I was provided Las Biuty Queens by Ivan Monalisa Ojeda as an ARC through NetGalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own and thanks is extended to the author, publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to do so.
Drawing from his/her own experience as a trans performer, sex worker, and undocumented immigrant, Ivan Monalisa Ojeda chronicles the lives of Latinx queer and trans immigrants in New York City. Whether she is struggling with addiction, clashing with law enforcement, or is being subjected to personal violence, each character choses her own path of defiance, often responding to her fate with irreverent dark humour. What emerges is the portrait of a group of friends who express unquestioning solidarity and love for each other, and of an unfamiliar, glittering and violent, New York City that will draw readers in and swallow them whole.
I always find short stories fascinating when the stories interconnect and it gives the reader the opportunity to really get to know the characters in a variety of settings and this really didn’t disappoint.
In the book we see the characters picking up clients to try to survive whilst also dreaming about being beauty queens and finding love, we see them persecuted and discriminated against by the police as well as hiding in fear from ICE as well as hard hitting topics such as mental illness and addictions.
The reader also gets to see the past through the characters eyes as they think back on the struggles and hard times they had in their home towns from poverty stricken settings, bullying and societal constraints and toxic masculinity.
The author has done something rare that speaks volumes for their talent which is take a topic that should be dark and heavy reading and made it light, witty and engaging. The characters were loveable and I found myself championing them all the way through. I would highly recommend this book to everyone, even if this isn’t your usual type of reading. You will not regret it. A solid 4 stars
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