Title: This Is Why They Hate Us
Author: Aaron H. Aceves
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: August 23, 2022
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Summary
Enrique (aka Quique) is in love with his best friend, Saleem. But Saleem doesn’t know it. When Saleem goes on a trip for the summer, to meet a girl his parents set him up with, Quique decides to get over his feelings for Saleem. How, do you ask? By getting his dating game on for the summer.
The only problem is Quique is really only out as bisexual to his other best friend, Fabiola, and a few others. And also, he’s only been romantically with Fabiola (which turned out to be a mistake). As Quique tries to find love and the courage to be himself, he’s bound to make some mistakes along the way. When summer really starts to heat up, Quique has to figure out if he truly has the courage to be himself.
Review: This Is Why They Hate Us
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of This Is Why They Hate Us to review! Can we start by talking about this gorgeous cover? I am absolutely in love with the color palette. That pink to purple fade? One of my favorite things ever.
But I digress. At first, I wasn’t quite sure about this book. It jumps right into the action and doesn’t look back. However, it did not take me long to fall in love with Quique as the narrator. Quique is an absolute mess of a teenager. He knows he’s bisexual, but he doesn’t know how to convey that to the people he loves most (i.e. Saleem and his parents). He’s trying to gain romantic and sexual experience, but doesn’t really know how to do that either. I just loved him as a narrator because he felt so absolutely relatable.
Yes, there are hilarious moments in this book, but man, there are heartbreaking moments too. Quique struggles with severe anxiety and depression, and we get to see him getting help for these. There are also moments where he thinks about reasons why he’s so focused on dating guys as a teenager, and guys. The reasons will probably just about break your heart.
I haven’t talked about the side characters! Fabiola and Quique are two bi best friends, just trying to be there for each other. I loved that they tried the romance thing, but it wasn’t for them. I don’t think I’ve seen that very often. And Quique’s obvious love and care for Saleem was adorable. Everything about it was just so well done.
All in all, this is a book I think I’m definitely going to have to buy. Because I just loved it so much.
5/5 stars