"Hate stands in it's own category. Its own genus. Hate is not an inverse of love. It's an absence."

The Truth Is by Nonieqa Ramos took me on a roller coaster ride. There was so much cultural authenticity in this one that there were moments that just felt too real. It brought back memories I didn't want to think about but it is also made me see that not much has changed as far as diversity, equity and inclusion.

Verdad, whose name translates to truth, was accurate to her moniker. Verdad's character was a great depiction of Puerto Rican teenager trying to overcome so much in life while navigating a world that wants to negate their existence. This story is overflowing with tough social issues but Ramos does a great job with the character development of Verdad and allows us to see their struggles with mental health and PTSD, their exploration of gender and sexuality, dealing with daily microaggressions and trying to pave their own road for the future. I really appreciated that Verdad made lots of mistakes and was allowed to take accountability and change.

This book is so important because it addresses so many relevant issues that affect teens. It gives voice to unique experiences that are often silenced. This book also offers so much representation that the recent onslaught of banning it is disheartening. This book includes:
✍ LGBTQIA+ rep
✍ Puerto Rican rep
✍ mental health & trichotillomania & PTSD
✍ school shootings, deaths & aftermath
✍ trans & homophobia
✍ exploration of sexuality & gender
✍ culture clash
✍ racism
✍divorce
✍ found family

Please support this author and the book. Buy it, share it and have the conversations it evokes. Diverse voices should be amplified not cancelled. This book is one that will definitely save a life and make someone feel seen. ( )

In this book the main character, Verdad, seeks self-understanding on multiple levels: gender, racial, cultural, religious, and political. Though some of the plotlines become convoluted and leave some characters without fully realized stories, the chaotic scenes highlight real and complex problems teens grapple with, which are sometimes downplayed as adolescent drama.

Verdad is a Puerto Rican teenager struggling with the loss of her best friend, Blanca. She lives with her hardworking and high expectations loving mom and she seems to be achieving in school, taking multiple AP classes and playing the violin, but she enters most rooms with the goal of avoiding attention, “If God made sense, He would have given every teenager the ability to camouflage” (Ramos, 2019, p. 27). As the story continues, the reader learns Blanca was killed in a shooting that Verdad survived and that she is dealing with a number of issues stemming from that experience along with issues related to growing up.

The main conflict in the book is within Verdad herself. It explores her shift from trying to be invisible to becoming an advocate for herself and others. The teens in the book are developing their identity while feeling the pressures that weigh all people down: expectations of loved ones, complex family relationships and discovery of one’s own faults. For example, one of my favorite quotes, Verdad’s thoughts in a class, “I mean, adults can’t even handle this #blacklivesmatter #alllivesmatter shit, but we have to make sense of it?” (p. 27).

The characters in the book are numerous and often serve as catalysts for Verdad’s self-examination. Danny is a new androgenous, trans-male, student who Verdad begins to develop romantic interest in and quickly realizes that her feelings are leading her to examine her own sexuality. Nelly, an African American student brings up BLM during an unsupervised activity in class and Verdad responds with #brownlivesmattertoo. The racial and political tension gives the reader an insight into the complex and often uncertain territory teens find themselves in.

Add to that religion, Verdad’s parents are both practicing Catholics, and themes of confronting sexual identity and LGBTQ youth homelessness and you have a book that takes on big topics!

The book is fast paced, but because it covers so much it at times glosses over some deep issues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lerner for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

**Content Warning: Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Mass Shooting, Sexual assault (brief mention), Animal Death (brief mention)**

I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. When I first started reading I was worried about what direction it would take, and how the trans character would be portrayed. But the book does very well with the characters, and the plot does get more interesting and isn’t solely focused on the romance part.

Verdad was an amazing character, simply because she was not perfect. She is just a teen who was slowly encountering things she had never dealt with before in her life. Verdad makes so many mistakes, constantly finds herself saying the wrong thing, but you get to see her grow and become more educated. I also really appreciated how her trauma led her to have all these specific coping mechanisms, and how easily they are brought up in the story. Even if at first it doesn’t click for the reader that that is why she does those things, you do connect the dots after a bit.

Danny’s character was great, and I really love seeing a trans character who is so true and comfortable with their identity. I’m so thankful the whole “I hate myself for being trans” thing was fully avoided in this book. I also really adored the rest of the Underdogs too, and the diversity of their identities.

So I was a tiny bit confused at first with some of the formatting. Since the parts where Blanca is speaking are different, at first I wasn’t fully aware on why the formatting had changed like that. I did really loved Blanca as a character, and enjoyed her chiming in on whatever was going on. Despite her not fully being there she becomes such a major part of the story.

The plot itself definitely took a more interesting turn halfway through. This book deals with a whole lot of heavy subjects, and seeing Verdad having to navigate through all of that was good. Not only because she learns more about the world, but because it actively shows her changing her mind/opinions on a lot of things. You actively get to see her calling herself out when she thinks or says something that is wrong or privileged. Through all these experiences she also starts finding new parts of her identity.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! It has some very sweet romance, but it also is balanced out with some very relevant social issues. ( )