Thank you so much to Simon Books for the free copy of the book!
Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Audio for the complimentary audio!

This book is out now.

Lucha libre became my religion, the wrestlers were my gods.

I decided to read this book for two reasons (and you can laugh at them because I know its ridiculous): 1) The gorgeous pink/orange ombre color and 2) Jason Kelce wore a luchador mask at his brother's Super Bowl celebration party. What can I say! And let me tell you, I made the right decision. Seriously though, I did read the synopsis because I had not heard of this book before and was immediately drawn to the description.

This book is told from multiple point of views: Ernesto Vega (the patriarch), his wife Elena, their son Freddy Vega, grandson Julian (son to Freddy) along with brief glimpses of Ernesto's luchador character El Rey Coyote.

I felt that the stories of all the characters kept me engaged and I was anxious to get to certain characters stories the more we went on. I am not sure if it was because he was the youngest but I was drawn to Julian's storyline the most. As he was making certain choices, I was finding myself saying out loud "Oh no Julian."

I also was drawn to Ernesto's storyline as well. We were on the journey of how he started his life as a luchador and the strain it caused on his marriage. There was this great paragraph from Julian's point of view talking about his father and grandfather lucha libre life, "When they dressed for a bout, my father and grandfather were transformed....My father and Abuelo walked differently. Their voices carried a different tone, and every word they uttered - even simple commands - took on an air of reverence and respect."

My heart broke for Elena in some ways because she just wanted love from her husband but that was not something he could give to her. She has her suspicions as to why and we as readers also learn the reason why and let me tell you I did not see the one reveal coming.

I paired my reading with the audio and I was so happy that we got a full cast narration! Gisela Chípe, Tony Chiroldes, Lee Osorio and André Santana were our narrators and I loved all their voices! I thought they all played their respected characters really well. I thought the audio was well done and would be an good listen.

This book was made for book clubs. I highly recommend this for your book club. I think you could get a lot of discussion from it as well as learning about the culture and life of being a luchador.

I am so glad I picked this book up & was throw into the drama of the Vega family.