Oye by Melissa Mogollon is one young woman’s story as she deals with family drama among high school drama and an incoming hurricane. Luciana is the baby of her very large Colombian American family. She is usually pushed to the sidelines; however, she suddenly finds herself front and center as the voice of reason during an unexpected crisis. As South Florida residents are ordered to evacuate as a hurricane heads their direction, Luciana is left to deal with Abue, her eccentric grandmother, who refuses to leave. When a crushing medical diagnosis forces Abue to move into Luciana’s room, the two find themselves on a personal journey neither wanted. Forced into the role of caretaker, translator and keeper of Abue’s secrets, Luciana finds herself facing adulthood and ready for the challenge.
Billed as a “coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in a phone call you won’t want to hang up on,” I found the premise of Oye to be intriguing. With an eye-catching cover, I could not pass on this story. However, I was quickly confused as the story is told mostly as a one-sided phone conversation and series of voicemails. I could not find the comedy, the telenovela drama or the family saga. Perhaps I am simply not the audience for this story to fully appreciate its unique format. While labeled as adult fiction, I feel it belongs in the young adult category. Overall, I found it hard to enjoy this story. However, if you think you may enjoy a story told in an unique and unconventional format, I recommend giving Oye a try.


Oye is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of Oye. I liked this book and storyline but I struggled with the way it was written. I did not realize it was a one-sided phone call between the main character Luciana and her older sister Mari who is away at college. There are other conversations within the book between Luciana and her parents, grandmother, and others. Once I understood the format of the book, I was able to start again and read it. I liked the storyline and the growth of Luciana as a character but again I struggled with the format.

The core of OYE by Melissa Mogollon is interesting: beloved and headstrong matriarch refuses to leave hurricane-threatened Miami. Only her favorite grand daughter has a chance of persuading her to flee to safety, where loving and kind ones will take care of her. I found the premise gripping -- there is nothing like a stubborn older person willing to meet their Maker doing something so profoundly wrong in your eyes to set you off into crazy attempts to save them from themselves. However, the relating the story through a one-sided conversation did not work for me. I kept hoping that there would be some straight narrative, something to break up the effusive and revealing text to tell the story straight -- as I said, I was hooked with the basic idea. Ultimately, I forced myself through the book, wanting to see what happened next, but having a rough time navigating an unnecessarily dense and off-putting story structure. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

I really like this book. Would have been a 5 star review but It took a while to get used to the format as the whole book in a one sided phone call with some other conversations thrown in at random times without indicating so.

This was probably the best reading experience I’ve had all year. Melissa Mogollon took a creative risk and and stuck the landing so hard.

I don’t want to give too much synopsis but Luciana is about to enter her senior year of high school when hurricane Irma is about to make landfall and begins a series of events for her family of which she recounts in one sided phone calls to her older sister Mari who is already away to college.

Luciana is the daughter that doesn’t feel quite good enough. She isn’t good enough at school like her sister or popular like her, she isnt straight enough and though she has tried coming out her mother is in denial. Her body is not thin enough and she struggles with her mother’s policing of it. And yet also is often put in the middle of managing her family whether as the translator or peacemaker. Her one respite is her Abue. Abue is a riot. She does what she wants and she is going to look good doing it.

Though it’s a one sided phone call you still feel so connected to the characters in the book. So much so that I got emotional by how much I could feel Mari on the other side of the line. I was the older sister that left home and didn’t look back while my younger sisters had to face some challenges on their own and I remember how torn I felt but also knowing I couldn’t come home and they would have to manage.

The antifatness Luciana experiences through her mother who means well but also is still harming her daughter made me feel all the feels as I’ve never been straight sized and struggled with comments from family who just “meant well” throughout my life.

This book has so much heart. There is so much love here. Even though Luciana struggles with her familial relationships the center is a binding love that she stays connected to even as she grows in her confidence and sureness of her identity.

I also might use this to teach voice because Luciana’s voice is so strong and distinct I hear her in my head and I didn’t audiobook this one though that I’m sure will be incredible too. Her sarcasm and wit. She is such a teenager. She is as endearing as she is dramatic, frustrating, and sometimes you want to shake her a bit and tell her to stop being selfish. Yet these qualities make her character ring so true, she is an adolescent who is growing up sometimes forced by the circumstances and some of it just natural maturing. All of which making her one of my most memorable characters l've read this year and one l'll be thinking about for a long time.
I was sad to leave this family's world and got emotional at the ending but what an ending. It made me want to go hug my grandmas and sisters really tight.
Go read this book. It's worth every penny. I need to go get my copy. And was so grateful to be gifted a digital ARC through @netgalley and @hogarthbooks.

This one can be hard to get into! I can see a lot of people abandoning it because of the format - I must admit it took me a few dozen pages to commit.
The story is told from the point of view of Luciana, a high school senior who is telling her sister, away in college, about family updates and drama back in Miami. She is the only narrator and we hear the story in a series of one-sided phone conversations where cursive is the only way to figure out when another point of view or voice is being introduced. Sort of like overhearing a phone call, but we are reading a transcript of it.
Luciana is opinionated, outspoken, and gay but feels that her family and community do not accept her. She misses her sister, and she is worried about her grandmother, who first refused to evacuate during Hurricane Irma in September 2017 (my apartment was in evacuation zone A for that one - I can relate; it was scary for a bit) and then found herself dealing with some serious medical issues. Her mother is driving her crazy, and her dad is largely a supporting character, letting all the women in his life steer the boat (and stir the pot).
Despite the unconventional format, the characters are well-rounded, and the story is deep and engaging. The book deals with generational trauma, abandonment, immigrant upbringing, and family secrets.
Overall, I was glad I stuck around - give it a try!

Thank you, NetGalley, Melissa Mogollon, and Penguin Random House, for providing an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oye presents the ramblings of a teen-aged girl told in a series of one-sided telephone conversation between Luciana (Nana) and her big sister Mari regarding their grandmother’s family history. The monologue focuses on the grandmother’s medical problems and how the family was coping (or not coping.) Occasional mini-conversations between Nana and others were recorded in italics or in different fonts. Maybe my Kindle didn’t differentiate those distinct fonts as well as a print book might have because it took me a long time to figure out that these were separate conversations interspersed with Nana’s monologue.

I found the format of this book to be very bewildering, making it a challenging book to read. Although I ultimately finished reading Oye, I almost gave up on this novel after about 20 pages. Instead I started it over again, using what I had learned in those initial pages to better figure things out. While there are many 4- and 5-star reviews, this novel did not resonate with me.

Structured as a series of one-sided phone calls, Oye follows seventeen-year-old Luciana as she and her family try to convince her grandmother to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma only to come across a much more formidable foe - illness.

Thankfully, since the story is a series of phone conversations and told entirely in dialogue, the voice is incredibly strong. Luciana is a singular character and her spunk and complexities support a story that jumps between past and present. I’m not sure the concept always works, and it is often interspersed with bits of pertinent dialogue, but it is a quick, entertaining read with a ton of heart.

Interesting set-up. It is all done in phone calls, one sided. For me this was confusing and too much work. I waded through but I don't think I would choose to read another book like this. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the digital ARC. This review is my honest thoughts.

I don’t remember the last time I read a book structured in this way, but I realized early on that I needed to pay attention and so I did.

At the beginning of this book, it's the Fall of 2017, and Hurricane Irma is looming over Florida, and Luciana, our main character, family is evacuating from Miami.

Told in a series of phone calls this book was a little hard to follow in the beginning but once I got used to it, it turned into a joy to read. The story is told through Luciana as she calls her sister who is away at college. The backstory of the family is what brings the story to life.

This turned out to be a great read filled with colour and drama.

Oye A Novel by Melissa Mogollon

This is a very different novel from any other I’ve ever read. Funny and touching, it will take you on a journey with a Miami family as Abue (for abuela, Spanish for grandmother) faces her mortality.
Knowing some Spanish may help you laugh a little harder, but is not necessary, as short phrases and words are soon translated.

Granddaughter Luciana, also known as Nana, is Abue’s favorite, so she struggles most. Seventy-five years old and very vain Abue unloads her family’s secret history as the story grows, and what a history it is! You will be entertained every minute throughout this book.

Following the streaming conversations and texts among family members Elena, Mari, Abue and Luciana is a little difficult as the font is either italicized or in print and it’s easy to lose track. No worries! It all works out fine. I recommend this novel for anyone not offended by the “f word,” and rate this original debut novel 5 stars.

This one was told in such a unique format. It was different from my usual read but a super beautiful coming of age story

I truly appreciated the format to tell Luciana's story through one-sided phone conversations. It made me think of all those times that someone in my family is on the phone, and we are only responding/reacting to the (limited) information we have from them. The characters were relatable, and it was a powerful debut for Melissa Mogollon. I can't wait to read more of Mogollon's work!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my opinion and review!

Can this book feel more relatable??? I loved it, her family is so funny, I felt like I was reading about mine. I will say this, the flow of this book is a little different, I had to start again after 2 chapters because I was losing myself, it’s not very traditional in the way I read books, I used a ton of quotes to add emphasis so when I don’t see any it in the beginning was a little hard, since mine was an ARC I just went with the flow.

This was like having a funny, heartfelt and endearing conversation with a ✨younger✨ friend.

I audibly laughed out loud several times and really connected with Lucianna and Abue’s story. It was sad, frustrating and brave and she deserved the biggest hug!

This is a fairly quick and easy read. The chapters are short and I love that there are Spanish references (many I understood but a few I looked up)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.75 Really liked it, read it!

I just want to start off with how fast I read this book and how much I loved the chapter titles being in Spanish.

It did take me a minute to figure out how to read it because it’s mostly through phone calls, but once you get into it, you can’t stop. I loved how I could relate to every character and even go…she’s like my tia….she’s like my prima, etc!

Thank you for writing this!! It was truly entertaining and awesome.

Oye by Melissa Mogollon is a coming of age story about dramatic family dynamics during and after a crisis. A hurricane is on its way, and the residents of Florida have to evacuate. But Luciana's grandmother is refusing to leave. The story is told from the pov of Luciana via phone calls to her sister. So yes, you basically only get Luciana's perspective, but I promise it's worth it. It's almost like you're on the phone call with her, just listening in. I thought that brought such a unique element to the story.

Oye touches on themes like feeling alone in your family, relationships between siblings, caring for an older adult even when they don't want to be cared for, telling your truth, and about being accepted.

I thought the story was great. I am definitely interested in listening to the audiobook because I feel like this is probably going to be perfect for an audio read!

DNF @35%

I really don't know how anyone can get through this one. There are no quotation marks on any of the dialogue which makes for a very confusing reading experience. I don't know which character is speaking, and this whole book is mostly just phone conversations. The synopsis sounded more interesting than the actual book. The only positive is the stunning cover art.

I must say, Oye is written in a context I've never faced before, and, though it took a bit to really get into the way it was written, I really enjoyed the idea and critical thinking behind the storyline.

We follow along with Luciana and her side of phone calls to her college-aged sister, Mari. Luciana is a senior in high school, and is with her mom fleeing from a hurricane set to hit South East Florida. When the impact locations switch, her mom takes her along on a journey, and we catch a glimpse of the goings on of Luciana's family, primarily of her grandma, Abue, who refused to leave her home and flee from the hurricane.

Once we get into the meat of the story, Luciana's world comes crashing down, and we follow along each step of the way, overhearing her phone calls, in a sense, to Mari, cataloguing the events as they occur.

I loved this writing concept, and think it a very unique and lovely way to follow along with a story written like this.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Generational trauma and Familial Disrespect

I was excited to read this YA novel of the one-sided telephone conversations between sisters, Luciana and Mari. Luciana is a senior in high school trying to navigate life without her older sister, Mari.
While the premise is promising, the narrative is packed with gossip, drama, and unhealthy relationships. Lack of resolution leads to an 'every man for himself' style of living, right up to the end.
Not an edifying read for teens or adults.