Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

Xochitl Gonzalez' second novel had a lot to live up to. Her first, Olga Dies Dreaming, was on the best of 2022 books lists in several places as well as winning a handful of awards. But do not fear, Anita de Monte Laughs Last was a Time, NPR, and Goodreads Best Book of 2024 selection and was chosen as Reese's Book Club's pick for March of 2024. It mentions alcoholism, body shaming and bullying, domestic emotional and physical abuse, an eating disorder and fatphobia, infidelity, misogyny, racism, violence, gaslighting, dysphoria, classism, and murder. While I don't believe the murder scene was particularly graphic, it did hit in a way few other novels have managed.

Anita de Monte was an up and coming Cuban born artist when she met Jack Martin. Marrying him seemed like a good idea at the time, but it really derailed her work and her sense of self. What was always a passionate relationship turned toxic and it ended when Jack threw her out of a 33rd floor window....allegedly. What really happened that night and what happened to all of her work afterward? Over a decade later, Raquel Toro is at Brown and about to write her dissertation about Jack Martin but she just doesn't connect with the topic. Not until she finds out about his murder trial and his artist wife whose name has been swept under the rug. She decides then that Anita de Monte's name will be resurrected.

This novel really caught me at the beginning, I listened to it and the narrators were animated in a way that I have rarely heard, but I liked. The characters were fleshed out, although I found them all unlikeable until the end. The writing was good, in fact, it has a line I really enjoyed. "She wondered if perhaps the difference between youth and middle age was not simply having gray hair or stubble, but wearing the pretense of 'having it together'." It even made me say "gross" out loud once! But goodness did it drag on! We were sixty percent through the book before Raquel even heard Anita's name! The first three quarters seemed to drag on and the last quarter went by in a flash. There was a point a little over halfway where we took a bit of a supernatural turn that I did not expect and really threw me, but I ended up enjoying that part the most. There were parts of this book that I really related to and understood, but overall it fell flat. All in all, not my favorite read of the year.

I've giving Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez 3.5 stars out of 5. If only the pace had been quicker I think I would've enjoyed it more. I did rather how it all wrapped up at the end.

For more from the author, check out https://www.xochitlgonzalez.com/

Pairs well with mangú and taking a painting class.