3.5 stars

Most of this tragicomic novel is composed of phone conversations between Miami high school senior Luciana Domínguez and her sister Mari, a sophomore at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. We only 'hear' Luciana's side of the conversation, interspersed with occasional remarks to or from other people.

The phone conversations tell us a lot about Luciana and her family, who come from Colombia.

Luciana has been an indifferent student since freshman year, and now worries she won't get into college. She's attracted to girls, and recalls the scene when she came out to her mother: "[Mom] literally threw herself on the floor, grabbed my foot, and started stomping on her own neck with it saying. WHO. YOU. ARE. IS. KILLING. ME."

Luciana is a little overweight, and her mother Elena - who's well-meaning but annoying - constantly advocates exercise and a better diet. Luciana has never had a romantic relationship; has a gay best friend called Nico; and in many ways, is the steel center of the family.

As the story opens, it's September 2017 and Hurricane Irma is threatening Florida. Luciana and her mother are preparing to evacuate, and Luciana tells Mari that Dad has to stay in Miami to work, and Abue (grandma) can't be convinced to evacuate with them, no matter how much Luciana and her mother cajole, beg, persuade, and bribe the septuagenarian.

After some back and forth talk about Abue's safety, Luciana tells Mari, "FINE. Then just call and confess that she needs to evacuate so you don't feel guilty over not being home. THERE. I SAID IT..... We were invisible to you until Irma found us. But now you desperately need Abue to stay safe, so you don't have to come back or feel guilty if something happens."

This exchange presages Mari's ongoing behavior, which is to put her sorority sisters and college activities ahead of the family at every turn, much to Luciana's anger and dismay.

We learn that 75-year old Abue is determined to be seen as glamorous, beautiful, and affluent at all times. Abue had plastic surgery on her face, boobs, and butt; insists on always having perfect hair and makeup; dresses provocatively; has lots of boyfriends; puts her Publix groceries into Whole Foods bags to fool the neighbors; and wouldn't let the plumber fix her broken toilet for a month, because she'd dyed her hair the wrong color and was waiting for it to grow out.

In any case, Luciana and her mother flee from the hurricane and have an adventurous trip. Along the way they stop at the home of Cousin Susana, and Luciana tells Mari, "The second we got in, Mom started just randomly telling Susana about how she doesn't agree with the IUD treatment that my doctor suggested for my endometriosis....But she kept calling the IUD a DUI. And Susana's face was getting more and more worried, as Mom started walking around saying: Luciana's DUI this! And Luciana's DUI that!" (Afterwards, Luciana had to explain she wasn't an alcoholic.)

When the hurricane danger passes, Luciana and Elena return to Miami and are shocked to find Abue sick and jaundiced in her apartment. It seems Abue refused to evacuate because she was (secretly) feeling ill. This starts the more serious part of the novel, where Abue is found to have a tumor that requires surgery and ongoing medical care. The narrative from this point on is both sober and amusing. For instance, the doctor tells the family "The surgery is going to be high risk....the tumor is beginning to obstruct her functions....this mass might be malignant....she will likely need chemo....etc." The diagnosis is devastating, and Luciana - who's especially close to her grandmother - makes herself the advocate for Abue, and looks out for Abue's best interests.

The family doesn't tell Abue how serious her condition is, and Abue walks around the hospital like a peacock strutting her feathers up and down the halls. The nurses think Abue is perfectly fine and hilarious, and Luciana tells Mari, "The only person that understands the situation at hand is this Haitian nurse named Junior. He loves to discuss astrology, and practice his Spanish with her. And he knows that Abue's performance is one whole long con. Junior even calls her 'diosa' (goddess) whenever he walks in 'Hola hola, diosa. How is my diosa goddess today'....She probably thinks the tumor is worth it....just for that."

Be that as it may, Abue needs home care between hospital stays, and she's installed in the Domínguez household, in Luciana's room. Abue's sister Luisa - whom Abue hates and hasn't seen in decades - volunteers to come help. Luisa's visit provides some of the more revealing moments in the book. For example, we hear that Abue threatened to throw Luisa out the window if she ever actually came to visit; Abue tried to change her phone number when Luisa called to say happy birthday; and Abue insists Luisa planted the tumor decades ago...probably as a favor to their crooked mother.

The sibling visit doesn't actually go that badly, and it leads to revelations about Abue's early life in Colombia, which was difficult and sad.

The story moseys along through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and on into the next year, during which time Luciana takes care of Abue, and Abue reciprocates with affection and encouragement for Luciana. Luciana grows more confident as she finishes high school; plans for her future; tussles with Mari; and occasionally grabs Nico and goes to Ladies' Night - a club with a cute bartender.

I wouldn't call this a comic novel, but it has plenty of light moments in the midst of the drama. A fine debut, dedicated to all grandmothers.

Thanks to Netgalley, Melissa Mogollon, and Random House for a copy of the book.

It's wild that this was a debut! I enjoyed it even though it took me a while to get through (I'm slumping through everything I read lately). Oye follows, Luciana, a queer Colombian-American teenager while she deals with Hurricane Irma and her grandmother's health care.
The book's format is unique and it took a little time to get used to it! But I ended up liking it! It's a one-sided phone call between Luciana and her older sister, Mari.
Oye is filled with complicated family dynamics and humor! I read this book on my Kindle but I think it would make a great audiobook too!

Wow, my perceptions of this book changed so much from beginning to end.

The style in which this book is written is not going to be for everyone, and I initially found it confusing and frankly a little off-putting, as the story is entirely told as one-side of a phone conversation between two sisters.

However, by the end, while I still can't say that I loved the format, it definitely grew on me. Abue's story was heartbreaking.

I'd definitely recommend for fans of intergenerational storytelling.

Real Rating: 3.75* of five
A funny, modern updating of the epistolary novel, with all its strengths and weaknesses intact. The biggest strength for me was Luciana's voice: Raw, unregulated, intensely immersed in a very difficult moment. I have heard criticism from readers about the "foul language" Luciana uses, to all of whom I say, "go read a religious tract if all you want is sweet, uplifting pablum." Luciana's in a car fleeing a bloody hurricane! She's trying to reach her sister! She's left her Abue (Grandma for the monoglots) behind...at the old lady's insistence!

If anyone has a reason to use Language, it's this girl; plus she's talking to her sister! Not an Authority figure. Which brings me to, who says you, the reader, get to be an authority entitled to pass judgment, anyway?

And here I am, passing judgment....

Well, hypocrisy thy name is me, I guess. I disagree with those pursey-lipped objections because I don't agree with them, anywhere, period. To me, this is a feature not a bug: Immediacy and authenticity enhancing the usual epistolary read's sense of becoming privy to another person's intimate communications to someone not you. That style is emotionally more intense, more immediate, than third-person or *shudder* the Satanic Second person narration. That becomes ever more relevant as the hurricane threat is survived and the aftermath begins.

What the story does is deeply unfamiliar and absolutely terrifying to me. It chronicles the emotional reality of a child's bearing the burdens of adulthood, of responsibility for interpreting...on every level that word has in English...the world for the nominal adults around her. I can think of nothing more frightening to read about than that imposition on someone who is also coming to terms with her sapphic love needs. The latter would be enough to stress a kid out, and it certainly has, but add on top the cultural and language interpretation demands...!

This is, to me at least, the very most unnerving of isolations. Luciana is left, by the sister she's leaving these voicemails for, to be in charge of some deeply stressful navigations of her world that I feel sad she has to be burdened with, things that by all rights a teenager should not have to be in charge of. That's conveyed very well by the updated use of the epistolary format.

There are the usual limitations, of course. The fact that this is not a conversation, a la that ur-telephone novel Nicholson Baker's Vox, means that the story is solely the one Luciana sees and feels. We get her character, but are asked to fill in the spaces where the other characters...reduced to names here...need to be. That is inherent in the format, so it does nothing wrong, just leaves more work for the reader. I found that a bit off-putting as time went by; why is Luciana pouring her heart out to Mari anyway, I kept wondering, when there's nothing coming back...and the realization of Luciana's actual, heart-rending isolation came crashing in again.

As an evocation of the absolute intensity of adolescent emotions, passions, and fears, it works. As a novel, it can feel overly dramatic and one-note. That is a risk that the epistolary format carries within itself. I liked the read, but was too overstimulated to love it, as I could never be anywhere but in medias res.

This is a good book, objectively. I am not the right audience, unfortunately. I could not get into the voice, the one-sided phone call. And I don’t need to relate to a character to enjoy a book, but this one just never grabbed me. I didn’t enjoy it, but I’m glad I read it, if that makes sense. I appreciate the topics that Mogollon is exploring and this is a really profound work about a young queer Colombian American woman. It’s an important story that needs to be told. I would recommend it with a caveat to be open-minded and not expect a typical novel. It takes some time to get into, but it is certainly impressive.

Oye is a funny, heart-warming sometimes heart- breaking and empowering debut novel by Melissa Mogollon. The Spanish translation of Oye is listen or listen up. It makes sense as the reader is listening to Luciana Dominquez's one sided phone conversations to her older sister Mari. The story takes place as Luciana is about to begin her senior year of high school. She is struggling with her identity and sexuality, trying to meet her family's expectations without losing herself, and concerned that she will never get accepted to a college. Mari appears to be the bright, somewhat self-absorbed and carefree older sister. After returning from a hilarious yet taxing Hurricane Irma evacuation trip the family finds Luciana' s grandmother, who refused to evacuate, in her home sick. From this point, the reader is taken on a journey detailing how the family chooses to deal with Abue's declining health, through Luciana's eyes. I found Oye a bit challenging to get into; I wasn't crazy about the one-sided conversation approach. It was a longer read for me as I had to stop reading frequently to process what was happening. I now believe that is the magic of the story. Thanks to NetGalley, Hogarth Publishing and Melissa Mogollon for the opportunity to read an ARC of Oye. 4 stars.

✨ Review ✨ Oye by Melissa Mogollon; Narrated by Elena Rey

Thanks to PRHAudio, Hogarth, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

🎧 Okay, the narration is awesome! this is a book that deserves to be listened to (at least for some so you can get the cadence and rhythm of the writing and narration // I split about 50/50). The book is written as one-side of phone conversations between sisters and so the audio really makes it come alive, shows you where the pauses are, etc. The audio for this book is a must!!

The story's told through Luciana's voice -- she's a high school senior, and baby of her family -- calling her older sister Mari, who is in her second year at college away from home. Luciana updates Mari on the coming hurricane (Abue, her grandma, refused to evacuate, and she's fleeing with her mom), and on a series of health issues around Abue after they return.

The story hits several big themes:
✅ coming of age
✅ queer identity
✅ family relationships
✅ anxiety and grief

Despite these more serious topics this book will also make you laugh. Luciana is sarcastic and dramatic and quick to react strongly to things. Abue is such a character (I totally pictured her like Rita Moreno in One Day at a Time!!) and concerned with things that will make you giggle.

This was such a good debut release, and I'm excited to see what comes next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: contemporary fiction
Setting: Miami
Length: 8 hours 57 minutes
Reminds me of: One Day at a Time (tv show), How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water (Angie Cruz)
Pub Date: May 14 2024

What a surprising delight! Melissa Mogollon's debut novel Oye blew me away.

Luciana is a high school student. She's very close to her Colombian grandmother "Abue", also to her older sister Mari. The novel is a series of one sided conversations between the sisters, from Luciana's perspective. That might not sound great on paper but it works. Big time.

The action ranges from slapstick to pathos to tragedy. Luciana relays conversations with Abue, her mother, and the aunt who comes to visit when Abue gets sick. We get some of the family's history along the way.

Let's talk about Abue. Seventy something and a spitfire:

"She was even refusing to put on her hospital gown like thirty minutes before the surgery, dude. 'Abue, they can’t operate if you stay in your crop top. Will you please just change?'"

There were so many laugh out loud moments. Abue is a character for the ages, and the evident bond Luciana had with her was very sweet and very relatable. As was the sisterly bond with Mari. There was love, empathy, anger, and frustration all conveyed: "Have fun with bitchy Ghost Abue when she riddles you with guilt for centuries."

This novel was full of heart and humor. Full disclosure - I listened to the audiobook and it was very well done and entertaining. I highly recommend both!

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

The perspective and style of this book is trippy! Told fully through one-sided phone calls with a younger sister, it definitely took me a bit to get into this one. But I kept coming back because it was so fascinating to get this kind of look into a character and to see all of her family members through her eyes. By the end of the book I was fully sucked into the family drama and felt so emotional about her grandmother's story arc. It's definitely worth a read!

Oye is a unique book told in dialogue. It's about family shifting dynamics and the ways we can try to protect our loved ones even if they don't want it. How sometimes what someone just wants is to be left alone. That to watch our loved ones suffer and make mistakes sometimes is just the best way to learn. It feels like a book that would be superb in audio book form. It makes me think about what people would think if they just heard my half of the conversation.

"Oye" is the debut novel of Melissa Mogollon. And what a delightful debut it is!!

From start to finish, the characters LEAPED off the page and demanded this reader's attention. Vibrant! Loving! Hating! Complicated! Hysterically funny! REAL! Heartbroken by *life,* yet never broken.

What makes all of this all the more amazing is that Melissa Mogollon accomplishes this intimacy and reality by utilizing an amazingly personal format. The reader is the proverbial *fly on the wall* listening in, as it were, to our amazing teenage heroine's (Luciana) side of family phone calls to her beloved sister Mari. A sister who just happens to be both physically and emotionally absent from her little sister at a heartbreaking time of family crisis.

This novel has alot to say about many big, real, and difficult life circumstances, yet the light of love and resilience, faith and hope, the family we inherit and the family that we choose are all lights to lead the way!

This book was released on May 14, 2024. I am thankful that author, publisher and NetGalley brought this unique novel to my very appreciative attention!

#Oye
#MelissaMogollon
#NetGalley

Oye is a coming of age story told completely through one side of a series of phone calls between an 18 year old girl and her sister.

I thought this was such an interesting and unique way to deliver a story, and it was very effective. I can think of few things that scream teenage angst more than ranting to your older sister on the phone. It felt so relatable and it took me straight back to that time in my life.

I loved how chaotic the family was and the way she relayed all of the recent news to her sister as if she was recapping the latest episode of a soap opera. It was funny, dramatic, and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Mogollon’s novel is a series of one sided conversations. It’s a unique take and one I’m sure many will like, but I’m going to be an outlier. It just didn’t capture or hold my attention the way I’d hoped. It was work to try to keep things straight, making it not as enjoyable as it could have been. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book..

Once I figured out the writing style, this book cracked me up. It’s all told through one-sided phone calls with bits of past conversations thrown in for context as to why Luciana is griping. Taking place in 2017 with Hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida, Luciana’s grandmother refused to leave, and now Luciana must deal with her mother on the horrible evacuation drive to safer ground. Through the many phone calls with her sister, Luciana learns more about her grandmother and why she’s so stubborn. Abue is the way she is because she didn’t back down and she’s dealt with enough tragedy in her life.

If you enjoy family dynamics and complicated relationships, you’ll enjoy the ride with this one.

3.5

I received this eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

The one sided conversation structure was disorienting and felt choppy to start. I felt that it was short-changing some of the humanity and connections, but it became more absorbing the further I read. A mix of emotions were successfully evoked. I did feel that only experiencing it through one sided conversations–Luciana relays other conversations to her sister and we never hear her sister–was somewhat limiting, and she was sometimes stereotypically a teenager. We never know her sister, Mari. I would judge Luciana’s view of her sister as extremely biased and limited, but we do get to know her grandmother well. And that is the focus of the story, the relationship between Luciana and her grandmother, Abue. Luciana is a high school senior and working through her identity and what she wants to do in her life and their already close relationship grows in importance while they share a bedroom when Abue becomes ill. Luciana and Abue serve significant roles to each other as they each prepare for the next stage in their lives.

This was a satisfying novel.

This story is told entirely through on sided phone conversations between two sisters. I initially had a difficult time with the format but once I switched to the audiobook I was able to jump right in. I highly suggest listening to this one. It was a beautiful story of coming-of-ago, embracing family and caring for our loved ones.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Very unpopular opinion, but this one just did not work for me. I honestly was annoyed throughout the entire book. I did not enjoy that the book was written in the form of a phone call. I often found myself losing focus because it got confusing. The family drama was interesting enough, but was not engaging enough to preoccupy me from the style the book was written in. I also disliked most of the characters - including the one doing all the talking. This made it even more challenging to enjoy, when it is a one sided phone call and we are only reading one voice and perspective.

Luciana is the youngest of her large Columbian American Family. Through one-sided calls to her older sister who is away at college, Luciana shares the details of the chaos and crises when they have to evacuate their home due to a hurricane. Their grandmother, Abue is given a medical diagnosis that leads her to sharing a room with Luciana. She shares her secrets and forces Luciana to grow up.

This book just was not for me, however, I seem to be in the minority and would LOVE to hear your differing opinions.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Oye by Melissa Mogollon
#NetGalley published 5/14/24
#randomhousepublishing

DNF @ 13%

The story of this book seems to be good. Fun even. It seems to be about 2 Hispanic sisters from Florida. One a senior in high school the other away at college. As well as their strick annoying mom and their stubborn abuela (grandma). It's 2017 and hurricane Irma is about to hit and they are supposed to evacuate. And mom seems to be turning their escape into a vacation. That's as far as I got before I realized that I just can't keep reading the book the way it is written.

The way this book is formatted was getting me too confused. I can't tell who is speaking to who or which is a text from/to who. 🤦 Just too confusing. I would definitely be willing to try reading this book again if it was reformatted or rewritten a bit to make this all less confusing. Sorry. This is a miss for me.

#hogarth

The author was bold to have this book be told only through phone calls. When I first read it, I didn't understand what was happening until the middle of chapter 1, so that was a very bold choice. I think this story was entertaining and I appreciate the authentic way hispanic families were portrayed because as someone who was raised in a hispanic family, the trauma and the negative behaviors were very authentically written. I just wish there was more of something (I can't really place my finger on it) for the narrator because after a while, the way she kept dogging on her sister got annoying.

Overall, it was an entertaining read and I would recommend it to someone looking for a fun, easy read.

What a stunner of a debut! A coming of age story that is centered around Luciana as she navigates adolescence, an aging and ill Abuela (Abue, as they refer to her in the book), and her relationships with her mother and sister. Loaded with humor, family drama, and Colombian culture, this was such a fun reading experience.

One caveat for me - the format of the book took a bit of getting used to and is the only reason I didn’t rate this a 4. The novel is written as a one sided phone conversation between Luciana and her sister, Mari. I had to re-read sections of this a couple of times to fully take it in.

This is a GREAT choice for a book club, and it’s hot off the press! Thanks to net galley for providing an ARC. I can’t wait to read more from Mogollon!