Simone Elkeles writes extremely compelling YA romance, and she writes about Latino characters, which is cool. However, I have major concerns with her characterization and the gendered roles she gives her characters (e.g. the guy is always a jackass who is into protecting his family/the girl and sacrificing himself, and the girl is always into opening herself up emotionally and becoming vulnerable and forgiving the guy for being an asshole to her). Also, the dude is always Latino and the girl is always white. Except in this one, where the girl is Latina but has zero knowledge of her Mexican culture and is offended when people try to speak to her in Spanish.