ONE YEAR OF UGLY

Inés del Castillo gives spirited voice to absolutely everyone in this packed first novel about a flamboyant Venezuelan family living illegally in Trinidad. Everything is fine until a gangster named Mr. Ugly forces the family to pay off their late aunt's debt by working in his strip club. Del Castillo gives our protagonist, the feisty 20-something daughter named Yola, a nice mix of sarcasm, drama, and sweetness. She also handles with flair Yola's love of swearing and over-the-top descriptions. The rest, from Yola's in-your-face mother to the menacing Mr. Ugly, are rendered just as believably. With some discussion of the plight of refugees intertwined with the story's wackiness, the audiobook is as timely as it is eye-rollingly amusing. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2020]