Book Review
Title: Mixtape To My Life
Author: Jake Martinez
Genre: YA/Romance/LGBTQ+
Rating: *****
Review: From the synopsis alone, I knew I had to read Mixtape To My Life, it reminded me of They Both Die At The End, minus the death part, with a ton of 80’s music culture throw in. I’m down for this. Mixtape starts in August 1994, where we meet our protagonist; Justin Ortega, who struggles with his Mexican family as a gay man. While he doesn’t seem openly gay his best friend, Benny knows and accepts him but it seems a lot of other people know making Justin wary of other people his own age. However, he is bullied at school because of his racial identity often being called Coconut, brown on the outside but white on the inside but being in the band helps Justin cope with these troubles until he learns he has to audition for the role of Captain which was rightfully his because some people didn’t feel that the process was fair enough. Justin also has a major obsession with 80’s music which he listens to on his Walkman.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Justin old friend Dominic moves in next door after his parents got divorced and Justin has never been able to forget how Dominic stood up for him when people said nasty things about his sexuality and how they were ripped apart by Dominic’s father. Their first meeting in year doesn’t go according to plan though when Benny thinks it is funny to pull Justin’s shorts down in front of Dominic and his mother. However, the dick jokes Dominic makes the next day certainly make up for it and you can feel the tension between this pair from the very beginning. I also have a feeling that Justin and Dominic are going to get closer since Benny is now dating Lila from the school band. I actually really enjoyed the scene where Justin complains he hasn’t even been kissed so Lila and Benny decide to fix that by giving Justin his first girl kiss and guy kiss which was adorable especially since Benny is really chilled about it and it doesn’t affect their friendship at all. Dominic gives Justin a ride to school the following day and they arrange to meet up for lunch although Dominic is a little disturbed by the fact that Justin’s dad is the football coach and he hopes that Justin’s dad doesn’t remember the incident from when they were younger since it might impact their new friendship. Alongside that Justin has to come up with a routine for his band try-out and creativity is encouraged so I think Justin is going to incorporate his love of music into his routine which will be fun to see. Justin’s dad might also pose an issue later on in the book, since he doesn’t seem to be that accepting of who Justin is and the fact that he doesn’t enjoy traditional “guy” things like sports and women.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, we get to see Justin and Dominic’s friendship develop further and you can practically feel something bigger growing between as this pair have a lot of history. As I predicted Justin’s father is an obstacle as he doesn’t approve of anything in Justin’s life until he starts hanging out with Dominic, as his father sees Dominic as a typical teenage boy not realising that Justin has far deeper feelings for his old friend than just friendship. This book seems to be flying by as we follow Justin in his day to day life and struggles but his time spent with Dominic has a far lighter tone than anything else in the novel. I have to say I really hate Ivan, he was the one who bullied Justin when he was younger and an almost identical situation takes place after Dominic’s return and I have the feeling he might be in denial about his own sexual orientation much like David is in Glee, the way he bullies Kurt was to make himself seem more manly and to deny the fact he was gay himself which would be a nice additional layer to the story especially if he gets some form of a redemption arc but I am not counting on it.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Justin still hasn’t even started his routine for the try-outs and this is made worse when Santos picks a fight claiming that everyone including Benny talks about Justin behind his back. Enraged, Justin confronts Benny about it who is equally angry since he has been friends with Justin since they were kids and gone through thick and thin with him. However, he calls Justin a faggot which is just cruel since Justin knows that Benny gets talked about because they are friends and often wonders why Benny even stays his friend and I have a feeling even if they do make up this is going to cause lingering tension between them. IN the time Justin and Benny aren’t talking, he goes out with Dominic to the movies and in his heightened emotional state he ends up kissing Dominic. While Dominic does kiss back, he goes unusually quiet making Justin think that it wasn’t the right thing to do. However, he doesn’t have time to dwell on it as Lila drags his ass over to Benny’s house so they can make up which I loved, but I was surprised by the reveal that Lila might be pregnant and she has trusted Justin with the information the same way he trusted her to keep his sexuality to herself. The friendship is real in this book, so much so I’ve been brought to tears more than once already.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the trio uses some serious skills to get their hands on the mixtape Dominic made for Justin and Justin realises that Dominic might not be out or even sure of his sexuality which he why he backed off after the kiss and wants to be there to support him no matter what. Justin finally decides to talk to Dominic and it turns out that Dominic was often beat up by his father for protecting Justin and when he came out as gay to his mother, they knew they had to leave to be safe. Dominic is regretful that he messed up their first kiss but definitely makes it up with their second was which an amazing thing to witness and make me squeal with joy for these boys. Things are still complicated between the friends as Lila has asked Justin to go with her for a pregnancy test but it is awkward when he learns that she was the one who came up with the nickname coconut but she didn’t mean it as an insult to him and felt really bad when Santos began using it. It turns out she isn’t pregnant which is a relief as I am sure Benny isn’t ready to be a father, but the most interesting scene for me was Justin and Dominic talk about their relationship and they are open about having sex although they both want to wait as they want it to be special.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the stakes are ramped up when Justin realises that either Cathy, Perla or Santos told Lila’s parents about the pregnancy test. He runs all the way back to the school and explodes on them which leads to him being banned from the try outs, so he quits. However, in the aftermath he has to deal with his father which is made even worse when he connects the dots that Justin is gay. While his father doesn’t hit him or even talk to him he can hear his parents arguing long into the night. Dominic arrives with Benny and Lila and they all run away together, even though this isn’t going to last it gives them some temporary relief from the struggles they have all been facing in their everyday lives.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, their bliss doesn’t last long when the police arrive to take them all home. As Justin rides home with his parents he explains why he ran away and about how he has been feeling and he is expecting his explode in anger but his father surprises him telling him that his uncle who died young was gay and that he ran away only to be killed by a bunch of guys and that his father didn’t care but he has always tried to protect him and he was trying to do the same thing with Justin. Justin is absolutely shocked by this and even more so when he learns that his grandparents didn’t wait his parents to end together but they did despite everything because they loved each other. The end of Mixtape to my Life was amazing as Justin builds a relationship with his parents that isn’t built of fear and anxiety, he has a proper relationship with Dominic and has some of the best friends he could hope for. I really enjoyed Mixtape to my Life and it was definitely one of the best LGBTQ+ books I have read in a long time and I will definitely be on the look out for more stuff from this author in the future. A wonderful 5 star read and I highly recommend it.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I was sent this book for review consideration by YA Bound Book Tours.
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