I didn't want to write this review straight after finishing this book because not gonna lie I'm a little heated. I picked this up because it had a Latinx protagonist and I'm trying to read more books that feature latinx peoples. The plot sounded a bit like a telenovela to me but I still decided to give it a chance.

My gut kept telling me to drop this book because I knew I was only going to be disappointed but I stuck by it. Now before I get into the reason why this book was frustrating I want express the things I liked about it.

1. Dalila es una mujer fuerte. Dalila is a strong woman she wants to be independent she rebells against her father trying to shelter her. There were even hints of sexism that she shoots down and that was super relatable.

2. The wealth was juxtaposed with the poverty and Dalila acknowledges the privilege she has as the daughter of a lawyer.

Okay now for the things that felt off and were not my fave.

1. The spanish felt off. There is one instant where one of the characters refers to Dalila's house as a Ranchero. I think the author meant to write Rancho as that is the name for a ranch while ranchero refers to the person who works the land on said ranch.

2. Ryan is a boxer. His dream is to go pro and while he gets trained those scenes are pretty few. Not to mention he's kind of read to give it all up in order to be with Dalila. Which wasn't romantic at all to me.

3. I mentioned that I loved Dalila's independence but then Dalila starts telling Ryan to save her and to be her hero and that just had me confused. Either she was trying to be Romantic or I don't think she was as independent as I thought.

4. Ryan grows up in a border town. Pablo is his best friend so how does he not know any spanish. Felt unrealistic.

5. The ending. It felt rushed like everything was happening very fast. And then Ryan dies and honestly so does my patience with this book.

In the end I felt as the though this book was trying to be a Romeo and Juliet retelling as both of the family's are technically on opposite sides of the drug war. However that was revealed quite late and I think this book could have been better if that was all known from the beginning.

That was... interesting, to say the least. I'll admit the end surprised me, and it was definitely bold. I suppose I should give her credit for that.

Otherwise the romance was pretty meh. It was very instalovey. It IS possible to write a standalone that isn't instalove, but this definitely was. Like. Chill. You don't have to say you'll die for someone you've known for two weeks. I didn't particularly feel any chemistry between them, and when Dalila told him she was falling in love with him, I was like YOU BARELY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM!!!

I did listen to the whole thing in one sitting though on a long car drive. So it at least kept my attention for 6+ straight hours.