine as well.
Overall I enjoyed the story, never knew about a tapir before either,so it was enlightening in many ways. It is a one seating read and thrilling in the later part, not too much of romance but little doses of it throughout the story and few big doses towards the end.
I liked it, have never read something like this before, completely appreciate the uniqueness of the story.

Thank you Netgalley, the authors and publishers for providing this eArc to me. All opinions are my own.

Mhhhhh where shall I start? Should I start with how much I loved it? Because I think that’s a good start. I loved it from the first chapter, when we first see Dacre and his brothers, Ezra and Lachlan. I loved their brotherly relationship throughout the whole story, I loved their shared secrets and inside jokes, I loved their little quirks and their love for each other, especially Dacre and Lachlan’s who are close in age. While they do go on each other’s nerves, they are amazing together, always their to help if the other needs them. Lachlan is Dacre’s buffer to the rest of the family, since Dacre doesn’t have the best relationship with his mother.

In general, I loved every family relationship in this book. They were all written so well. Warm and with lots of love, of understanding and kinship. Sal and her father have such a tight bond and an unconditional love for each other. God, I loved them. Sal’s father lovingly calls her a robot, since she always has to be in control and plan everything and sometimes does things as if she’s programmed to do them. But she is deeply passionate about her avocado farm and has such a warm, open heart.

Dacre is more closed up, anger often boiling beneath his skin. While diabetes is a big part of him, he doesn’t want to let it define him and when he can, he doesn’t tell people about it. He’s generally not too good in talking about emotions. But he has a good sense of humor and can be so nice and warm hearted.

The plot was great as well. Dacre and Sal have completely different lives that intertwine with each other. We get to know family life from both, we feel the the trees of the avocado farm, the healthy trees and their little avocado babies. We see differences in American and Mexican ways of life. We see Dacre and Sal on their road trip that brings many surprises, danger but that also brings them clsoer together. They go from „I offer you a job even though I don’t know your name“ to deeply trusting each other and taking a roadtrip together. They’re just so cute together, they both have secrets that they share piece for piece, they thaw and become super sweet. I love them!

I have never before read a book with a diabetic character before so this was new for me. It was a bit hard to read about at points, but I liked seeing this illness in a book. I understood Dacre’s reasons for not telling anybody new, but I wish he had. At this point, I just want to say that if you’re diabetic, tell at least one person around you so they can help in a case of emergency. This is what I learned from this book but also from an unpleasant situation with a classmate.

Anyways. What I want to say is that I enjoyed this book loads. It had such a warm, beautiful feeling and I felt right at home there with the trees and the heat and the family love. If I had to describe Avocado Bliss as a person, I’d say it has an open heart, a warm laugh and always a shoulder to cry on. It made me both happy and tearing up and to say I loved it might be the understatement of the year.

Dacre wants to be more than his Type 1 diabetes. Sal wants to be more than the avocado girl. As their worlds collide when Dacre accepts a job from Sal on her Pa's avocado farm hilarity ensues as well as an adventure that could change them both forever. 

I have so many feelings about Avocado Bliss, all very complicated and layered together since there are just so many things that I feel the authors did very well. First of all, fantastic setting choice--I feel it's getting hard to find a contemporary fiction book in YA that isn't set in the United States. The different setting introduced a different culture that I'm sure many U.S. readers have not had the pleasure of being exposed to, and I enjoyed it immensely. Second, banter was spot on and I loved the dynamic between Dacre and Sal as they both opened up to each other and broke away from what they considered the core part of themselves. It really forced me as a reader to ask myself that question as well, and consider what I feel is the core part of myself. Overall, this was an extremely odd and adorable book that I didn’t bet on having as big of an impact on me as it did; it really encourages all who read it to let their weirdness ooze out (in the best way) and own that core part of themselves.

I only have a few suggestions for improvement. I felt like the writing was a little underdeveloped at times, but of course this will improve with time as the authors continue to write more books and develop their writing. The last minor complaint is I do feel Dacre was pretty negative at times in regards to his Type 1 diabetes, and even though this fact was an essential part of his character, could have been portrayed a little differently in a way that would still serve the author’s needs and the plot in the book while also not making me as a reader feel kinda blah.

Avocado Bliss by Candace Robinson and Gerardo Delgadillo is a beautiful young adult love story, and my first book by this author. I love this book! Dacre Vinson and his two little brothers travel between their father's in America and mother's in Mexico. Dacre's mother has a history of moving in with different boyfriends, than packing up and moving to different towns when the relationship ends. This time in another new town with her latest boyfriend who is much younger than her. When Dacre goes to buy avocado's for his family, and a girl offers him a job on the spot, and he accepts to escape his home. Dacre also has type 1 diabetes, which affects every aspect of his life. There is so much going on in this book, I don't know where to begin, take my advice and just read it. I strongly recommend this wonderful book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Such a unique YA read I don’t think I’ve ever read before and I absolutely loved it, teenage romance and avocado farming you wouldn’t put them together or think it would work, but it really does. Well research Ed and written, the characters are well developed, the diabetes is well represented ( having it in the family it rings so true) . It’s a great emotional rollercoaster of a book, it teaches so many things like self respect , love and family. It’s a great friends to lovers romance and a thoroughly entertaining read. Highly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion