Book Review: Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

This was a lovely debut novel from Chicana author Andrea Mosqueda. I’ll admit that the cover art is what drew me in and made me want to check out this book. I mean, just look at it! ❤️

The titular bisexual disaster is Maggie, and she has a problem: she needs to find an escort for her little sister’s quinceañera. Her choices are a minefield of emotion. First, there’s her ex-boyfriend, Matthew. Their relationship never really got the closure it needed, and he’s moved on and has a new girlfriend, but he’s recently been sending her mixed signals. Maybe he wants to ditch the new girl and try again with Maggie?

Option number two is Maggie’s best friend, Amanda. Maggie used to have quite the crush on her, and now the super-straight Amanda is acting like perhaps her identity isn’t quite as clear-cut as Maggie thought?

The third member of this little potential date pool is the new girl in school, Dani. Maggie is definitely crushing hard on her, but how is she supposed to know if Dani is even into girls?

Mosqueda does a lot of things right in this book. One of the first things that struck me was that the setting, the Rio Grande Valley, becomes its own character in the story. The lush descriptions of the landscape and the realistic portrayals of the towns and the people who dwell within them just drew me right in. I also loved and envied the close bonds between Maggie and her sisters. The birthday morning sister sandwiches made my heart flutter. Maggie is also blessed with a wonderful group of friends, all of them fully developed and filling a particular role in Maggie’s life. I’m hopeful that maybe some of the supporting cast might get their own stories one day.

While I mostly loved this book, I did feel like it was a little long. It took a while to get into the story, but it definitely picked up in the second half. Alas, it was also a bit predictable, as I had pretty much figured out the outcomes of each relationship well in advance. But maybe that’s because I read too much?? Also, a thing that’s definitely just a me problem: the music and pop culture and meme references are probably more suited to a (much) younger audience than this old lady. But I also worry that they will cause the book to become dated in the future.

But overall this was an excellent debut, and I look forward to seeing what Mosqueda will bring us in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.