This is a sassy novel that deals with contemporary political issues, namely immigration,. Interweaving these issues with romance and family dynamics, makes for a fun read. The protagonist was a character that you care about and want to find out what happens to them. However, there is strong focus on Latina stereotypes and physical attributes of the characters; I lost count of the number of times "ass" was mentioned. So a fun read, but could be seen as insensitive at points.

Sorry - forgot to post this review, now going through reviews had written and saved, yet not posted:

It's rare, very rare, that a book lives up to the hype.

One Year of Ugly did. I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I'll leave the line above to stand for itself and my opinion on this book.

This book left me with mixed emotions. The writing is good and the main character is often entertaining. The topic matter, the situation of Venezuelan immigrants in Trinidad (which I had no awareness of whatsoever), is important but, despite the author's best intentions, this comedic treatment of the topic doesn't really work. It tends to trivialise the situation rather than highlight it as a pressing issue (as the author does in a short afterword). The jaundiced portrayal of Venezuela undermines a complex political situation.

The lighthearted moments when the family are together work best or when Yolanda reflects on her aunt Celia. Unfortunately the central romance just didn't work for me and left me irritated rather than engaged. And the conclusion tests the bounds of credibility, with one character undergoing a complete personality change in the process.

Most characters are one-dimensional and very gender stereotypical - men are drunkards, wastrels, faithless and unreliable; women are identified mainly by physical characteristics or their relationship with men.

Shame as this is an unusual topic and the novel shows signs of promise.

Initially I couldn’t enjoy the book and it took me quite a time to get into the story. But once everyone in the Palacio family was introduced I got on with it. The story covers the struggles of immigrants from Venezuela to Trinidad when one day the Palacio family find themselves encountered by a criminal - Ugly. The whole extended Palacio family is to work to clear the debt taken by their deceased Aunt Celia.

I loved the good girl and bad boy romance and felt sad for them for the time they had to be apart for many reasons. The story covers the struggles and difficulties Venezuelans had to face in Trinidad moreover because of Ugly who made the family work in his strip club without any pay plus house the illegal immigrants in their homes. I adored Yola’s brother Sancho’s character and liked him even more as the story unfolded.

Overall it took me some time to get into the book. I was really into the book only towards the end. This would be a great book if you want to read or educate yourself on different culture, cultural issues, immigration, close family relationship and dark dry humor. Also, the female in the book are incredibly stronger especially Aunt Milagros (unexpectedly), which was very cool to read.

I loved this book. I raced through it but didn’t want it to end. I laughed so much throughout it. I really hope we have more to come from this family.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

One Year of Ugly ended up being a really great read, though it took me a while to get into it. At first I found Yola’s voice grating and didn’t particularly enjoy the introduction to the various family members - all Venezuelan immigrants to Trinidad. If this was a film (and it would make a great one!) it would probably be a 15 or 18 because of the frequent depiction of violence, prostitution, human trafficking and sex and drugs.

I’m glad I persisted though, as the story of the Palaccios family’s year beholden to Ugly, a sinister people smuggler was well paced, full of tension and increasingly full of warmth and humour. None of the characters turned out to be like their first impressions, all (except Ugly) were more nuanced, full of good despite the murky underworld setting. The one aspect of the novel I never really warmed to was the use of excerpts of Yola’s dead aunt Celia’s memoir/manuscript. While I got the thematic significance I often found this a distraction from the real story, and frequently skipped through these sections.

I hadn’t read anything about Venezuelan immigrants to Trinidad before, and found the portrayal of a complex current issue very thought provoking. Caroline Mackenzie is Trinidadian and weaves the characters’ individual stories through the larger story really well.

Such a unique, hilarious book from Caroline Mackenzie! This struck the best balance between dry, wittiness with more serious explorations of exile, family and culture. I love books that read fast and the narrator's humour as well as the pace helped with this. The interesting, not commonly seen setting of Trinidad on a background of Venezuela was fabulous too and it was so great to see! I thought this is the exact kind of contemporary book that should be more recommended - fast read with interesting subject matter and twists. Will be recommending this to my university book club!

This is a brilliant book. I must admit I felt bad for laughing at some parts, but isn't it astonishing that a book makes you feel this way? And this book made me feel a variety of things, I was appalled, intrigued, laughing and disgusted at same time!
I also have never read anything about Venezuelans before, not anything set in Trinidad although I really love reading about South American countries. I highly recommend this one!

This is such a unique read and certainly a book that I will not forget. The characters are well developed and jump from the pages and the author tackles a tricky subject brilliantly and with good humour.

"'Now that I see everybody here,' he said, 'I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ugly. You know - feo? Some people call me Mr Ugly, but seeing as how me and Celia was good friends before she die, all you could call me Ugly."

The humour in this book is so dry and dark, and I thought it was brilliant. Laughing out loud at parts that I probably shouldn't have!

Really appreciate the early copy of this as I can't wait to chat about it with others on bookstagram when it's published. It was a real insight into the culture, family complexities and oh so much more.

Excellent funny and interesting book which took me on a journey with the Palacios family. With so much real humour, so many brilliant characters and such funny adventures its hard at times to remember the reality of these events for many families. But I think this is the authors skill and insight - we are shown and engaged with truly tragic and terrifying events, yet we never stop seeing the humanity of the characters because of the humour. A very power impressive novel I would not hesitate to recommend.

I loved every second of 24-year old Yola Palacios and her family’s crazy life. Originally from Venezuela, the family (Yola plus her mum, dad, brother, sister, aunts, uncle and cousins) are forced to emigrate to Trinidad to escape the awful living conditions of their homeland. This is the first novel I’ve read that has refugees as its lead characters, so straight away that made it really eye-opening for me (and made me realise I need to look to expand the themes in the novels I read).

Settled into their new life in Trinidad, the Palacios family’s world is blown apart by the arrival of an extravagantly dressed gangster named Ugly… He informs them that their recently deceased Aunt Celia owes him a lot of money, and he has now come to claim it from her family. They have no choice but to do as he says due to their precarious illegal status in Trinidad and the fact that he has a gun.

Now, this might not sound like the backdrop for either a highly-charged romance sub-plot or a an overall tone that’s actually very dry and funny to read, but that is what Caroline Mackenzie does so well here. She perfectly balances serious issues with an emotive, entertaining writing style that really makes you care for Yola – about her blossoming romance, her aspirations to be a writer and her family’s survival. Plus her snappy, witty take on things is a delight to read.

One Year of Ugly is a great story about family loyalty and opened my eyes to a new culture and way of life. It’s packed full of dark humour, it raises important issues and completely hooks you in with its fast-paced story. A pretty impressive trio of attributes, wouldn’t you agree?

I am so glad to have read this book. Not only because it is a brilliant story but because it gives a voice to the vast number of Venezuelan refugees who seek asylum in Trinidad and Tobago and the lack of protection and help offered to them. The situation has improved somewhat since 2016 when this book was set due to new laws created in Trinidad and Tobago in 2019 but this book does a fantastic job of depicting the vulnerability and uncertainty faced by refugees like the main characters of this book.
Yola's narration is witty, explicit and darkly comic which makes the more hard hitting aspects of the plot more digestible but no less shocking. The romance within the story was beautifully developed with just the right amount of fluff for my taste. A fantastic debut. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

One Year of Ugly is the story of the extended Palacios family who are building a new life in Trinidad after fleeing their home country. Despite the fact that the families are living and working in Trindad illegally they all seem pretty happy until the sudden death of Aunt Celia. The shock and sadness of a very strong member of their family is added to by the discovery that she was in debt to a people smuggler / fixer - and this is where the story starts.
The story is told with humour and at times it can feel wrong that as a reader you are enjoying a story so much which has as its backbone the injustice and uncertainty of the lives of illegal immigrants, however when you read Caroline Mackenzie's notes at the end of the story you understand how she is bringing this story to a much wider audience this way.

The Palacios family is full of strong female characters and you really get to know them , even Aunt Celia who we get to know through Yola's thoughts and reading of her memoir. You are with the family through their fun, fear, laughter, tears, love, lust, desperation and hope.

I was given a copy of One Year of Ugly by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an honest review.

What a family!
I love this very funny but sensitive look at immigration in today’s society. The relationships and complexity of the characters is genius. The characters are so well written you can’t help but love them. It’s quite a fast pace book as you can’t help but devour it, needing to know how it all turns out and it’s so laugh out loud funny I had to keep apologising to my family for disturbing them. A nice sidestep from the genres that I normally read, I’m looking forward to reading more from this very talented writer.

Yola Palacio and her family fled Venezuela to start a peaceful life in Trinidad. They are just a few of the many people living illegally on the island, and things seem fine until Yola’s Aunt Celia dies and the family’s quiet life is turned upside down. It turns out Celia owed a lot of money to local criminal, Ugly, who drags the entire Palacio family in to settle her debt. The year that follows is one filled with drama and trauma for the Palacios, as they are forced to open their homes as safe houses for other illegal immigrants escaping Venezuela, and later as staff in an illegal strip club. However, amidst the struggle of working for Ugly, Yola finds herself fatally attracted to Ugly’s right-hand man, Roman. How can she start a relationship with the man responsible for enforcing Ugly’s reign of terror over her family? But how can she resist?

This story follows a year in the life of one family as they struggle to survive as illegal immigrants at the same time as being forced into further criminal activity, thanks to one family member’s bad decisions. It covers some complex social and cultural issues, which I found fascinating because I knew nothing about the difficulties in Venezuela before reading this book.

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Yola is a brilliant lead character, with a very witty and relatable narrative voice. Her blossoming romance with Roman was very sweet to read about, and provided some light relief amongst the rest of the drama.

One negative note, though, is that it took a very long time for me to really get into this book, because it took so long for the story to properly kick off. Large portions of the first two thirds are mainly just Yola either stressing about her feelings for Roman, or reminiscing about Aunt Celia. Fortunately, the lagging plot was mostly saved by the fantastic characters. To be worthy of a 5-star rating, the first sections of the book needed to be as captivating as the last.

I have to confess that I really struggled with this book. Perhaps the humour was too dark for me and some of the descriptions too graphic but in all honesty it probably wasn’t written with my demographic in mind. I’m sure that young adults will enjoy it immensely.

"'Now that I see everybody here,' he said, 'I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ugly. You know - feo? Some people call me Mr Ugly, but seeing as how me and Celia was good friends before she die, all you could call me Ugly."

Yola Palacios lives with her family in Trinidad, after fleeing the economic and political crisis in their home of Venezuela. When her Aunt Celia, 'the family bitch', a headstrong woman (who Yola was very close to) dies suddenly, the family do not realise what's in store for them.

A family barbecue is gatecrashed by a man who calls himself 'Ugly' - it turns out before she died Aunt Celia owed him 600,000 dollars and she hasn't paid any of it. As the Palacios family doesn't have any money, they now have to work for Ugly, doing everything he says until the debt is repaid. To make matters worse, Ugly has a right-hand man Román - who just so happens to be absolutely gorgeous. Yola knows it's dangerous but she can't help falling for him...

I really enjoyed this book and found myself racing through it. One Year of Ugly has everything: it's original, darkly funny, full of family dynamics and forbidden romance. It also touches on the serious issues of refuge and asylum, bringing to light what it's like to leave your country, and try to make a new life in a new place that makes it almost impossible for you to be recognised as a citizen. I definitely recommend, it's unlike anything I've read before (in a good way!)

The Palacios family fled Venezuela to make a new life in Trinidad, but when Aunt Celia dies they find she has amassed a large debt with the criminal underworld, namely Ugly. When Ugly comes calling for repayment the family end up ‘working’ for him to repay this debt.

Yola, who narrates the story, has a razor sharp wit that will have you laughing out loud at the family antics, the dark humour helps deal with the darker moments of life…..

Will the Palacios family manage to free themselves from Ugly?

This is a tale of the harsh realities of being a refugee, of the daily exploitation they suffer, but it’s also a tale of family, love and humour in adversity. It’s all mixed with such great characters to make an amazingly entertaining read.

Thank you to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Was not sure I would like this. It follows a family fleeing from Venezuela and being in the grip of the people traffickers. Fascinating, well written, gentle but challenging. Would recommend...