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Summary: An exciting look at why Latinas are and are not all the same
Review: Great book! I could not put it down. Valdes does a good job of tying together the cultural differences of each of the characters and how those differences help shape their individual identities. Can't wait for her second book.
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Summary: Fun and Fiesty Read
Review: Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's debut novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club is a sizzling yet not entirely substantial read. It follows the lives of 6 latina women who were best friends in college in the media program that call each other Sucias, or spanish for Dirty.While the first 40 pages are somewhat drab, as you get into the novel which is divided into parts for each woman, you find yourself truly interested and rooting for each character. Essentially most of the conflicts in each girls life revolves around an aspect of their love life, but there is a more far reaching element to Valdes-Rodriguez story; the question of the place of each of these women in the world, as an immigrant in some cases, or as an outsider in another respect, or in terms of their position as a Latino woman. The 6 women include Lauren (a newspaper columnist who makes destructive decisions), Usnavys (a larger charity-working woman who loves to flaunt her assets and isn't happy to settle down with anything), Rebecca (uptight and miserable magazine exec), Elizabeth (Colombian news anchor that is placed in the news spotlight for a secret), Sara ('happily' married with some bad consequences), and Amber (Mexica movement princess who is seeking a music career in her hippie-type lifestyle). While reading this story, which does capture your attention as a guilty pleasure, you might find yourself dissatisfied with the level of language used, the book itself is not one of considerable merit. However the spanish terms and feel to the book are very connected and give it its own character, and afetr finishing it I found myself using a few of the terms and slangs picked up throughout. When I looked for a theme in the book that all women, latino and others alike, could relate to, I found that a big part of the plot was what makes these women happen, and in turn had me asking what makes me happy. Essentially Valdes-Rodriguez shows that the thing that gives each sucia their happiness, is freedom - on many levels. So just like each Sucia finds her path to freedom, you have you freedom to choose whether or not you want to read this novel. A great fun read for the summer that gives you some perspective into the Latina world in a variety of settings!
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Summary: I really liked it!!
Review: This book was really funny, and it was one of the first books that got me hooked onto reading "women's novels". It also made me take an interest in the Spanish language. I thought the characters were really funny, and I ended up finishing the book in only a few days. I had a good time reading it!
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Summary: WONDERFUL BOOK
Review: This book is fun and entertaining. Hard to put down. I love reading books that I can relate too. The topics and situations are real. LOVE IT! Enough Said.
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Summary: The Latin Sex and the City
Review: This is the best book I have read in a long time. The characters are so real their personalities practically jump off the page. I felt like I could identify with each individual and I felt like the group of ladies were my own group of friends. I didn't expect a Latin Terry McMillian novel. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez and McMillian are two authors that share a common bond of being minority women writers. That's it. I will not compare the two authors. I will just say that this book is great. It is about women and their lives. To me, it's like a colorful Sex and the City. So I will say that if you are a Sex and the City gal then you will DEFINITELY love this book!
Rating: 
Summary: If not looking for fluff, you'll be disappointed
Review: I was expecting a Latina Terry McMillan but thought the conversations were not that witty, the ending was predictible, and the writing was just not that clever. I agree with the other comments about the stereotypes; the story contained too many of them and they were exxagerated and inaccurate - a Puerto Rican as wide as a bus?! Even with all the problems, if you don't expect much, you'll be entertained.
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Summary: May not be Shakespear but it keeps it real
Review: I loved the way the Author made the characters so realistic in this novel. In real life people do have stereotypical views and do have certain beliefs about other ethnic groups whether they are correct or not. If this book had every character be 100% politically correct it would have been extremely BORING. If you want a super-intellectual novel this may not be for you but if you love books about love, life, friendship and REALITY, then you'll love this book.
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Summary: makes a diservice to young girls prone to eating disorders
Review: I started reading this book knowing it was not going to be an intellectual kind of book but rather a fun, light one. However, by page 23 there were like 3-4 mentions of bulimia and throwing up as an accepted way to be thin. My daughter just spent 7 weeks at an eating disorder unit at a prestigious hospital. She had anorexia but I met many bulimics there and the damage bulimia causes to the body of a young woman is really frightening. Young girls reading this book might just get the idea that throwing up is ok in order to look thin but in the end bulimia just makes the person really, really sick. The salivary glands swell up and they also end up with chipmunk cheeks, which is the opposite of looking thin. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
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Summary: Save your money!!
Review: Stereotypes busted? Yeah, right. More like stereotypes ad nauseum reinforced. According to this ridiculous book: "...all the Puerto Rican ladies you see on the street are wide as a damn bus." - Yeah, right, which is why a Puerto Rican actress such as JLo is consistently voted internationally as having one of the best bodies in Hollywood, and there have been 4 Puerto Rican Miss Universes, the same number as the famed Venezuelan beauty queens. (Oh, and JLo bought the movie rights for this book, which is absolutely baffling.) "...chronic, mother-sanctioned infidelity among Latin men. It's not just a stereotype." - Sure, 100% of Latin men cheat. "...I know what a Pueblo Indian looks like. And Rebecca Baca, with her high cheekbones and flat little butt, fits the description." - Sounds like a stereotype, doesn't it? "Nothing thrills me more than when people...assume I'm from a typical, moneyed Cuban family in Miami." - Typical Cubanspeak, since ALL Miami Cubans are moneyed, obviously. The stereotypes run rampant throughout the book, but the above are just a few examples. Then you have the blatant errors that appear throughout the book, such as: "..though nearly half the nation of Columbia is black, and same with Costa Rica, Peru and Cuba." - According to the CIA World Factbook, the actual percentages are Columbia (mulatto + black + mixed black-Amerindian = 21%), Costa Rica (3%), Peru (black, Japanese, Chinese and other = 3%) and only Cuba is over 50%
(mulatto + black = 62%). "To the exiles, there is no country more fascinating and important than Cuba,...with a population of eleven million. That's about two million less than live in New York City." - Since when does NYC have 13 million people living there? It's more like 8 million. The publishers paid the author an advance of approx. $500,000, an obvious overpayment for such rubbish passing as "New Latina Literature." Don't make the same mistake. If you must absolutely read this book, save your money and borrow it at the library and laugh at what a joke a "progressive" half-Latina who has said in interviews that "There's a part of me that wants to vomit to be called a Latina writer..." thinks would appeal to up-and-coming educated Latinas. Not worth the paper it's written on....
Rating:
Summary: Grag you amigas and hug'em ya'll
Review: This book is great, it's funny and tender it shows that Latinas can come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and economic backgrounds. It demonstrates that a Latina's best alliles are her amigas, no matter how the lives of these woman change they stick together.
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