3.75 stars round up

Note on the narrator: I think this narrator was a perfect fit for Enrique. They captured this character's emotion, confusion and youth, and I felt utterly connected to him!

The vulnerability in this book echoes within every inch of the story and topics covered. This book covers mental health, mental illness, body image, sexuality, teenage journey and tone so well, and I felt a complete connection and separate connection to both the Bisexual and the mental health journey. It is effortless to identify with this character.

Won't lie that in one or two situations, I was like, "how did this happen???" but I put that down to my sheltered, strict teenage life, and that's why I was surprised, I bet, haha.

HeartBREAKING and BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
I've never loved a queer book so much in my life! I've read quite a few but none like this one, Enrique or as we love to call him.. "Queque" is a queer and loveable Hispanic! He is trying to get through heartbreak with his first love Saleem by hooking up with any boy he can get his hands on. He also isn't officially "out" yet either and he has that real fear of his family not loving him if he tells them. I want MOOOOORREEEEE please.

I wanted 2(!) years for this book. When I first saw Aaron's tweet about it I was sold. I loved that he doesn't shy away from how confusing sexuality, life, everything can be. It's hard trying to figure yourself out! I liked how this was a slow burn and things weren't all pretty and happy and turns out ok in the end. It takes time, mistakes, and learning about yourself before what you want can happen.

This was such a beautiful and at times heartbreaking read. I love that we get to know Enrique and not just his love life, but the good, the bad, and the ugly. I would highly recommend this.


(Also thank you Aaron for saying how bad Call me By Your Name is!!! Seriously it's wrong on so many levels!)

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to this audiobook.

And thank you Aaron H. Aceves for writing ‘This Is Why They Hate Us’. I am not certain anything I say here can possibly do this book justice? It explores innumerable and significant discussions around topics like mental health, anxiety, depression, dissociation, suicidal ideation, therapy, bisexuality and biphobia, coming out, religion, and consent (just to name a few), all wrapped in the unassuming guise of a sweet, rom-com-esque coming of age story about a teenage boy crushing on his best friend. It truly is an incredible story and I adored every moment I spent listening! And equal appreciation for narrator, Alejandro Ruiz: he truly gave life to Quique, making him real and entirely relatable—I laughed out loud on multiple occasions.

Easy-peasy, I definitely recommend: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I had very low expectations for this book as I did not know much about it, and it still managed to miss the bar by a mile.

I am not one to criticize a book just to criticize it, or for the sake of being contrary. I am very critical of everything I read, but at the end of the day I can disregard most of the things I find wrong with the book because the overall picture overshadowed the bad or the mistakes. This book is different, and very very deserving of criticism that I have not seen from anyone else.

To begin, I would like to point out that this book was a bit too explicit to really be considered young adult. There were a lot of sexual scenes that I was very uncomfortable listening to, especially because I had absolutely no idea they would be included. That, however, is the least of my issues with this book.

My main issue with This is Why They Hate Us was a glaring one, and it was the borderline (or, let's face it, blatant) pedophilic ideas it pretty much praised. First of all, the book Call Me By Your Name was praised by the main character despite being a very problematic book that promotes unhealthy age gaps in MLM relationships, as well as being written by an author that is literally an admitted pedophile. This was challenged a little later in the book by Mr. Chastman, but the main character Enrique didn’t seem to get the message and didn’t denounce the book at all. Worse than that is what happened after Enrique found out that his friend whom he had just hooked up with often used dating apps to find men in the area. Enrique creates a profile later when he is feeling lonely, lying and saying that he is twenty-one despite being seventeen. He starts chatting with an older man and makes plans to meet up with him and drink, hoping to hook up. The man he meets up with ends up being his English teacher, Mr. Chastman, which is horrifying in itself, but what was more horrifying was that Enrique was invited into Mr. Chastman’s house afterward and proceeded to stay there for hours, flirting with his teacher, outing his friends, and even going on a long thought-tangent about how he would hook up with his teacher if he was down and that he wished his teacher would just kiss him or initiate something. I almost had to stop listening to the book. Besides the obvious inappropriateness of the teacher inviting his student inside in the context that he did, the conversations that happened were disgusting. Mr. Chastman even speaks about sexual things to his student and gives him advice that crosses a boundary.

This book was also extremely oversexualized, considering it was about a minor. Minors have sex, that’s a fact. But in this book, it was not only described in way too much detail but it was just way too much in general. There was no conversation about safe sex or the dangers of not engaging in such. There was also no conversation of consent, within a sexual context or else. Enrique and his partners never ask for consent, except for maybe one time. Enrique just kisses people or starts sexual acts without checking to see if it is okay first, which sets a terrible example for anyone reading the book.

I hated the way that this book dealt with the topic of mental illness, too. Enrique was constantly referring to himself as ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’ and acted as if being mentally ill was the worst thing that could ever happen. As a mentally ill person, I hated this representation. Mental illness manifests differently in everyone, of course, but this just reinforced stigmas that have surrounded depression and did nothing to normalize it. Mental illness was used as a plot point, rather than a truly important part of Enrique. There was also a part of the story where Enrique finally confesses his struggle with suicidal ideation to his best friend Fabiola, and she literally just asks him how he would’ve killed himself and then tells him that his way of choice was a good one. That is a terrible thing to say and is especially bad for mentally ill people reading this book that could take that as an encouragement to go through with that method. Keep in mind that this book contained no trigger warnings that I know of.

My last big issue was with Fabiola, Enrique’s best friend. Despite being bisexual herself, she constantly makes inappropriate jokes at Enrique’s expense. She fetishizes him and makes terribly inappropriate and sexual comments about him, going as far as to say she’s going to “beat off” to the thought of him doing something sexual with a guy and then getting mad at Enrique when he says that’s gross. Her comments go beyond what is okay for friends to say to each other, yet her behavior is never challenged in the text. She also is ignorant about mental health issues and encourages Enrique to do things that will be harmful to him.

As for small issues, I don’t feel the need to elaborate on: the book perpetuates the idea that there is a way to “look” gay; there is no mention of asexual people and the book promotes the idea that everyone is interested in sex and that you aren’t “normal” if you don’t have that interest; there is no discernable plot (or at best the plot is all over the place); Enrique’s relationship with Saleem was not developed whatsoever; there are a lot of storylines that are never finished; there are no non-cisgender characters; and the voices that the audiobook narrator gave to the female characters felt vaguely misogynistic.

Tl;dr, this book was awful and awfully problematic. I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. 1.25/5 stars, and that’s being generous. I am almost never this harsh in my reviews for books, but I was horribly offended by this book and after much thought I feel that this review was warranted.

That being said, thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC.

This Is Why They Hate is a beautiful coming of age story following our main character Quique. In love with his best friend Saleem and convinced that will lead nowhere he sets out to reinvent himself during the summer before senior year. One of the things he wants most is to get over Saleem by pursuing different guys he knows from school. Being Bi, Latino, and dealing with mental health issues we follow him through the summer trying to figure it all out.

I loved how casually heavier topics where handled in the book. They didn’t feel forced or insincere. Quique is a character you are immediately rooting for and he reminds you of what being a 17-year old is like. The way the smallest things can feel so big and insurmountable. I love how much he grows during this one summer. I love the support system he has (though imperfect). He has real people who care about him and try their very best to support and understand him. I love the Latinx representation and the representation overall. So many topics were addressed and like I said before it was done with such care and love. I will say reading about teens pursuing sexual relationships was a bit uncomfortable (as a 30 year old) but other than that I think this book is one everyone should read. The writing was relatable, sincere, and you can tell how much love and heart Aaron H. Aceves poured into this book. Definitely recommend 4.25⭐️

This is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves is a wonderful book about a young man’s coming to understand his sexuality. This characters were fully realized and fully real. I cared deeply for their well-being. The narrator was spectacular and kept me engaged throughout.

3.5/5
First off, I'd like to express my gratitude to Dreamscape Media for providing me with a free audiobook of this novel. Aceves' debut novel is a coming-of-age YA story with an MC that is trying to overcome unrequited love. As is not uncommon with coming-of-age stories, felt some of the plot was unrealistic, but that didn't make the story unenjoyable. I also found the ending of the story to be a bit unrealistic and abrupt, but again, that's not unusual with this genre. The MC's internal dialogue was relatable and likely echoes the thoughts of many members of the LGBTQ+ community. The characters in this novel were enjoyable, and this story did a good job of addressing many issues. TW/CW: suicidal thoughts, racism, homophobia & biphobia, physical violence

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

Well this was just beautiful. It delves into so many deep topics and handles them so well. It was very well written, with some truly gripping characters. The narrator was absolutely perfect as well. I can't say enough good things about this!

3.75 stars, rounded up

A moment of silence in appreciation for the wonderfully bisexual cover.

This story was a delightful YA bisexual exploration of sexuality, which covers some really difficult themes (see TWs below). While YA contemporary LGBTQ+ stories can often be a coming out story/ an exploration of the MC's identity, this MC has a somewhat firm grasp on his identity and is taking time to develop a relationship and comfortability with his sexuality. The main character is also trying to find a way to get over an unrequited love, which plays a role in this relationship he is trying to cultivate.

This story was both fun and uncomfortable, in very relatable ways. Particularly with the MC's inner dialogue, as many of us have likely had similar thoughts throughout adolescence. I would like to mention that the content of the book is more upper YA, with some mild sexual content throughout.

Trigger Warnings: racism, homophobia, biphobia/bi-erasure, mental health, passive and active suicidal thoughts, physical violence.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Alejandro Ruiz, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. To start there are some triggers here: Mental Illness, thoughts of suicide, body issues, racism, religion. There is also amazing representation with a cast of many races, cultures, sexual orientations and more. Now to the book: This book was wonderful. I read it in a day because I couldn't stop. The story is about a bisexual boy named Quique who had been with girls but not a boy. Quique is in love with one of his best friends, Saleem. But Saleem is going away for most of the summer and is supposed to meet with the lovely girl that his parents want him to marry. Quique and his best female friend decide Quique needs to hook up with someone else to get over his crush on Saleem. He has a few options and proceeds with his plan to connect with them more and see what, if anything, happens. He doesn't make the best decisions and he has a lot going on his mind. He has had depression and suicidal thoughts in the past but tries to keep it from his friend. He's also struggling to come out to his religious parents. He also deals with body image issues and just fitting in generally. The book does push the sexual envelope as much as it probably could and sometimes it feels like that is the focus of the book, but its truly so much more than that. Quique gets himself into some scary situations where he chooses to ignore red flags and just jumps right in. But he is a teenager and don't they tend to do that? They depression, anxiety and thoughts or worthlessness were extremely well written. The diversity and rep in this book were amazing and could have felt overwhelming but didn't. This is a book that I think will reach and impact a lot of people both you and old.

Please check TWs/CWs before reading because Aceves addresses several tough topics.

This Is Why They Hate Us is so much more than a book about the fluffy romantic life of a bisexual Mexican-American high schooler. Starting with the fact that’s it’s not very fluffy and much more messy and complicated. It opens up a line of conversation between so many cross sectional topics like religion and homophobia, sexuality and mental health, dating apps and grooming, racism and machismo, parenthood and societal expectations, etc etc etc. All with naturally occurring conversations, even if they made me go 😩 from time to time. Quique is a well written character with a clear but also developing personality and I truly believed he was a teen. Nothing took away from this beautiful story but a looot of things happened in this book!

I’m left having to pick up the tissues from the floor and it’ll definitely take some time to gather my scattered thoughts. Definitely worth a read and so absolutely valuable to today’s teens.

Aaron H. Aceves produced a stunning debut novel.

SLIGHT SPOILER:
There are a few aspects in this book that I didn’t enjoy. But honestly, as a 27 year old, I feel like a bigger cause for concern would be if reading depictions of sexually active teens didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. Also, the teacher thing. Like I get that having a mentor is important but why is the teacher putting himself in that situation more than once?

4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Where do I begin with Aaron H. Aceves' debut novel, This Is Why They Hate Us? I guess I'll start with how incredibly impressed I am with this book; I didn't know much about this book going into it, but the phenomenal story-telling reeled me in so quickly because I did not want to put this book down.

Aceves was able to craft a novel that truly gets at the heart of being a queer youth (specifically, in this book, a bisexual, cisgender boy): self-discovery. It can be so difficult for queer kids (and adults) to garner the same information about love (of themselves and others) that cis, straight kids have handed to them from an incredibly young age.

Quique, our lead character, experiences this first hand; though he starts the novel being sure of his sexuality (something that most queer, coming-of-age stories don't achieve until the climax), he still has so many questions about who he is. It was so beautiful, and heartbreaking at times, to see his journey unfold within the novel. There were so many times that I was screaming, internally, and trying to advise Quique of the glaring mistakes before he had to go through some of the harsher parts of queer reality for many people.

Though the journey wasn't all "butterflies and rainbows," the story remained uplifting and encouraging. Even at the end, our characters experience things that aren't ideal, but they rest assured that things will get better eventually.

The characters were dynamic, the narration was visceral, the themes were poignant, and the steamy scenes... WHEW!!!! They gave some of the queer, adult novels I've read a run for their money.

Overall, make sure to add this book to your TBR because you're going to want to experience this fresh take on the queer, coming-of-age novel.

Thank you so much for the advance audiobook!

I just finished this and wanted to get all of my thoughts out after giving myself a little bit of time to collect them and figure out what my final thoughts were about this book. I will discuss a few moments within the book but nothing I would consider spoilery in any way.

First off; the audio narration is 5 stars without a doubt! Alejandro Ruiz did a fantastic job giving each character a unique voice and bringing the book to life with very animated and emotional tones. Too often audiobook narrators feel like they're holding back when it comes to things like yelling, cheering, anything loud etc. But that's not the case in this book and it really adds to the life of it and authentic feeling of being along with Enrique for the ride.

The book itself is dancing between a 3.5 - 4 stars, but I rounded up to 4 because for the most part I did enjoy it.

Enrique is an interesting main character with as much heart and determination as flaws and it creates for an interesting balance. His friends are wonderful characters as well and I really enjoyed his interactions with Fabiola and Saleem.

As for the plot of this book- its hard to pinpoint where it was meant to be going a lot of the time. It presents itself as a "I cant be with my best friend whom I'm in love with; so I'm going to try out my other options" mixed with a sort of dating show game that only Enrique is privy to (in the way he pros & cons the other contenders & tracks their conquests).

I found this idea of Enrique's to be really odd. This is a boy who is battling with his own mental health and wanting to feel valued but he's sampling relationships with 4 different guys he barely even knows or has any connection to- but then feels disappointed when it doesn't turn out to be right in one way or another. This left me feeling conflicted because one minute the book would be super good and discussing Enrique's desire to better himself and addressing his own inner turmoil, but then in the next chapter he'd be describing a classmates d*ck in great detail. It was flip-flopping so much it was hard to connect to the story overall. I think too much of the book was definitely misplaced in these will-they-wont-they situations instead of wrapping that up and building a better foundation for his love for Saleem that we learn of in the beginning.

Enrique as a character is great, his journey to self discovery and his pursuits of happiness and self-worth are wonderful. His battle with his mental health was also really refreshing to see represented even if the book is counterproductive by having him get wasted one night, throw himself at a guy he doesn't care about the next night, then go to therapy the next day while his parents worry about him. Its realistic to struggle and use alternative outlets to try and ignore or push away your mental health but I don't think this book really showed enough work being put in to negate all the poorer choices he made.

**SLIGHT SPOILER**
My final thought is, the entire scene with the teacher was creepy as hell. It was SUPER weird and unnecessary to the story as a whole. Giving Enrique an older 'mentor' like person was good but the way they first met up and the way Enrique was acting towards him was extremely inappropriate and he continued pushing that line for literally no reason other than being a horny teenager who HOPED his teacher would have him. Very very uncomfortable and bad vibes overall during that part. - I'm also not 100% sure why Queque then contemplates what his teachers name could be later in the book while he's documenting the 4 boys in his YEARBOOK. Like- just look at the staff page? He'll be listed there I'm sure lol.



Overall, the book is good. I enjoyed it and think it touches on a lot of subjects and struggles that many queer people can relate to in this day and age (regardless of your age).

A moving coming of age story about Enrique “Quique” Luna, a bisexual Mexican American teen spending the summer trying to explore his sexuality, come out to his family and get over the crush he has on childhood friend Saleem. Big-hearted, with great bisexual and mental health rep, this book is perfect for fans of Jay's gay agenda or Just your local bisexual disaster by Andrea Mosqueda. I enjoyed this on audio and was really impressed with the depth of feeling and cultural critiques on being bisexual and the associated stereotypes. Highly recommended! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Rep: bisexual Mexican-American mc, Muslim bisexual Palestinian-American li, bisexual Afro-Puerto Rican/Cuban sc, bisexual Vietnamese-American sc, gay Mexican-American sc, biracial sc

Rating: 4.5

Enrique is a mess. He’s got a lot going on. He has anxiety and depression and is taking the summer to try getting over his feelings for his childhood best friend. He doesn’t have much experience with relationships, and none with guys. So he spends his summer looking for new experiences with potential love interests. All the while dealing with his mental health and hiding his sexuality from his family and friends, yet wanting to tell the. This book is about self discovery, moving on, friendships and love and deals with heavy topics at times.

Quique learns a lot from his summer of exploration. He has different encounters with different guys. He learns a lot about himself and that other people are all looking for different things. Finding a boyfriend and getting over his long time crush isn't as easy as he thought. I felt like I was on the journey with him from one love interest to the next. His mental health has lots of ups and downs as well. He also learns more self worth and the need to take care of himself.

I really liked Enrique. He’s got a lot of mental health issues, which he is getting some help with. I always love seeing characters get the help they need. The author handled it with great care. I felt for him being closeted to his parents. I definitely think they’re the hardest people to tell. He also deals with a lot of biphobia. There’s even a scene where he thinks about why he’s only looking at guys to date that summer, and how biphobia has affected him. Quique isn’t perfect, but he’s a teenager trying his best.

I loved Fabiola. They had a great friendship. It was nice that they stayed friends after being partners. Even though it didn't work out, they could still be best friends. She was also one of the only people who knew he’s bi, so he got to talk about his sexuality with her and bond over that shared experience.

Manny and Saleem were also great characters. I really liked them. Manny was more mysterious and I never really knew what was up with him. Saleem was really sweet and he really cared for Enrique. They were close in ways that him and Fabiola weren’t. He wasn't in the book a lot at one point, and I wish we got to see more of him.

Quique’s teacher was also great. He gave him lots of good advice and steered him in the right direction. He was the queer mentor Quique needed. He didn’t really have any queer adults to look up to or talk to, so it was really nice seeing their interactions.

There’s so much diversity in this book. Most of the characters are either POC or queer, a lot are even both. It’s so great having books like these to normalize diversity. It’s so important for kids/teens growing up to be able to see themselves in books and the media.

The narrator did a great job. And that pretty cover!! The subtle bi colors!!

Overall, I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it. Check out trigger warnings before starting.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

This Is Why They Hate Us was a beautifully written book. It was funny, queer, and honestly really emotional. One minute I was laughing and the next I had tears running down my face. The narrator was perfect for this book. Their voice really brought these characters to life. (Also look at how beautiful the cover is with the bisexual flag colors!!!)

I had expected this to be some fluffy, queer book after hearing about it, but it got incredibly deep. However, it handled these topics with care. Not only does it handle mental health, but also bisexual erasure. There was a great deal of development for Quique. His understanding that love or the people you love will not cure mental illness was so important. Having a strong support system helps and I’m glad that Quique had such a lovely one.

Aceves wrote such a real and relatable book. Being bi in a religious Mexican household is incredibly scary. While you believe these people will love you unconditionally, you never really know. Quique’s parents were realistic. Overall, the whole cast of characters were amazing, especially Fabiola.

This Is Why They Hate Us offers wonderful representation for a range of things. It handled Enrique’s mental health journey incredibly well. I cried and laughed so much throughout this book. I feel like everyone needs to read this at least once.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the early listen. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
TW: Suicidal thoughts, intrusive thoughts, suicidal ideation, mental illness, homophobia, biphobia, cursing, Islamophobia, alcohol, underage drinking, mentions of mass shootings, and violence. (Might have missed some things that were just lightly brought up)

Trigger Warnings: Church, homophobia, skinny dipping, cursing, bullying, therapy, past mental breakdown, mental illness, masturbation, alcohol, gambling, past off page hate crime, weed, racism, micro aggressions, coming out, biphobia, nudity, sex, suicidal ideation, underage drinking, mentions of mass shootings, Islamophobia, violence, religion

Representation: Bisexual, Mexican, Muslim, Palestinians, Mental Health, Biracial, Gay

This is Why They Hate Us is a young adult contemporary romance about Enrique (Quique)’s summer break before senior year. Quique is trying to get over his crush on his friend, Saleem, who he is not out to. While Saleem heads to LA for the summer, Quique pursues other romantic interests to help forget him. Soon he realizes this plan may not be as fool-proof as he thought.

I have never related to a book more than this one. It honestly felt like the author went into my soul and put all of my feelings into words for me. This story was so enjoyable and Quique is probably one of the most realistic characters I have ever met.

Not only is Quique an amazing character, but his side characters are awesome too. I loved Fabiola and Saleem, and his parents were awesome too! I also loved his teacher! I knew it would be him! But I genuinely loved their interactions and I loved the gender swapped version of the stereotypical lesbian crushing on their English teacher!

This book is funny and sex positive, but it is also a huge spotlight on mental health. The author writes about Quique’s struggles in such an honest manner. Quique’s suicidal ideations are authentic and handled in a very caring manner. The author includes these, as well as therapy in such an important way and shows how these can be very hard, they are also not solo experiences. I truly commend Aaron for his writing and can only imagine what his next book will be. There’s only up from here and he has already smashed this one out of the park!

A book full of wonderful prose and lots of self discovery that I found I could not put down. (Metaphorically) the narrator was fantastic, I love this book!

I absolutely loved this book!! I wanted to read it because it looked like a quick lightheaded read. While I was right on it being a fast read, I was pleasantly surprised at how deep the book got! I thought the author handled Quique’s mental health struggles with such care and made me feel like I was listening to a friend tell me about their struggles. I also loved all the bi rep in this book! I feel like bi rep is often missing from media so this was refreshing to read. If I had to come up with a critique, it would be that I wished Saleem was in the book a bit more, especially in the middle part of the book. I really liked his character and found myself missing him when he was gone for long periods of time.