Playing with Boys : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A novel with serious themes underneath a light and fun tone
Review: Alexis Lopez is a transplanted Texas conservative living among the liberal left in PLAYING WITH BOYS, the latest novel by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, whose first was the bestselling THE DIRTY GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB. Alexis manages Latino musicians and her most famous band is the Los Chimpances del Norte, a Norteno band that is world famous among those of Hispanic persuasion.

The opening chapter has poor Alexis worrying over the band, all of whom are misbehaving badly at an exclusive party honoring the band members who had just donated $5,000,000 to UCLA's Center for Chicano Studies. The band, dressed in brightly colored outfits with huge belt buckles, is embarrassing Alexis, who believes in dressing conservatively in public, especially at these high-society functions. She also believes that those with money would know how to behave appropriately, but this rule does not seem to apply to "The Chimps." These men are millionaires, yet here they are at this fancy party groping the female guests.

One of the women who the bandleader, Filoberto, decides to grope is a famous Latina actress, Marcella Gauthier Bosch, known for those popular Mexican telenovelas. Alexis doesn't recognize the actress at first, because Marcella is working as a server at the party. When she explains to Alexis who she really is, Alexis is star-struck. At the same time, Alexis does not understand why this wonderful actress is working at a party when she should be the star of the party.

After Alexis saves Marcella from the hands of Filoberto, she bumps into Samuel, who had helped her set up the party and the donation to UCLA. Standing next to him is a very petite woman who turns out to be his wife. She's very quiet, shy and insecure, but once they get to talking, Alexis finds out that Olivia has written the script for an intriguing movie.

The three women's lives become entwined, as Alexis decides to buy Olivia's script and make it into a movie starring Marcella as the woman who portrays Olivia's mother, Soledad. Soledad and Olivia had witnessed the murder of Olivia's father in San Salvador many years ago, and this movie is the story of Soledad's life. As the deal is inked in pen, the three women bond and become unlikely friends.

In the meantime, Alexis is having boyfriend problems, and Daniel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning news reporter, becomes rather psychotic after she decides to break up with him. Soon after the breakup, she meets (by accident, literally) a handsome Cuban named Vladimir (Goyo), who takes the reader to Cuba and the story of his girlfriend, who is still trapped there, living in an oppressed country without any freedoms. Alexis feels an immediate attraction to this man and has no idea that their lives will soon intersect in more ways than one.

PLAYING WITH BOYS takes on a light tone throughout, but underneath the comedy lies a more serious theme. While Alexis's Hispanic friends are living a life taken for granted in the heart of Los Angeles, the stories of Soledad and Goyo remind them of what it was like for their friends and families before they came to the United States. Olivia suffers through reoccurring nightmares of what she experienced as a child in her homeland of El Salvador, while Goyo dreams of his lost love trapped in Cuba. And through it all, Alexis, Olivia and Marcella become friends despite their differences. What they share are universal feelings about men, relationships and what it is like to be a Hispanic American living in California.

It may take a while for the reader to get into the novel, as it takes some time to set up the characters and the plot. But once the reader gets past this, PLAYING WITH BOYS will keep one absorbed until the very end. The author does a good job describing Southern California, from the Valley to East Los Angeles and in between. The many different characters, both major and minor, are fun, fully developed and real. The story itself is original, with flashbacks to Goyo's and Olivia's childhoods, although the ending may be obvious to most readers. This reviewer gives PLAYING WITH BOYS four stars out of five and will definitely get a copy of THE DIRTY GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB.

--- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: "Playing" around
Review: Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez cornered the Latina chick-lit market with her debut, "The Dirty Girls Social Club." But she hits the sophomore slump in "Playing With Boys," an overstretched story about defying the cliches that dog Hispanic women. It's a good idea, just not executed well.

Alexis Lopez is a slightly overweight talent agent, with a nasty "gangsta" boyfriend and a longing to break Meximericans into the spotlight. She finds her possible breakout star in Marcella Gauthier Bosch, a stunning rich wild child who wants to be a serious actress, but keeps getting offered roles as "maids" and "crack whores."

As Alexis struggles to find Marcella an outstanding role with no jiggle, she encounters Olivia. Olivia is a dowdy, traumatized young mom, with a crumbling marriage. But she's also written the brilliant "Soledad," a screenplay that chronicles her mother's life -- the perfect vehicle for Marcella. All three women struggle to bring "Soledad" to the screen, and struggle just as hard to deal with their delicate relationships with men...

At first glance, this sounds like a feisty romp, with three very different Latinas plotting to challenge the behemoth that is Hollywood. It's a cool idea, and one ripe to be explored. Unfortunately, Valdes-Rodriguez doesn't give it everything it needs to really bloom. There's too much book here for too little plot -- it putters out about halfway through the book, and just sort of limps to a finale.

This is probably the only book I've ever read where the women think about sex about fifty times more often than the men. In fact, at times it seems to be all the women think about -- even the joyless Olivia checks out porn. If Valdes-Rodriguez wants to portray Hispanic women in a uncliched light, she might want to avoid that. Her writing is solid enough, with looks at the different lifestyles and social positions of L.A., with a look at how hard it is to get a stereotype-free role in Hollywood if you aren't a blonde Caucasian.

While Valdes-Rodriguez succeeds in making three radically different women, only one of them is really likable. Olivia is as faded as her sneakers -- she doesn't register a single emotion you can identify with. Marcella is a little too insistently wild and decadent, not to mention bitter. The ultra-nice Alexis is much more likable, with her seemingly hopeless love for a sexy Cuban rapper and body image problems.

Valdes-Rodriguez had a good idea, just not the characters and plot to flesh it out. "Playing with Boys" is a dullish, overstretched slice of chick-lit, without much to make it come to life.

Rating:
Summary: Spicy Story - Great Latin Book
Review: Awesome book. Highly recommend I wish it was a movie!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Entertainment
Review: I have read both of Alisa's books and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. The characters are humorous, smart, strong-willed, along with alittle insecure. I don't know if non-hispanics will laugh in all the places I laughed, because some of the humor is in the hispanic slang or little sayings we have in our culture, but I love the way the book is written to appeal to the average reader and not to literary critics. If you are looking for a fun book to read this is it.

I am a professional hispanic female who averages reading 3 books a month, and found this book to be very entertaining. The book I read previously was "The Lovely Bones", which I thought was an excellent book as well.

Rating:
Summary: "Playing With Boys"
Review: I just loved Alisa Valdes-Rodriguezs'books;"The dirty girls social club", and "Playing with Boys". I just finished "Playing with boys", and can't wait for her next book. Her books deal with issues that every Latina deals with. Just like the characters in her book, Latina's don't want to be characterized just as house wives barefoot and pregnant, cooking tortillas for there men. Alisa hits on the modern Latina living with two cultures. Striving to be succesfull and independant, but at the same time keeping their culture. Her characters deal with the same sterotypes and discrimination that Latinas (heck, women) deal with everyday. In a male dominated society it is nice to read a book that details the success of women. Not just women, but Latina's. As intertaining and funny as her books are, these books have a message. Her characters are succefull and vulnerable at the same time, and not always like-able. I think that we all have a "Marcella" in our own group of friends. I liked this book because I can identify with the characters. I enjoy how Valdes-Rodriguez sometimes writes in "Spanglish", with sayings that don't tranfer to english to well, but that doesn't stop her from writing how she would speak. I probably enjoy it because that is how my girlsfriends and I would talk to each other. "Playing With Boys" is a story of friendship, heartache, and determination that I would recommend to anyone wanting to read a modern, entertaining, funny, culterally rich book. I can't wait to read her next novel.

Rating:
Summary: loved it!
Review: I loved, loved, this book. It made me miss CA so much. (i live in tn now) I can't wait to read her next novel.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: This book is amazing, Alisa is a wonernful author. I truly recommend this book to anyone and everyone but particularly Latinas. Love it and its a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and funny!
Review: This book took awhile to get into, but our three main characters end up becoming the best of friends and discovering life together. This was my first book by this author but it won't be my last. It was graphic at some points but I enjoyed the story none the less!


Rating:
Summary: NOT The Dirty Girls Social Club
Review: Unfortunately this book has NONE of the spark of the authors' first novel, which I truly enjoyed. This novel is cliche' all the way in regards to LA, and I didn't find the characters realistic or even likeable. The main character is a slightly self-righteous Mex-Texan Republican entertainment rep/agent, who has recently relocated to LA. If that is not enough in itself- she constanly uses annoying phrases like "geez-Louise" and "darlin'". She is truly a loathsome creature-one of her fav food groups is lard- ugh.. The dialogue is completely unbelievable and the characters do not mesh at all. The only likeable character is Olivia and she is a side act in this awful book. This is a huge flop. If you like the sassy "Dirty Girls Social Club", and you have good taste- you do not want to buy this book! No sass and just plain dull.

Rating:
Summary: Dumb
Review: Words fail me...this is probably the worst book I've ever read in my life.

Let's start with the dialogue. Nobody anywhere talks like these characters. I don't think the author knows anything about the groups of people she's writing about. The speech tries to be cool and hip, but it's just sorry.

The rest of it is just a hodge podge of offensive ethnic stereotypes. Nothing new there.

Save your money.