The Luis Ortega Survival Club follows a young teenager, Arianna Ruiz or Ari, and her trauma after getting raped by Luis Ortega at a high school party. Ari is autistic and has selective mutism. At their high school, Ari is known as being a quiet person and therefore is pretty isolated from many of her peers. On the other hand, Luis is well known for being a “ladies’ man” and is often celebrated for it. When rumors start spreading about Ari hooking up with Luis, Ari is sexually harassed by her male peers, which continues to isolate and hurt her. Ari begins to receive notes that say #MeToo along with a tumblr username. She begins talking to the tumblr user and finds an unexpected friend through this experience. She is told to meet in room 205 if she is interested in getting back at Luis. At first, she isn’t interested but decides to go, after being frustrated with her experience. Room 205 reveals a support group of other people that have survived abuse from Luis. Suddenly, Ari has the opportunity to find friendship through her trauma and grow as a survivor.
“There are so many layers that were beautifully woven together to deliver such an important story. . . Reyes’ is extremely talented in developing characters that have an in-depth background. ”
It’s no surprise that this is a five star read. There are so many layers that were beautifully woven together to deliver such an important story, especially for younger audiences. Reyes’ is extremely talented in developing characters that have an in-depth background. Ari’s autism and selective mutism is often discussed along with the discussion of consent. Ari does not like being touched, without warning, therefore, consent for any physical touch is often asked for by her friends and family. I loved that discussions of consent were included in this book because I have not seen much representation on how deep consent can go. It is often talked about in worst case scenarios, but it is important to keep in mind that consent is necessary for any physical interaction, such as touching someone’s shoulder.
Ari’s family also play a key factor in the story. Although her parents live together, they are experiencing trust issues, after her mother cheated on her father. The different family dynamics are illustrated through Ari’s relationships with each of her parents. With her mother, she is often frustrated as she relies on Ari as her “friend” and treats her like a therapist. This is extremely difficult for Ari as she is not a professional therapist and is experiencing her own difficulties. Meanwhile, her relationship with her father is completely different as he is hesitant to discuss his emotions. This depiction of family dysfunction is so important because most of the time, families are depicted as a perfect and harmonious relationship but child/parent relationships can be difficult.
Ari’s friends warmed my heart the entire way. Although she had a rough start with Shawni, she quickly becomes an ally that supports Ari no matter what. She always asks for permission to touch her and always has a pen and paper ready for Ari to use. Even though their friend group revolves around exposing Luis, I love that early on there is a moment where they all state that they want to have friendships outside of their shared trauma. This made the friend group extremely heartwarming and made me so happy that Ari had a new support system.
Due to their talent of telling stories from such important perspectives, Sonora Reyes has become an auto-buy author for me. This book reminded me of the movie, John Tucker Must Die, but with an enormous amount of depth and layers that made it even better!
Content warnings: bullying, slut shaming, sexual harassment, rape culture, and the aftermath of an off-page rape.
Sonora Reyes is a queer second-generation immigrant who attended a Catholic high school. They write fiction full of queer and Latinx characters in a variety of genres. Sonora is also the creator and host of #QPOCChat, a monthly community-building Twitter chat for queer writers of color. They currently live in Arizona, in a multigenerational family home with a small pack of dogs who run the place.
Mariana Felix-Kim (she/her) lives in Washington, D.C. with her lovely cat, Leo. When she is not working in the environmental science field, Mariana is constantly reading. Her favorite genres include non-fiction, thrillers, and contemporary romances. Mariana is half Mexican and half Korean. You can find her on Instagram: @mariana.reads.books
