I'd like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a charming little romance about a young girl, Castillo Torres who throws herself into the party planning business after losing her mother. I love the idea of the book but felt like there was a lot about the party planning and it would lose my interest. The characters are likeable but not remarkable. There is a lot of teen drama so I can see that as a draw for the YA age group. In saying that, I just didn't see any twists or surprises that wanted to keep you reading.

Castillo ‘Cas’ Torres is mourning the loss of her mom by throwing herself into party planning. Her dream is to get an internship at a renowned party planning business and her way in is by planning the perfect Star Wars themed quinceañera for a Disney vlogger. She meets a Prince Charming and the only thing stopping her from Happily Ever After is a few white lies.

This modern day fairy is perfect for a light read to get you in a Disney mood. It does have some trademark Disney Channel Movie tropes, like insta love, sudden introduction of conflict for the third act (the gossip page was mentioned like, once or twice??), but for people looking for a fluffy read, it’s perfect.

I want to start my review by saying there is nothing wrong with this book, despite my rating. I originally requested this book because I'm a wedding planner and thought it would be fun to read about. Unfortunately, and the reason I rated this book as average, it just reminded me about work when I wanted to relax and not stress. It is purely a me problem, me bias. Now let me tell you about this book so you can judge whether it's your type or not. This book reads like an everyday conversation with people, the way it is written. It felt like I was watching these people talk right in front of me and I loved that. There was a few typos, but it is an arc. There were decisions I didn't agree with and the main one, which is lying about getting an internship, gave me anxiety the whole book because I knew it was going to blow up. Again, that's a me problem. There's a bit of romance, one a straight couple and the other one lesbian rep. The characters for the most part are generally likeable. If you want to plan events without actually doing it, I recommend reading this book.

In this YA romance, Castillo Torres grieves the loss of her mother by throwing herself into the party-planning business. Since a spelling error on her sign ruined her sister's quince, she has vowed to help make others' days perfect. Cas eventually realizes her obsession has been ruining her relationships with her family, her friends and a certain boy she likes. It's an interesting take on friendship, family, and grief.

This book was so cute. I don't read a lot of YA books lately but I loved the description.
This book had some good parts and some parts where I found myself rolling my eyes. I feel that is because it was a YA book.

If you are in the mood for a YA book that feels a little fresh, but also has too much teen drama then this is the book for you.

I wont be recommending this for my book club, but I will recommend it to my friends who have young daughters who are looking for a quick entertaining read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I tried so hard to like this one because it seemed like such a cute idea.
A <i>Wedding Planner</i>-style story about a girl who plans Quinceaneras! A love story! Disney movies are involved somehow!

But it just didn't work for me. The Disney theming was wayyyy too much. References to the movies were peppered in like the author accidentally dropped the pepper shaker and it spilled everywhere. I'm talking like 3 per page. They were just constant. I like Disney stuff. I'm not a Disney hater by any means! But it was just too much to the point that I started skimming about halfway through.

Aside from that, there was the fact that Castillo treated her dad's love of Star Wars like he had some kind of drug addiction (despite literally being so addicted to Disney movies that YOU CAN'T SHUT ABOUT ABOUT THEM??) and the super weird alternate universe setting where Kim Khardasian is a governer that just seemed to be randomly thrown in. There were occasional references to things related to celebrities that haven't happened in real life that, I guess, were supposed to imply that this story is happening in some kind of alternate universe.
It might have worked in a different novel, but it felt unnecessary and weird here.

Anyway, one star. If you don't mind any of the stuff I mentioned, you might enjoy this.

Out now.
This was a cute, fun read if you love Disney throw this in your beach bag this summer.
Wedding planning with a magical flare
Highly recommend for the young adult in your life.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Th Quince Project was so good that I want to purchase a physical copy!! I hope to read more books by this author

This was such a sweet ya fiction book with a perfect little ending!

Our main character Castillo Torres aka Cas, has dreams of being a party planner and won't stop until she's got the most coveted internship with her hero Mandy. This is THE internship to get when it comes to happily ever afters, both for her own and the friends she's working with.

But when Cas commits to an unquince for a Disney youtuber with over 100k subscribers, she ends up giving a little white lie about who she works for...which isn't Mandy, yet. The longer she stretches this lie the worse things get, especially when her new crush ends up being bff's to Paulina the youtuber. How is Cas going to handle this before they explode?

This book is so sweet and relatable in many ways. Cas is a type A to the t, and you can't fault her for that. After losing her mom to a battle of illness, she's vowed to ensure HEA's always happen. Her character uses this trauma to try and move on from the death of her mom, but what she doesn't realize is that it's creating an inability for her and her family to truly move on in a healthy way.

I enjoyed the growth of these characters and how loving they all are together. It was also fun to have so many pop culture references to Disney, particularly Star Wars, but also to Cast Away, Jaws, and many other classic movies!

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read with a great plot!

Fun and easy read, I believe this would be a great book to recommend to Disney fans and more younger teens or preteens. I felt like it needed more substance to be appealing for an older crowd. So for that reason I gave it 4 stars.

At Tome Student Literacy Society, we have a list of language and content criteria for the books we select for our annual book award list, the Tome Society Book Award. Upon a language search in this book, we discovered that it did not meet our specific criteria for language. Due to this, we elected not to finish this book for review purposes for our organization. We would like to thank the publisher for the opportunity to review an e-book of this title.

This was an adorable, fun book.

Cas is so determined and dedicated but life, even for the most determined and dedicated, sometimes has other plans. For everyone. I loved watching how she handled it all and her journey.

And as a Disneyland/Star Wars fan all the little details made it so fun.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a Cham e to read and review.

I really liked this story for the family and friendships and his our MC grows as she processes her grief and deals with the mess she makes with a lie.

This was a very good book. I loved the fact that Castillo wants to become a“Fairy godmother” party planner. The Disney vibes are strong in this story. We have Cas, who used to go to Disneyland with her family a lot when her mother was alive. Then we have Paulina, who is a Disneyland food vlogger.
Paulina hires Cas to do her quinceañera. She wants it to have a Disney/Star Wars theme. It stars out great, everybody is excited, but of course, something goes wrong. There is miscommunications and people feel betrayed. It’s up to Cas to do her best to fix it.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the Disney and Star Wars themes. Cas managed to get her family involved and help out. In all it was a cute, feel-good book with a bit of romance. A great YA book!

This book gave me all the cozy Disney shows and 2000s romcom feelings, with culture, sisterhood, loss and grief, family and happily ever afters. And would love to see this become a movie!!

💕Loved the writing! Easy to read along with wittiness, jokes and sayings. It added a fun tone to the story.

💕Also LOVED the food and drinks... wow.. I was so invested in all the food and drinks mentioned throughout the book and left me craving a ton of them 😂 I could taste and smell some of the ones I am familiar with.

💕Cas and Po were my fave! Having a big sister I related to their dynamic so much and thought their relationship was beautiful and hilarious.

I’d recommend this book to a more YA audience or if you’d like the longing/nostalgia feeling you felt when watching a Disney movie and/or a nostalgic 2000s romcom on a Saturday morning. And I will definitely have this for my daughter to read when she is in her teens.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Jessica Parra for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

"The Quince Project" by Jessica Parra is a poignant and moving debut novel that explores the complexities of family, grief, and finding one's own path in life. The story follows Castillo Torres, a young woman struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of her beloved father.

Parra's writing is lyrical and evocative, drawing the reader into Castillo's inner world as she navigates her grief. The novel is structured around Castillo's attempts to complete her father's final project - growing a quince tree from seed. This metaphor for growth and healing is woven throughout the story, adding depth and meaning.

One of the novel's strengths is its portrayal of the Torres family. Parra captures the messy, complicated love that binds them together, even as they grapple with their individual pain. Castillo's relationships with her mother and siblings feel authentic and well-developed.
The novel also touches on themes of identity, particularly Castillo's mixed heritage and her desire to connect with her Latinx roots. Parra handles these elements with sensitivity and nuance.

While the pacing can be uneven at times, with some sections feeling a bit slow, "The Quince Project" is ultimately a powerful and moving exploration of grief, growth, and the enduring power of family. Parra's debut marks the arrival of a talented new voice in fiction.
Fans of character-driven stories that delve into the human experience will find much to appreciate in "The Quince Project." It's a promising start for Parra, and readers will eagerly await her next work.

Quince are a big deal, I've been to so many simple and extravagant and not a topic covered in alot of books, my kids are muti-racial books that center on Hispanic culture and events are not so common (except for soccer or Coco) so this book intrigued me from the he title and excited for my girls to be able to read and it was good - it was a little slow to grab me and pull me in but it got me, the story includes loss and grief for our main girlie's and how it affects the family, there's laughter and some love bits too, but a story of family was my favorite part! Loved it

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

Book 20 of 2024 - ☑️! Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books & huge thanks to Jessica Parra herself for an ARC of The Quince Project by Jessica Parra.

I heard Jessica Parra speak on a panel at a book event last year, and immediately felt a connection as fellow Cuban-American / 1/2 Cuban - I’ve had her YA debut novel - Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success - on my list, and I knew I wanted to read The Quince Project the second I heard about it. A book that’s a YA-spin on the movie The Wedding Planner, set in SoCal with an up-and-coming event planner who’s focusing on school events and Quinceañeras? Sign me up. This is yet another book I would have LOVED to read as a young adult.

In The Quince Project, Castillo “Cas” Torres wants nothing more than to get a prestigious internship for an event planner she’s always admired. In the midst of school events, her family life (where they’re all still reeling from the death of Cas’ mother), planning an “Unquince” for a local influencer to hopefully get that dream internship, and then realizing she’s falling for the chambelán - things go awry, and Cas has a lot to juggle and come to terms with.

Parra’s writing style is very vivid and fun, and her nods to our specific culture and other Latine cultures and communities is so beautifully done. Additionally, we’re definitely kindred spirits because I caught a Lord of the Rings reference and it’s the movie that made me want to work in entertainment. For those who love Disney & Star Wars, you’ll be absolutely delighted by all of the references and the intertwining of creative ways she incorporated those worlds into a Quince. Loved the representation here, especially with Latine cultures, as well as LGBTQIA+ rep.

5/5 ⭐️ and the 🌶️ rating is not applicable here as it’s YA. I can’t wait to attend one of the stops on Jessica’s book tour to celebrate this book in person! 🌹 🏰 📝 #NetGalley #TheQuinceProject

YA is super hit and miss for me, and this is unfortunately a miss - it feels really immature for me and I'm DNFing at 6% because I have no interest in continuing. I'm disappointed as the premise was intriguing, and I do think the exploration of grief would have been interesting to continue reading about, but I'm just not interested. Thanks anyway for the ARC.