The third and final part of my Fat Triptych was Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero.
This one didn’t make the rounds quite as much; I think I only saw it on one blog, but that one review was enough to get me intrigued. And then my US library had an ebook copy!
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces focuses on Gabi Hernandez’ senior year of high school, told in the form of her diary. On the one hand, I could summarize it as high school drama, and that would be way more glib than the book deserves. On the other hand, I could summarize it as an Issues Novel tackling things like racism, addiction, body image, teen pregnancy, sexual assault, and family trauma, and that would be far more of a downer than the book actually is. Really, in the end, the story is about a year in the life of a very particular human who is going through very particular things, and that’s what keeps Gabi from becoming an overwrought or anvilicious After School Special. I’m pretty sure that high school me would have respected Gabi and related to her; grown up me wanted to protect and encourage her.
No surprise then when I say that Gabi was a welcome palate cleanser after Dietland. Where Plum was an absolute blank void who only served as an excuse for Walker to lecture her readers, Gabi is an actual character. She has a personality, she has strengths and weaknesses, she has opinions, she has interests. Gabi isn’t a manifesto, and Quintero doesn’t have an axe to grind. She just has a character—people—that she cares about.
It’s also refreshing to read a YA novel that isn’t a stealth attempt to sell books to fully adult readers looking for a bit of lazy, easy escapism. Gabi is actually for young people, and I mean that as a compliment and in the best way possible. It’s not up to me to say that Quintero understands the readers she’s targeting, but it’s clear that she respects them.
