Carmen and Grace

OMG this book was GOOOOD. Well written with an interesting and compelling storyline and well developed characters. It was so immersive and emotive and had me reaching for tissues obn multiple occasions but it was also brutally raw and fragile at times. I really liked it,

A female Latinx drama. Carmen and Grace is the story of two cousins who are raised as sisters. Their bond is true and tight. With dreams of being better than their own mothers.

That is until Grace meets Doña Durka’s son. Grace then begins to live in the Durka home, she has a mother she never really had and she continues to benefit from the silent respect everyone shows to Doña Durka. Even though she doesn’t fully know what Doña Durka does for a living, she has an idea. Doña Durka is an inspiration to Grace. She sees Doña Durka and how everyone knows of her, respects her, goes to her for help, and more. One could say Doña Durka takes Grace under her own wings, seeing a daughter in Grace.

Keeping their bond even when life circumstances have changed, Carmen and Grace now begin to enter the drug trade by doing small jobs for Doña Durka. Grace always with a plan, continues to follow Doña Durka’s plan and expands to a group of females based on loyalty, trust, respect, and friendship.
That is until the unexpected death of Doña Durka. That also comes with news of Carmen’s pregnancy. As Grace is now put in a position of power, taking over Doña Durka, she sees an opportunity to expand. Whilst dealing with Doña Durka’s two sons, one of which is also in the drug trade while the other is the complete opposite with his military career. Carmen is struggling with the distancing of her cousin and sister and keeps the pregnancy a secret. Wanting out but knowing she can never be fully out, she struggles until it becomes almost impossible.

Not going to spoil this for anyone. Carmen and Grace go through it, and the sisterhood they formed with the other women is invigorating, no longer “lost girls”. The idea of making them learn anything and everything for their betterment and that of the business shows how important friendship is. So much goes on in this book, and it’s hard to realize how much you feel for these two characters until the part in the lawyer’s office bathroom.
When I reached that part of the book, it was like I had been holding my breath all the while. The flow of tears that streamed down my face felt like I was literally right there as a part of the book. The feelings that Carmen and Grace stirred up in me I didn’t even know I had. Melissa Coss Aquino wrote a very special book about female friendship, perseverance, and bonds. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I appreciated this book, it really gives the feel of what it is to encounter struggles as a female. To be in positions that are beyond your control but become life. The opening was really tense and helped set the scene for the rest of the book.

This book was well written and developed, i will 100 recommend this to everyone the characters and the story stays with you

Following the death of Dona Durka, her ‘adopted’ daughter Grace attempts to take over the family drug business, alongside a team of 8 other women, including Carmen. Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since childhood, but both have been groomed into the illegal drug trade from a young age. Now Carmen is pregnant and wants to escape, but finds herself at odds with Grace, who increasingly seeks to coax the women back into her new empire.

This book is about so much more than drugs and gangs. It’s an immersive tale of female friendship, strength, relationships, hope, and the family that you make for yourself. Initially the plot seems disorientating as you’re thrown into this underground world, but as the time periods criss-cross, the reader slowly builds a picture of these women, and the bonds that tie them together. Dona Durka, the original matriarch, has built a drug empire in which men are the foot soldiers, but the women are the special forces. And these 9 women are absolute powerhouses.

At first I wanted to join their badass all girl club, and be part of this dysfunctional family, rolling in money and opportunities. Raising their children together with trips to Disney World, and hope for the future. But as the book progresses you realise that all this wealth and power, has been built on vulnerabilities, poverty and fear. And it soon all comes crumbling down. Five brutal murders litter this book, and you start to fear which one of the 9 women will be next.

All of these women joined the business as children or young adults, when they were “perfectly invisible. Useless, unwanted and unprotected.” A life of crime offers them some hope, and a method of survival. Ultimately, they are all victims; invisible children, become invisible adults. This book will simultaneously fill your heart with joy, and shatter it into tiny pieces. This book is unlike anything I’ve read before. An immersive and powerful read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Many thanks to the Publishers for this opportunity.

This read reveals the harsh reality of those on the fringe of society from a country that now doesn't see them and who fall into the hands of those who give false protection all the while grooming them for the drug trade. The story is of two girls who have experienced neglect and addiction, two inseparable cousins Carmen and Grace who are taken in by an underground drug dealer Doña Durka. Their situation becomes difficult when Doña dies leaving Grace exposed to those wanting to take over the helm when the plan had been for her to do so. The brutality of this type of life is well exposed, all the women are pretty tough, language tough but with their leader gone it all begins to unravel.

Carmen who relates the story becomes pregnant to her lover and amongst all that is going on they marry. She is imprisoned just after the birth of her daughter and during this time she learns of Grace's death. After her release she is able to reconnect with her daughter, now a young adult. There is good news for her revealed at the end, an unexpected surprise and of enlightenment.

I really enjoyed how this story reeled me in from the very first page. I admit: I went into this not really knowing what to expect. by the very last page - which I got to very quickly - I was feeling all of the emotions. High on the list is awe. I hope to read more books from Melissa, she clearly has a way with words.

‘We were a tribe of lost daughters …’

Living in the Bronx neighbourhood, Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since childhood. They are cousins, closer than sisters, who have managed to survive neglect occasioned by addiction and a ‘welfare’ system that does not care. Grace wants power, while Carmen wants to escape. Then Grace meets Doña Durka’s son. Doña Durka welcomes Grace into her home, treats her like a daughter. She looks out for Carmen as well, and the girls have some stability in their lives. Grace sees Doña Durka as an inspiration, and while she has some idea that Doña Durka is involved in the drug trade, she admires the way in which she has taken control of her world.

When Doña Durka dies in mysterious circumstances, Grace is ready (she thinks) to take over the business, and keen to expand it. Carmen wants to escape – she is pregnant and wants a better life for her baby. But how can she leave?

‘How do you stop a train wreck from happening when it is already underway at full speed, and you are on the train? How do you jump off?’

Grace’s plans for the future gather momentum, but others are interested in occupying the space once owned by Doña Durka. Carmen is trapped: the tight group of women who work for Grace are the only family Carmen has.

How will this end? You will need to keep reading in order to find out. Melissa Coss Aquino brings these young women and the challenges confronting them to life, showing both the strength of their friendship and the constraints they operate within. Most of the time, the choices we make are constrained by the limited possibilities we see available.

I finished this novel hoping for a brighter future for those who survived.

‘The street is full of stories that are only ever half true if that. You taught me that.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Carmen and Grace are inseparable cousins. Coming from a harsh background, the only constant in their life was their beloved abuela, but when she dies they are returned to their mothers. When Toro turns up on 14 year old Grace’s doorstep one day looking for her mother who owes him money, the girls lives change beyond all their imaginings.

This is a fascinating story. Told from the POV of each girl, it travels in time from when they are children through to adulthood, with all the trials that they experience.

An enjoyable book, though a struggle to read at times, thank goodness for Kindle translator!

Thank you NetGalley.

An impressive debut that paints a gritty, realistic, picture of choice and ambition, trust and betrayal and the life bonds between people that endure no matter what. A story for our time that ultimately offers hope.
My thanks to NetGalley, and Head of Zeus for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An emotional and powerful read about “damaged” cousins and best friends, Carmen and Grace, lured into the underground drug trade at a young age by the formidable matriarch Doña Durka. Following her death under mysterious circumstances, Carmen and Grace’s lives are thrown into chaos. Grace has grand plans to expand the business whilst Carmen, now pregnant wants to build a new life before the baby arrives.

It’s easy to become really invested in these characters and their journey. It’s a compelling book of sisterhood and the power of friendships.
Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus, Apollo for the opportunity to read and review this riveting read.

What a brilliant, engaging read. I loved the writing style and became immediately invested in this epic saga.
Carmen and Grace are poor Latino girls living in rough New York. The book graphically describes their lives as ‘ daughters’ of Dona Durka under whose wing they flourish in the murky underworld of drugs, but also experience love, belonging and education. When Dona dies things take a huge turn and they must navigate the fallout.
A great tale of life, love and loyalties.
“You can be standing right where you started and be someone completely different”

“It is your very brokenness that will allow you to give light to others”

The book follows the story of two childhood friends, Carmen and Grace, who grew up in the Bronx: two lost girls looking for a way out of their bleak circumstances, and they find solace in each other's company. The narration alternates between Carmen’s and Grace’s perspectives, and it follows a non-linear structure.

Melissa Coss Aquino weaves a masterful tale, “Carmen, and Grace" is an engaging and powerful book that delves into complex themes and characters, with an incredibly fresh viewpoint. This is not just a story of crime and betrayal, but one of found family and the true meaning of motherhood.

Grace meets Toro, the son of Doña Durka, a Puerto Rican Mafia boss, and her life, as well as Carmen’s, takes a sharp turn. Durka takes Grace under her wing, treating her like an adopted daughter and teaching her the ways of the family business. Grace starts building her own sisterhood, once referred to as “Miss Grace’s School for Lost Girls”, or the D.O.D. Daughters of Durga’ as she baptises them. Despite Durka's cancer diagnosis, Grace's future looks bright as she is poised to inherit the empire. When Durka dies under mysterious circumstances, the battle for control of the family business erupts into a full-blown war. Grace must navigate treacherous waters as she fights to hold onto her power and protect the sisterhood, all the while knowing that one misstep could lead to their downfall. So, what now that Carmen has become pregnant?

“there were thousands of stories like mine in there’ says Carmen “and some of us really did know how to tell them; we had just never bothered to write them down because no one had asked, and no one cared’. Well, I cared very much. This book is a must-read.

Looking forward to reading more Aquino's books.

Content Warning: Drug dealing/trade, Grooming, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Violent death, Descriptive violence, Gang violence, Child neglect and Murder/Assassination

Carmen and Grace explore the complex relationship between families. Carmen and Grace, who is of Puerto Rican descent but have grown up in different worlds. Carmen, is a successful lawyer living in New York City, while Grace is a struggling artist living in Puerto Rico. When tragedy occurs, the sisters must come to terms with their past, their cultural identities, and their strained relationship.

The book touches upon themes of family, identity, cultural differences, and the challenges of navigating the modern world while honouring one’s heritage. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Story about friendship and coming together I like this I did find it a bit heavy thoo feel like this book is perfect for children to understand identity and friendship. I would encourage people to read this when they feel strong enough to handle the subject matters.

Told by cousins, 'Carmen and Grace' is a complicated tale of family, loyalty and survival.
Carmen and Grace act as our narrators, moving smoothly between events in the past and the present day as they struggle to survive.
As children, living in the Bronx in NYC, the girls are largely neglected and left to their own devices. It is only when as a teenager that
Grace meets Toro, the son of Doña Durka, a Puerto Rican Mafia boss, and both of their lives take a dramatic turn. As time progresses, Doña Durka has welcomed Grace into her family and Grace will be her successor. However, when Durka is murdered, Grace is placed in danger.
Interestingly, it is less the lure of money buy rather loyalty that ties the cousins to each other and to Durka.
Utterly absorbing, Carmen and Grace is a complex story, but one that becomes engaging as the author explores the complex themes of family, loyalty and motherhood through the eyes of two young women.

A very unusual book. The image of dealing drugs and no go neighborhoods, is blown out of the water. Told from two perspectives , two female cousins who are drawn in not by the drugs or money but a sense of family and order.
From the age of fourteen they disconnect from the neglected upbringing they know and become part of a different if just as dysfunctional family. No obvious neglect and school attendance is compulsory.
Follow their roads together and separately.

Carmen and Grace will have you up late at night turning the pages for one or maybe two more chapters as you are caught up in the lives and predicaments of the lives of Grace and Carmen.

Its a story about relationships both good and bad.

It's a story about mother's and daughters, sisters, cousins and friendship.

Carmen and Grace are cousins raised as sisters and as well all know life changes relationships but seldom the bond.

It is both heartbreaking and heart warming at times.

It's a journey the reader should and must take on their own so that is all I will say.

Book Clubs will be adding this to their must read list.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus, Apollo for a unforgettable read.

This was a slow starter, but well worth sticking with. The characters develop in a way that they stay with you long after you finish reading, absolutely superb

The more I read the book, the more I wanted to get to know Carmen and Grace. They were both inseparable cousins, who both had troubled lives. The people they hung around with also had troubled lives. I think this book would be good as a film or short drama programme.

A definite slow burner, but one that I could not put down and I enjoyed the dual narrator throughout the book so that we could get an idea of how both Grace and Carmen felt. Although it was a story wracked with exploitation, abuse, and inequalities, the most powerful element of this book was the strong female characters and the loyalty between the women. They were a sisterhood, a dysfunctional family that they had created themselves to become the complete opposite of what they had experienced in their youth with their own families and do what they needed to survive.
I look forward to reading more of Melissa Coss Aquino’s writing, thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the advanced reading copy.

This book is about women’s friendships, told from two cousin’s perspectives, Carmen and Grace. They become swept up in an underground drug empire after being neglected as children. I really enjoyed seeing how it was from both sides. Thank you Netgally for letting me review this book.

There are so many gorgeous quotes in this novel, mostly surrounding the message it kept sharing and returning to: that all girls and women should be able to see the divine in themselves, the value in themselves, and their right to good things, to protection and to the opportunity to thrive.

The explorations of girlhood, womanhood, sisterhood and motherhood were complicated but so satisfying to read. It felt true to life that there were limits to how well all of the secondary characters could be known and understood, and that the main characters could present such conflicting feelings and recollections of the same experiences.

This novel was at its best when it was reflective and meditative, following thought patterns, memories and experiences that were more character and relationship focused, detailed and slow but burning with underlying intensity. It was the action scenes that were key to the plot where the writing started to feel a little weaker or clunky.

As much as I love character-driven novels, the plot needed a little more attention to fine-tune it. Both perspectives were equally interesting but they felt a little out of balance, and I don’t think the novel needed to be so long. I would have liked more attention to have been given to Graces’s relationship with Toro and for the power imbalance to be more explicitly condemned. Despite its minor flaws, this novel was so full and rich and vivid, I know I will be thinking about it for a while.

Wow, I love this book. So well written, I was hooked in from the start. This is more than a story of two cousins, it is a story of friendship, support and solidarity between a group of girls / women who are searching for a way to survive. Their method of survival might not be the best but you can't help wanting them all to succeed in life.

This could be my book of the year.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Carmen and Grace

A wonderful book about female friendship and loyalty, set in the Bronx. Carmen and Grace are cousins with mothers who cannot look after them, so they support one another.
At the beginning of the book, Carmen is in prison. Then Carmen and Grace tell their stories about the past and how she got there.
As they grow up, Grace is mentored by Dona Durka, the leader of a drug distribution gang. She helps Grace, to establish her own network with a group of young women from similar backgrounds, including Carmen. The female characters are wonderful, all the girls in the crew have clear identities, and have had difficult childhoods, yet they are so kind and supportive of one another, Original writing, and a real insight into other lives. Highly recommended.

Carmen and Grace are two young cousins, one feisty and one cautious have decided they don't want to become downtrodden as their mothers by being pregnant with missing husbands while struggling to earn a little money cleaning toilets. As luck would have it, Grace is taken in by Dońa Durka which ables her to hone street smarts while quickly learning a lucrative drug distribution business.
The reader can immerse themselves in this amazing story, only be aware that they will confront many ups and downs playing with their emotions all the way.
Carmen and Grace has to be one of the best books to come along in a long time deserving all the accolades gathered.
An independent review thanks to NetGalley / Head of Zeus

We begin by meeting Carmen in prison in a lesson. We find out she thinks Grace is the reason she landed there and she wants to get out for Artemis - although we don't know who they are at this point - it certainly made me want to read on and find out

The book goes back in time with Durka, Grace and the crew. 'We had found each other because we belonged nowhere ' Grace, Carmen, Red, Destiny, Sugar and China form most of the girl gang and the books takes us through their story of how and why they ended up in this life.

The story tells us of the love and friendship between them all but mostly Carmen and Grace. 'He knew that whatever name he gave her - homegirl, best friend, comrade, sister, cousin - he could never capture all that she was to me. I loved the way I could get in Carmen's head and thoughts.

I really liked the style and flow of the writing and found I read through the pages quickly. The edition of the Spanish was great. I have a translate option on my phone which was so handy. Fantastic extra i liked finding out what the different words meant and really added to the feel of the book.

I also really enjoyed the character building and until we actually read and heard from Graces side we don't know why she is how she is and we find that she does really care.

The topics cover include - friendship, drugs, murder, bad childhoods, absent mothers and mother figures.

I will be looking out for others from this author and recommending this book.

Compelling, confronting and also addictive reading, Carmen and Grace is beautifully written and gives readers an excellent insight into gang life in New York city.
Both Carmen and Grace are well-structured and believable characters. It was easy to like Carmen and feel for her as she struggled between Grace’s world and the life she wants to create for herself.
My only problem with this story is the amount of Spanish in it. While the language works really well and helped set the scene, I am Australian and struggled to understand exactly what was being said at times.This meant I was often taken out of the story to find out what this character or that meant. Other than that, this is an excellent debut novel and I look forward to seeing more from author Melissa Coss Aquino.

Childhood friends who didn't have the best start in life. As adults this is told from both their perspectives in a split timeline. Topics such as neglect, addiction and drugs are touched on so not a read for the faint hearted. At times it was a difficult read but you are compelled to carry on to see the outcome.

**Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read this book**

Melissa Coss Aquino, the amazing author of “Carmen and Grace”, was able to tear apart my heart with her work. The story of a group of young girls, and particularly of cousins – or best, sisters – Carmen and Grace, who tried to survive to a hostile reality, the one of criminality, while they deal with their own fears and tribulations, among which the grief, the one for Durka, the woman who saved and condemned them, for those disappeared mothers who had never been such. Biological mothers, adopted, childless mothers, motherless children. And in the terror, in the solemnity of the relations between sisters, between women, those very foiled relationships, there’s the maternity in its different forms becoming divine imagine. A maternity between death and the dread from poverty and the fragility of life, and that hope pushing for the most desperate acts of courage or stupidity, the last sacrifice in the name of a new life, whatever is this new life, whatever is maternity, which is nothing more than the essence of feminine, being either belligerent or creator.
“Carmen and Grace” is a universe unveiling itself page after page, looking like something to become else, as the different female deities called to tell the story of the main characters. It’s an essay on social inequality at first, then a crime fiction, or a feminist manifesto, and yet a tale on maternity and the way it’s manifested.
This novel is not another crime fiction, the usual story of a group of young lads trying to emerge from misery, but falling into the trap of evilness, but it’s something more, something deeper, because criminality is just an excuse, a lens to focus a rooted and systemic issue, that is the inequality of access to equal opportunity. How many bright minds, how many talented and smart young women had to settle for a life of hardship, to not to fulfil their ambitions because the system privileges those who’s already privileged, gives a value based on the social class, and not on individual’s capabilities, and denies the right to aspire. Then, education is a process of self-realisation, not an end; education is a form of resistance. To know is a weapon of self-defence against oppression, and that’s why Grace pushes her girls to study, to get information, to own a critical thought. To know to survive, to think to live.
This books is a story on hope, on mistakes, on the sfortune to have been born with no privilege, in places where the tentacles of criminality grasp easily those bright minds, brave hearts. It’s a multiform and multicoloured story, which tricks the reader at first, until it unveils all the beauty of the world to those who gets to the end, the beauty of those lost and founded girls, the complexity of Carmen, Grace, Red and of the other D.O.D girls, Daughters of Durka.

A gripping story of strong powerful women using any way to escape their poverty-stricken surroundings, whether legal or not. The two cousins Carmen and Grace are nurtured by a family member who runs an underground drugs ring, and they are given their own roles in the business.
Their stories are not always easy reading, they have to make tough uncompromising decisions - but family loyalty is strong.
Thanks for the chance to read the ARC

thank you netgalley and the publisher for sending an e-arc for review :)

i really loved this book and the last third of it literally grabbed at my heart and wouldn't let go
the ending had me feeling all types of emotions from pure rage and frustration to overwhelming love and heartache (the good kind)
the story closed in the perfect way - it wasn't rushed and it didn't leave me feeling like something was missing which i think is quite rare!

Grace and Carmen are tied by blood but most of all by loyalty. Rising through the ranks of the drugs underworld using their street intelligence and the skills Grace has instilled in their crew, the world becomes smaller and smaller until something's got to give. Lyrical, viseral, and coloured with the sights and smells of the Bronx.

A coming of age story in a world where you make your own destiny.