Rating: 
Summary: Sucia Sisterhood
Review: Sassy and spirited, with a Latina spin on all the other girlfriend books (Angry Housewives, the YaYas, the gals on Grand Avenue, Blue Bottle Club, Friendship Cake, Sweet Potato Queens, to name a few) that celebrates the power of women and their friendships and the coming together from different backgrounds. It was very interesting to me to move outside my "buddy list" (middle aged white women) and meet "the dirty girls" (sucias). A very regionally diverse cluster of college buddies who stay in touch after their graduation from Boston University. Living in Texas where golden brown skin often times means "immigrated at some point from Mexico" - I was less aware of the cultural differences between Cubans, Columbians, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, as well as the many various backgrounds of the less recent immigrants and/or natives of this country. Ms. Valdez-Rodriguez shows the reader the many different points of reference and I promise that I learned something. While the writing is light and fun, some heavy subjects are addressed, and each sucia personality is conveyed in a way where they quite become real, warts and all. Latino males do not fare particularly well, although the Sucias do manage to find a few keepers. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and would highly recommend it. Actually, I am hoping the Dirty Girls will reappear in a few years time, with more interesting life experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A Book that Raises the Bar!
Review: Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez's novel raises the bar for Latina literature. As Lauren notes in the first chapter, these women aren't the Latinas we're so used to seeing in the old-school Chicana novels; they're unapologetically middle-class and unabashedly educated. The author brilliantly weaves together diverse perspectives on Latino life via her characters. While some may be quick to call the novel "lite," it gets to the heart of what life is for many of us who've been in similar situations. This is a book to which college educated Latinos and Latinas can finally relate. I am thankful that Valdes-Rodriguez did not feel the pull of political correctness that has stiffled a great deal of Latino/a writers.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and FUN Read!
Review: This book is told from each sucia's point of view as time passes. It starts out with Lauren, who introduces the sucias, and in turn is told by each other sucia, and we find out more about them. Each section lasts about 20 pages, and the different perspectives keep the writing style fresh. Something that also kept the book interesting for me was how personality is given to EVERY character. Whether it's someone passing by a sucia on the street, or a protagonist, the reader is sucked in and feels like they're really there. It's amazing how the vivid imagery really attached me to the people like I was part of the circle. This is really a book about changing. Each woman goes through a change in her life, whether she decides to or not. They all end up changing for the better, and it's definitely an inspirational read. Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez
Rating: 
Summary: No literary value, but a nice beach read
Review: This charming book is as fluffy as it gets, with little imagination or plot invention, but some charming dialogue. The author caused something of a stir when, on California's _Hispanics Today_ television programme, she referred to her white relatives as "white trash" because a couple of them lived in a trailer park. But a single classist and racist statement from a person who had just recently become a millionaire should not detract from the enjoyment one gets from this book. The author has said she was a victim of systematic racial profiling by her employer, the Boston Globe, and that the paper did not profile its white employees; so one should understand that she has herself been a victim and is simply fighting back/passing the buck.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It!
Review: I loved this book. As a person of color who is not Hispanic, it was interesting to see that other ethnic minorities struggle with similar issues. But best of all, Valdes-Rodriguez wrote a great story with some interesting characters: Lauren, the half Cuban newspaper writer who catches her big head Texican fiance all out there; Usnavys, the barrio-fabulous woman who can't see a good man for all the dogs; Amber, the aspiring Mexica (learn something new everyday!) singer; Sara, the Cuban/Jewish battered housewife (!); and Rebecca, the uptight wannabe white chick. I thank Valdes-Rodriguez for bringing to light the diversity of color, opinion and lifestyle in the Hispanic community and I really thank her for making me laugh while she did it! Great book.
Rating: 
Summary: A worthy first effort, but still lacking
Review: This novel was touted as one of the hottest of the year, with St. Martin's Press plunking down nearly half a million dollars for it and J-Lo's production company optioning it for a film. With all that hype, it's hard to live up to expectations. The Dirty Girls Social Club sallies forth valiantly, but it still falls short in many ways.You've probably heard the plot before: six Latinas trying to make their mark in a world that wants to lump them into one category and expects them either to be doormats or sassy sexpots a la Rosie Perez. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez drives home the point that Latinas can be black, white, gay, straight, smart, stupid, successful, lazy, and troubled, just like the rest of the world, with her six vastly different sucias. It may not sound like a novel idea, but Valdes-Rodriguez seems to think it is. Once a journalist at the Boston Globe and LA Times, Valdes-Rodriguez has a good time poking fun at the ignorance of most modern media, as well as most white people, but her snappy prose and humorous moments tend to drown out the larger issues she wants to raise, and in creating characters one can often laugh or roll their eyes at, she makes them harder to take seriously. Where Valdes-Rodriguez struggles is when she wants to make a serious point. She practically mocks Amber, the aspiring rock musician for her seemingly out-of-date Meshica movement ideals and over-the-top posturing and then turns on a dime to insist that Amber was right all along. Her secondary characters also tend to fall into stereotype as well, such as the cheating Latino boyfriend, the abusive husband, the Dominican drug dealer, etc. While she makes some compelling arguments about America's obsession with (and to another extent, its ignorance of) race and racial identity and examines the plight of poor Latin immigrants in America, she spends so little time on both of these that the reader tends to gloss over them en route to the narrative. The characters' individual voices tend to get lost in the shuffle of the author's casual writing style. To remedy this, I would recommend the audio book, read by the author, in which each girls accent and speech pattern is allowed its own space. In short, Valdes-Rodriguez has made a splash with this book. What remains to be seen is whether she can alter the general consciousness with her future work.
Rating: 
Summary: Dirty girl junk!
Review: Probably the worst book I've ever read. Only gave it 1 star because there was no option for a 0 star, or negative stars. She trivializes serious issues of poverty and racism faced by Latinos, and most of her characters are extremely unlikeable, especially Lauren, Usnavys and Rebecca. The book has done more of a disservice in its representation of Latinas than actually breaking stereotypes as it was suppose to. I read certain lines of the books to my Latina friends, and they couldn't believe such garbage had actually been written and hyped up as the Latina Holy Grail!
Not worth the paper it was written on! Pass this dirty girl junk disguised as literature.
Rating:
Summary: Misses the Mark
Review: What I immediately noticed about this book was the choppy writing and fake sounding dialogue. The voice of every character sounds the same. Where the book really goes wrong, however, is with Rebecca and Amber. The history and sensibility are off-base, and it's obvious that some serious issues about which the author knows very little are being trivialized and mocked. I guess that's what passes for wit. The book drives home the point (over and over again) that people labeled as Hispanic are all different, and come from various countries and backgrounds. The factual errors really drive that point home. Having a Spanish surname doesn't automatically make one an expert on all of the other Hispanic ethnic groups. If you decide to read this take it with a grain of salt, not as an inside look at Hispanics.
Rating:
Summary: blogging isn't a novelistic form....
Review: This isn't writing, it is thoughtless blogging. But if you like soap operas and reality tv, perhaps you'll enjoy it. There are a few real women writers out there, but AVR is not one of them, not yet. However, identity politics seems to bring in a bigger paycheck than writing....so why shouldn't she cash in on that?
Rating:
Summary: Smart and Sassy Chick-lit
Review: As the author of the chick-lit novel, Hey Dorothy You're Not in Kansas Anymore, I was thoroughly entertained by The Dirty Girls Social Club. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the sucias (dirty-girls) as Valdes-Rodriguez provided readers with a glimpse into each of the six friends' lives. The Dirty Girls Social Club is a fun book written in a smart and sassy style. Valdes-Rodriguez also manages to bring attention to some important issues faced by Latinas in the USA. I'm surprised by some of the negative reactions to this book. Reading it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours of my time. I highly recommend it!
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