Fantastic book! Were we ever that young? Wasn't that the best time ever? I loved this. Great debut filled with family, friends, and life lessons. Don't miss this one.


Thanks to NetGalley and Random House, Hogarth for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Who doesn’t love eavesdropping on interesting conversations? With Melissa Mongollon’s incredible novel, Oye, you can immerse yourself in some scandalous family history (and present), without fear of being caught.

In Oye, Melissa Mongollon has created a vivid, fascinating, and emotional world through several one-sided phone conversations between Luciana and her older sister, Mari. Mari has gone to college, leaving Luciana to navigate the drama of her Colombian American family.

Luciana’s Abuela, Abue, receives devastating health news, sending the family into a spiral. Abue heavily resists a visit from her sister, provoking Luciana’s interest in her family’s history. Years of heartache unfold, and Luciana reports back to an indifferent Mari. And at the same time, Luciana is dealing with her health-conscious mother’s jabs at her weight, and a crush on a cute bartender.

Once I started reading Oye, I could not stop. Luciana is a wonderful character, and the story keeps unfolding in a gorgeous way. It was like sitting down with one of my particularly animated friends. I can imagine the audiobook of Oye will be amazing. The ending made me weep; it is just perfect.

Oye is an utterly unique, incredibly special novel that brought me so much joy. I look forward to revisiting this one as often as I can.

This was my first book to read by this author but it won't be my last! This was a beautifully written novel that evokes so many emotions. Don't miss out on this one!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC. I really wanted to like this book since the premise was so interesting, but the tone fell flat for me. The constant frantic voice of the main character, Luciana was cloying by the end of the book. Luciana had such potential, too! She definitely has the opportunity to come of age, in multiple ways, but her voice stays consistently infantile throughout the text. I was also discouraged that the entirety of the book was in voicemails to her sister, but we never end up really getting much of the older sister's voice, everything is filtered through Luciana. For me, it was too one note.

“A coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in one phone call you won’t want to hang up on…”

Oye might be the most creatively structured novel I have come across yet! While the concept of a coming-of-age story isn’t new, Melissa Mogollon certainly figured out how to make it her own.

As the blurb says, this book really does read like a telenovela! Mogollon did an excellent job of writing a hilariously believable conversation between sisters; I even found myself laughing out loud at times. Oye’s plot and structure flowed so nicely that it truly felt like I was in on the conversation.

While the uniqueness of the format paid off in certain regards, I do think it worked against the plot just a tiny bit. Because everything was explained by one person in past tense, it distanced me from the characters little too much. Especially towards the end of the book, I just didn’t feel invested in the characters enough to be deeply affected by their experiences.

Overall, I gave Oye a solid 4/5 rating and highly recommend y’all pick it up when it releases on May 14, 2024! As always, don’t forget to check the content warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC of Oye!

Family dynamics, trust, and the aftermath of decisions are all accounted for in this book. I appreciate that the author explores these topics in the way that they are. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

The format of this book was unique, but to be honest it was really hard to follow. The juicy bits of story that I was able to pick up were tantalizing, but the "overhearing a conversation" needed to be balanced with a bit more substance.

A cultural ajiaco portraying la familia hispana with bittersweet moments, and lots of humor, the best medicine. I love the way it is narrated, and the use of Spanish and English, representing the way many of us, latinos who have lived in the US for over twenty years, speak with our family and friends. Me encantó!

Oye is a highly engaging, emotional roller coaster that will have you laughing, crying, and reflecting on your own familial relationships. This coming-of-age story is told through one side of phone conversations between Luciana and her sister, Mari, who is away at college. Luciana has to deal with school struggles, being the support person for an ill grandmother, navigating life as a first-generation American, and more. Throughout the novel we go with her as she learns to trust herself and value her uniqueness. This book was so easy to finish because the chapters are far enough apart chronologically that the story always feels like it's moving forward. Every chapter has highs and lows and twists that will have the reader eagerly turning the pages.

A fun intimate novel with a unique structure. It definitely takes a minute to get used to the structure - overhearing one side of a phone call between two sisters - but it was well worth the effort. An immersive experience.

Any story with a grandparent has me in pieces immediately and this was no different. I loved Abue’s fire and it is what kept me in the story. While the formatting concept was inventive, it kept me really disconnected for the story and the characters I felt. Part 1 also felt so incredibly long which made it tough to get started.

This was such a beautiful story! I'm not sure i loved the writing style, in which the main character is on the phone with her sister through out the whole book. But its on sided. The story is so unique and touching.

While reading this story, I found it overall very relatable. From the characters to some of the things that happened in this story, I definitely could find it relatable for people. The format did take a little bit of getting used to, but other than that, I loved this book. I really do like coming of age stories like this and this is definitely one I recommend.

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

1) ABUE IS THE BEST, MOST HYSTERICAL CHARACTER. LOVE.
2) I had many laugh-out-loud moments.
3) Considering the format was new to me, it took me some time to get used to, and definitely may not be for everyone.


Luciana leads a one-sided conversation with her older sister Mari with some anecdotal conversations between others thrown in. You can feel the tension but love in their dynamic. You can feel Luciana struggle through her emotions with each unfolding chapter. The struggle of her own identity is mixed into the experiences of her family that she is living through.

This book has intrigue, heartbreak, hilarity, and characters to love. It also provides a sobering reality that not all is as it seems, but a family can still come together.

Really funny and delightful, the voice here is compelling and sharp and enticing, and the characters really shine with personality. I went into this one without knowing what to expect and am so glad I took the ride.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC

This book is a solid 3.5 starts for me. I really wanted to love this, but the writing style I struggled to adjust to. It is written as if you are overhearing Luciana on the phone with her sister Mari. As a Latina, I loved the incorporation of language and culture. The story was interesting but the writing style kept me from becoming invested in the book and characters. It wasn't a bad ready, it just could have been better.

Oye by Melissa Mogollon

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC

This debut is a unique coming-of-age story written in the form of phone conversations with 18 year old Luciana and her older sister, Mari, who is at college. It has some laugh-out-loud moments in this unconventional and comical at times book. A Colombian American family fleeing Florida before a hurricane is to hit and the eccentric Abue (grandmother/Emilia) who refuses to leave. Things start to unravel and Luciana is panicked she will have to hold the family together, when she is the one that is usually ignored. We learn the background of the family history and as funny as this book is at times, it also deals with issues that life throws at us.

It was an entertaining, engaging, heartbreaking at times and just a different kind of read for me that I found very enjoyable. I look forward to seeing what else she writes in the future.

This book is so good! It’s written as if you are overhearing Luciana talking on the telephone with her sister Mari, but you can only hear Luciana’s side of the conversation. It took me a while to get used to this style of writing at first, but once I did, I was really sucked into this story. Since it’s entirely dialogue, it is a unique writing style and felt almost like reading a play. It is a medium paced, character driven story with excellent character development, especially of Abue, the main character’s grandmother. I absolutely loved Abue by the end of this book and you can feel the love between Luciana and Abue. I thought the author did an excellent job of showing how the main character could see the flaws of her family members and explore the roots of those characters traits, but being unable to see how they showed up in herself.

***spoilers ahead***




Two things that bothered me a bit about this book is that the main character frequently slut shames her sister, and I wish there had been more recognition at some point of the unfairness of these comments.

There is speculation at several points in the story about Abue’s cancer being the result of unresolved feelings from her childhood. I can completely understand that every family, even fictional ones, cope with and understand cancer differently. However as someone who’s had a parent die from cancer, these types of discussions that seem to insinuate that cancer and disease happen to people who can’t manage or process negative experiences bother me.

This is a great coming of age story, however, the format and style of the narration is confusing and makes it very difficult to get into the story. Overall I wanted to give it a higher rating but I couldn’t get attached to the characters because I was distracted by the writing style.

This was the most confusing book I have read in a while.

The narrator is our main character who leaves voicemails to her sister. The fact that they were voicemails was unclear from the beginning. After, instead of just telling us the story, the main character imitates the people in her life, but it is so hard to keep up and know who is talking. The usage of abbreviations and text language made it seem like a joke.

All in all, this was very badly written and I would not recommend it.