Miss Meteor | Tehlor Kay Mejia, Anna-Marie McLemore (English review)

There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.

Miss Meteor | Tehlor Kay Mejia, Anna-Marie McLemore | 320 pages | HarperTeen

I received a digital ARC of the book as part of the HEAR OUR VOICES book tour.

★★★★☆

If you feel like there isn't enough representation of mexican american or LGBTQ characters in young adult books you need to read Miss Meteor now.

Miss Meteor is a YA book written by the authors Tehlor Kay Mejia (We Set the Dark on Fire) and Anna-Marie McLemore (When the Moon Was Ours) who share with us the story of Chicky and Lita, two former friends who decide to join forces to win the beauty pageant of their town called Miss Meteor. Each one motivated by a different reason, little by little they begin to recover their lost friendship and discover themselves throughout this adventure.

It is a book that can be read quite quickly and it's told from the point of view of Lita and Chicky which makes you connect with the characters more easily and get to know them first hand. Also, if you like the ¨friends to lovers¨ trope, I'll let you know that we don't get only one, but two friends to lovers relationships in this book that, although they are a big part of the story, they doesn't overshadow the main storyline which is great.

I have never wanted to win this pageant more. It's time to move past the secrets and the fear. It's time to let this town see who we really are

Miss Meteor is the type of book we were waiting for, there is LGBTQ representation but it's not the main focus of attention in the story and it was handled in the most natural way that I have seen in a young adult book so far. The story has a variety of characters that grow throughout the plot and although there are many, the authors managed to develop relationships between them perfectly and I did not feel like there was someone forgotten or left out.

The book also raises topics for discussion such as what we are willing to do when we have nothing to lose, how there is discrimination and racism on a day-to-day basis and also how our actions, no matter how small they may seem, affect the people around us.

I have nothing to lose. And if the sky's going to take me back, I'm going out as a girl who goes after what she wants.

The only reason why I didn't give it five stars is because I had the idea that it was a contemporary book but it has some touches of magical realism that I didn't expect at all and this made me lose track of the story.

Even so, if you a enjoy a classic young adult book, without a doubt you shouldn't pass this one up since it has everything that a good book should have: excellent characters, a lot of diversity and a great ending.

As part of the Hear Our Voices tour, I have created a playlist inspired by Miss Meteor where we can find some Latin artist, as well as songs that inspire us to be ourselves. I also shared earlier today 15 thoughts I had while reading the book over on Instagram, you can check that post here.