Thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am usually allergic to describing any book as “sexy” but...this book is sexy. It’s also funny, charming and has a big dollop of (mostly light-hearted) family drama stirred in too.

The Palacios family, undocumented immigrants from Venezuela, find themselves beholden to “Ugly”, a local crime lord who was owed money by the family’s recently deceased Aunt Celia. Ugly assigns Roman, one of his employees, to keep watch on the family whilst they work away the inherited debt.

Sparks soon fly between Roman and Yola, the main character of the story. Yola, a 24-year-old writer had a close relationship with Aunt Celia and the story is interspersed with Celia’s memoirs throughout. I didn’t enjoy these flashbacks as much as the main plot, but they were entertaining enough.

The book features a colourful cast of diverse characters, Aunt Milagros in particular was a total hoot and there are some real laugh out loud moments throughout the story. Some of the events the family are forced to endure would be traumatic in reality but the author manages to portray these with a sense of humour whilst not losing sight of the serious point she is trying to make.

The main romance is spicy and fun, and I liked the witty banter between Roman and Yola as well as some of the more intense moments. They were more than a match for one another, and it was refreshing to see a heroine in a Romance themed novel who didn’t take any crap from her love interest. I’ve got a bit of a weakness for the bodyguard/assassin/protector type dynamic so I was already sold on the relationship dynamic.

The author’s portrait of a Venezuelan immigrant family and the love and warmth (and bickering!) between them was portrayed perfectly and the characterisation was a cut above what I might expect in other similar books. Sure, there were some trope-y parts but I can forgive that when everything was so fun.

A fantastically timely tale of immigration and family. It's a heavy topic, but the humour in this book cuts through this well.

The Palacios family are Venezuelan illegal immigrants enjoying a family-centred happy and successful life in Trinidad. That is until Ugly introduces himself to them after the death of Aunt Celia. The latter has borrowed money off self-styled gangster Ugly and he is determined that the Palacios will re-pay their debt.
Part of the deal is for them to house fellow Venezuelans as they enter the country for as long as Ugly commands. Later, they are instructed to work in his ‘upmarket’ strip club several nights a week as well. Understandably, the family are very upset but what can they do against such a powerful and unscrupulous man?
Told through the eyes of one of the daughters, Yola, a translator and promising writer, we are given an often hilarious picture of immigrant life. She is feisty, clever and ambitious. However, she has one fatal weakness – Roman, Ugly’s right-hand man. How can she even think of a liaison?
Caroline Mackenzie’s first novel is impressive. Both an important portrayal of difficulties facing the Venezuelans in Trinidad and, by implication, anyone who is displaced, and a social comedy exposing all the highs and lows of living in an extended family, ‘One Year of Ugly’ is certainly worth reading. Her characters remain with the reader long after the final page and it is no surprise that the novel has been optioned for television. More problematic might be recreating the unusual and effective comedic tone on screen combined with the serious issues that all exploited people face, something that Mackenzie does so well on paper.
My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, The Borough Press for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

This was not what I expected but in the best possible way. It deals with illegal immigrants living under the radar but does so through a vivid cast of characters and wicked humour. At ties laugh out loud funny, at others poignant, this is an excellent contemporary novel.

A different look at refugees.
I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, and I really didn’t expect to laugh as much. It’s not a particularly funny subject, when you consider that it’s about Venezuelan refugees in Trinidad. Honestly, I didn’t know that there WERE Venezuelan refugees in Trinidad. The whole Palacio family have fled Venezuela and it’s corrupt regime, and have started a new life in Trinidad as refugees. The work they do is under the radar of the authorities. When their matriarch, Aunt Celia, suddenly dies, a rather flamboyant character, Ugly, turns up and demands his money. This is the point where they find out that they’re actually illegal refugees, and that Aunt Celia hadn’t actually secured them any legitimate, legal rights to be there. So they’re now at the mercy of Ugly. He demands that they work off the debts that Celia incurred, by taking in fellow refugees as they pass through to nw lives in Trinidad. He leaves them under no misapprehension that if they don’t comply to his wishes, violence will follow.

There is a real dark humour throughout this book. Parts are genuinely funny, but there are other parts, mainly those involving Ugly, which are really menacing. This isn’t a fluffy ‘everything works out for the best’ type of story, and I think it’s really good that Mackenzie is highlighting something that a lot of us know nothing about. It seems universal that no matter where a refugee comes from, that their lives are constantly in danger and that they are preyed upon by the unscrupulous. I’ve read a couple of books about refugees that broke my heart, and while I did feel sympathy for the characters in this book, I appreciated the humour - after all, some people do deal with trauma with humour.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book, and yes, I would recommend it. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author will write about next.

I loved Yola and her family and I'm so pleased that Caroline's aim of making the novel dark but humorous really worked; it made it all feel a lot more true-to-life, without making the very serious subject feel trivial at all. . The relationship between Yola and Roman also felt very real.

Aunt Celia's voice came across really strongly as well, albeit only in her diaries.

This novel gripped me from the start and held my attention all of the way through. In places it's laugh-out-loud funny - highly recommended.

I liked the fact that this book showcased the perspective of a different culture and part of the world experiencing migration. However, the style was slightly frivolous and I couldn't get into it properly, took me quite a long time to read whereas I usually speed through books, especially humorous ones.

One Year Of Ugly by Caroline Mackenzie tells the story of a family that escaped from Maduro's Venezuela to begin a new life in Trinidad. The Palacios family were living moderately within the confines of what their status afforded them. This all changed with a visit from Ugly, a local crime lord who had secured fraudulent residency permits for some members of the family. It turns out that a deceased member of the family, Aunt Celia, was indebted to Ugly. The entire family has to work off the six hundred thousand Trinidadian dollars in the manner dictated by Ugly. The challenges and how they navigate them are told from the perspective of Yola Palacios, an aspiring author whose situation is compromised when she falls in love with one of Ugly's men. The poignancy of the story is punctuated by hilarious events in the daily existence of the characters that make up the Palacios family. This story whilst dealing with the plight of fleeing refugees manages to invoke empathy and hope in its execution. Forbidden love, alcoholism, philandering, politics are all thrown in to make the book engaging until the last page.

Absolutely adored this book! Funny, punchy and also very poignant. I am going to be recommending it to everyone I know.

It took a while to get into the story but boy am I glad I persevered . I hadn’t realised that there were Venezuelan illegal immigrants living under the radar of the authorities in Trinidad . The Palacios family were doing just that when Aunt Celia died and left them with a debt to Ugly, a people trafficker Caroline Mackenzie manages to highlight the plight of refugees with a dose of realism coupled with humour At times hilarious ,but with a sinister undertone , the story follows their adventures as they try to pay off the debt and discover more about themselves in the process There are some great characters Yola ,the daughter of the family who was close to her deceased Aunt , another Aunt who surprises us all , Roman , the dangerously attractive henchmen . There are scenes of domestic drudgery, strip clubs ,corrupt politicians and nuns! The story will open your eyes to a different world and entertain you .I can’t wait to read her next book

This was a fascinating story about a period in history of which I have very little previous knowledge. The suffering that the families went through was really bad. The characters were very varied and believable. Very sad in parts but a conclusion which gives some hope for the future.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire! Fleeing Venezuela to start a new life in Trinidad starts off tragically with a death and then being told they are liable for a huge debt. It is quite difficult to get into the book but I encourage you to persevere.

I enjoyed this book, while it dealt with a heavy issue it was able to find some light, comedy, and romance in this story. I was intrigued by the setting in Trinidad and was not familiar with the influx of Venezuelans in the country, so this provided an interesting perspective. Yola the central character was probably my least favorite character, as she has this sense of being better than everyone else and wallows in self-pity too many times in the story. Her family members were all entertaining and it was a great way to explore an issue of illegal immigration from a middle-class family and how life still continues even in the midst of unrest.

This is one of the funniest book I read in some time and I found it engrossing and entertaining.
The author is a talented storyteller and I loved the description of the family and how she developed the plot.
I loved the style of writing, the colourful and well thought characters, and the well crafted characters.
I look forward to reading other stories by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I loved this book, it was just everything I hoped for and more when I read the synopsis. It’s unique, quirky and absorbing, brilliant! I thought the humour used was perfect in dealing with important messages about immigration, freedom and the situation the world and humans are in at the moment. It highlights the real important things in life love, family and humanity. Thoroughly recommended and hopefully will be highly recognised for the brilliant book it is.you need to read this !

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

When I started this book I suspected I wouldn’t enjoy it, wouldn’t like its strangeness, its very foreignness. But I loved it! It’s like a taste of another life, another normality.
That odd mix of humour (and there’s plenty of it!) and downright horror, shows a particularly light touch by the author.
A startling book, about things I previously knew nothing about.

Funny in places this book is about the life of Venezuelan refugees who are living in Trinidad. There is plenty of action and it is an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Well. This book. I loved it.

I also didn’t realise Ugly was someone’s name, so that cleared things up when I knew 😂
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As the quotes on the back of the book say: this is a like a combination of Ugly Betty and narcos!

This is a story about a Venezuelan family of illegal immigrants living in Trinidad and is filled with family drama, romance, money problems, careers, family loss, grief, guilt, and so much personality.

Their immigration status isn’t who they are, it is a circumstance if theirs, but it’s an important one. It’s the driving force for the plot and the cause of a lot of the big things that happen including the ‘one year of Ugly’.

This is very much a story about a complicated and hilarious family doing the best with what they have, the choices they make and the way they stick together.

There’s some teen pregnancy, some steam, a sassy dead aunt, drama, crime, murder, and love.

This made me more aware of the troubles of Venezuelan people circa 2016 when there were so many political and social issues. It’s an empathetic, book with a lot to give in terms of entertainment and character development and plot.

A LOT happens to the Palacios family and Yola is a brilliant protagonist. She’s an illegal immigrant but she’s also a woman in her mid twenties grieving the loss of her aunt, working out her career and figuring out some complicated romantic feelings.

I really enjoyed this book and I loved Caroline’s writing style, character development and scene setting. Caroline is a native Trinidadian and interviewed Venezuelan immigrants to get more of an insight into their experiences and it shows in the way the story of the Palacios has been built.

This is perfect for those who love contemporary fiction with a bit of sting, sass and eye-opening.

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I was in, I WAS IN!

We are swept into a year in the life of the extended Palacious family in Trinidad. Venezuelan by birth, but living in Trini as illegal immigrants. The story is told from the view of Yola, one of the daughters of the family.
They all get caught up in a drama caused by illegal undertakings organised by Celia, Yola's deceased aunt, and are introduced to Ugly, a not very nice character, with his fingers in all the wrong pies.
He expects the family to all club together by working for him, to run illegal safe houses for immigrants trying to start a new life in Trinidad.
Yola is already missing her aunt more than she could imagine, then has to deal with finding out about infidelities, untruths, and she meets Roman, one of Ugly's henchmen, for whom she develops a real soft spot.
What helps her through a year of struggle, is a manuscript that was penned by her aunt, Yola's only supporter of her writing.
It was funny, dramatic, and I found it addictive by the end!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK and The Borough Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Caroline Mackenzie's offbeat debut novel certainly makes one heck of an impression and is bone-achingly funny about the most serious of issues, the horrors that underpin the global refugee crisis. Some might question whether it is appropriate to treat the desperate and despairing plights of so many in the world with such humour but Mackenzie succeeds in throwing much needed attention on and highlight a topic many would prefer to avert their eyes from. The Palacious family have left the political nightmare that their home in Venezuela had become and made their way as illegal immigrants to settle in Port of Spain in Trinidad. However, they just might have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire when Aunt Celia dies, and Ugly and his criminal cohorts turn up to inform them of the huge debt that she has left behind and make it clear that they are now expected to pay it off.

Mackenzie presents us with a year in the life of the family as they face one worry and concern after another in a narrative interspersed with diary entries from the now dead Aunt Celia in the narrative. She creates a diverse and vibrant range of characters, larger than life, as Ugly has one of his henchmen, the dangerous Roman keep a close eye on the family. The Palacious's are forced into a range of unpaid 'work' to make good their debts. It is the women that make the deepest impression, such as the one off Aunt Milagros, the deceased Aunt Celia, and the 24 year old Yola, and the hot and heavy feelings of desire that spring up between her and Ugly's man, Roman. This family drama is entertaining, unforgettable and has some eye popping storylines that tackle the refugee crisis in the most surprising of ways. This was an unexpected delight of a read, fun, well written, and I cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.