Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of Oye. I wish I could say I loved it but, alas, it just wasn’t for me. Centered on Luciana and her family, it’s told in a very unique style—one-sided phone conversations. Luciana, a high school senior, and her mother are in the car traveling through the South to outrun Hurricane Irma. Her sister is at college in the North. And grandmother, Abue, determinedly stayed home in Florida despite the oncoming storm. When Abue lands in the hospital, the story explores all the family dynamics. All of the dialogue and story are conveyed through Luciana’s sides of phone conversations. While interesting, I found it to be terribly confusing and, after a while tedious. I had hoped by Part 2 the format would change. It was not and I ultimately gave up on the book. It didn’t work for me despite the fact that I found the characters and relationships interesting and enjoyed the humor. I am clearly in the minority and can see why so many love the book.

Luciana’s monologue is presented through phone calls to her sister, Mari, who is away at college. She rants and raves about her life with their mother and grandmother. After an exhausting auto trip attempt to escape a hurricane, she ends up in Florida at a hospital where her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer. From this event the reader along with Luciana discovers her grandmother’s very sad history. Melissa Mogollon’s characters are lovable and humorous, but her style is distracting. The use of italics to designate specific conversations is confusing at times and the monologue is repetitious. I found it difficult to maintain interest in the storyline. Despite my reservations, however, I am sure there is an audience for this work.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A coming of age story about a young woman's senior year of high school and literal and figurative storms in her life. The novel is told through a series of phone calls between Luciana and her old sister who is away at college.

I was intrigued by the premise of Oye, but I found it ultimately fell a little flat. The voice and presentation of the story are so unique and interesting, but I felt it was a struggle to keep up with the details of the plot (maybe that's just on me, though. The second half of the book really shone. Luciana is a charming protagonist, and her relationships with her family are what kept me coming back to these pages. I'm sure this book will find its readership - and I did like it, don't get me wrong, but just not as much as I would've hoped. I think the format just felt too gimmicky and distracting - I think I would've loved this a lot more if it were told in a more straightforward or traditional way.

Oye is a laugh out loud coming of story with a complicated mother/daughter/sister relationship at it’s core. Told through a series of one sided phone calls between sisters Luciana and Mari. Throughout the novel we hear Luciana’s side of the phone calls to Mari who is at college in DC. We are introduced to the family as they prepare to evacuate Miami as hurricane Irma approaches & Luciana and her mother Elena embark on a road trip out of the storms path leaving Abue behind who refuses to evacuate. They have to cut their impromptu trip up the east coast short when Abue’s health takes a turn. Luciana who is meant to be starting her senior year is now responsible for translating & caring for her grandmother, and being the keeper of family secrets.

I adored this family I feel like I know them all personally. I laughed out loud so many times. Luciana & Abue are both hilarious and delightful to read and their banter was so good. I am so happy I picked up this book. My only complaint is the writing style is unique and at first I was confused by it , but as you read on it gets easier to read.

This is a wonderful debut novel by the truly talented Mogollon. Easily one of my favs of 2024

✨Many thanks to Netgalley & Random house / Hogarth for this ARc

I will also publish my review on Amazon & Instagram on pub day.

The description sounded promising. I love a coming of age family drama. Unfortunately the structure of the book did not work for me. The book is told through phone conversations between the main character and her sister, but most of it is monologue. There are no quotation marks and it's difficult to follow.

LOVED!! Incredible that this is Mogollon's debut novel. What a brilliant, creative and fun format and style.

The story is told through phone conversations between Luciana ("Nana") and her sister Mari, but we only hear Nana's side of the conversation. What transpires from these conversations are heartbreaking, heartwarming and often hilarious moments of Nana's life as she attempts to navigate her drama filled life through a hurricane and then confronting her grandmother's cancer diagnosis. I can't remember the last time a novel made me cry-laugh (on one occasion my mascara ran from laughing so hard) and then ugly-cry.

Mogollon did a fantastic job at describing the complexities of a Latinx family living through generational trauma. It hit home, especially the passive-aggressiveness...LOL!

I received an e-ARC from Random House through NetGalley. Pub date is May 14, 2024 and I'm looking forward to the audiobook!

I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did, only because the way in which it was written was so unique and surprising to me. I didn't realize how it was written was one person speaking the entire time with italicized quotations from other characters in previous or simultaneous conversations. So it was hard to figure out at first. But once you do figure it out, you are also invested in Abue's secret history and familial drama. It's all so interestingly told through a really digestible story. It's a cute and fun book that is perfect for spring, but also carries depth. Can't wait for everyone to read it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Oye by Melissa Mogollon follows a family with some deep secrets, closely guarded by Abue, the grandmother of our main character. Our main character is a lesbian, struggling with her sexuality and keeping it a secret from her family while she gets closer to her grandmother and begins to learn the secrets that she is hiding.
These secrets and the family drama and the family heartache were what kept me interested in this book. However, this book is told in the perspective of our main character talking to her sister on the phone. We get our main character's perspective only, and it is all in dialogue. It kept on dragging as I thought about how one sided a phone call these must be, and cringing when "lol" was used as dialogue.
I did get used to the format eventually, especially as the secrets and the heart of the story began to unfold, but it made it a really rough beginning.

This is a very beautiful story about a Colombian grandmother and granddaughter. I loved the way this story was told. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before. The story is told by one sided phone conversations by the main character to her older sister who is away at college. This book made me laugh and cry at so many different points. Even though I’m not Colombian, i am Latina so I really related to certain aspects especially the mother and daughter relationships. This book has so much depth and I can assure you it’s like nothing you’ve read before. It’s a very worthy read.
4.5 stars out of 5

What a fantastic debut that is packed with voice and plays with the format in an interesting way. Told in a stream of phone calls where we only hear from Luciana (Nana)'s perspective with her sister Mari.

There's a lot going here, touching on family, on first gen issues, on generational trauma, Oye is a beautiful story that will warm the hearts of its readers.

My only hang up is that I wish I had waited to read it on audio. I haven't sampled the narration but I think the format of the story would lend itself to that method of reading and I did struggle sometimes with the format on paper. I think some stories (Angie Cruz's How Not to Drown in Water comes to mind) are better suited to listen to and I might have to check this one out again once it comes out for the chance to compare the audio to paper.

Hilarious, irreverant and yet very poignant. The format is such a unique one. It is told solely in one-sided conversations between Nana (Luciana) and her sister, Mari, interspersed with conversations between Nana and her mother, Nana and her outlandish grandmother, Abue, and a few other characters. I laughed so hard while reading this. It didn't take me long to get used to the format and it was very easy to determine who was having the conversations (always noted in italics), so I was never confused or pulled out of the story. I highly recommend you grab this one up, settle in for some great laughs, eye-rolling antics, and a lesson or two along the way.

This story follows Luciana as she navigates her Colombian American family's secrets and struggles, including devastating health news about her Abuela. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Luciana's story is captivating, and the ending is perfect. "Oye" is a unique and special read that brought me so much warmth.

I absolutely loved this book. It is a little hard at first because most of it is written based on one side of a phone conversation, but once you start hearing the different characters voices, it is clear. It is quite funny, more so if you have an Abuelita! I look forward to more books from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

DNF - I should have checked the format of this book before requested it because had I done so I would have known that this book isn't for me. I didn't; like the way it was written but definitely appreciate that other readers will enjoy it.

GREAT book! I have never read a book written in this way. I loved this story so much! It was heartbreaking but so beautiful and funny. I highly recommend reading this.

DNF at 50%. I felt that I was really going to like this one, but while I had a few laughs and connected moments with the story; I just felt that I couldn’t pay my full attention to it.

It’s a one sided phone conversation from the perspective of a young, queer Colombian American dealing with family issues in the wake of Hurricane Irma. I loved the concept and was very much looking forward to this one; but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Melissa Mogollon and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced e-copy of this book.

DNFed this book about 10% in because of the format. I can appreciate how unique it is, but it's not for me.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I recognize the writing style is different than what a lot of readers may be used to. However, I really enjoyed it, thought it was clever, and it really picked up in the latter half of the book especially. I was pleasantly surprised by Melissa Mogollon's narrative voice, and would definitely read from MM again!

This is probably a really great book. I love the idea of it being a long phone call coming from a family that has long weird conversations.

However.

The way it’s formatted in the book I can’t tell who is talking and when the talker switches. It’s too confusing to make sense of.