Scan barcode
yeseniaceleste's review against another edition
5.0
This is a gut wrenching story of how the daughter of undocumented immigrants is left to fend on her own when at 14 years old her parents are deported. Her whole world is turned upside down and now she must figure out how to live. In the end, Diane turns to acting as a way to focus on a positive and shenis successful. We've seen her in OITNB and Jane the Virgin. I really appreciated this story. I cried as her life evolved and hit after hit came. This is a story of survival.
leeumcee93's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
It’s a slow start, I don’t like how it jumps back and forth between different events and periods in her life. However, it soon steadies itself into a decent chronological order and tells and extremely interesting and harrowing account of life as a first generation American to undocumented parents.
thebookishlibrarian's review against another edition
From Diane Guererro comes a memoir everyone should read. In it, she discusses her melancholy adolescence when her loving parents and brother were taken away from her by immigration while she was at school one day. It also speaks to the strong woman she became because of it. Best known for her role as Maritza Ramos in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, Guererro shines in this debut memoir. Latinos and non-Latinos alike will appreciate the honesty and poignancy that this book brings, especially shedding light on the system that fails immigrants and their children on a daily basis.
In The Country We Love: My Family Divided is a 2017 Alex Award winner.
In The Country We Love: My Family Divided is a 2017 Alex Award winner.
melly_a's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Deportation
marcosbedbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one! However, I'm not really sure what to rate it. Memoirs aren't something I typically read and so while this book was enjoyable, I didn't know how to feel about it. For most of the book (mostly the first half where she was discussing deportation), I was loving this! That being said, I wasn't that invested in the sections where she talked about acting. I haven't been interested in her career and only picked up her book because it dealt with the topic of deportation; in fact, I didn't even know she acted in Jane the Virgin and Orange before I picked this up! I've decided to give it four stars for now but may change my mind later.
aimalicious811's review against another edition
5.0
“There is no point going through anything difficult if, on the other side of it, very little shifts”
Great read!
Great read!
sarahtribble's review against another edition
3.0
The first half of this was reeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyyy good. The last quarter kind of dropped off for me, because she started talking about 'Orange is the New Black' and her friends on the cast and crew, and since I don't like or watch the show (I know Diane from 'Jane the Virgin'), I wasn't really that interested. The prose also got a little scattered around this point. Otherwise, a solid and important read that really educated me on US immigration policies and the trauma that deportation leaves behind.
emilybriano's review against another edition
5.0
A moving and motivating story of how a young girl survived the deportation of her parents at 14 and went on to achieve her dream of being an actress on Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin.
moh's review against another edition
4.0
This is a brave and important memoir, centered around the tangible effects and emotional costs of Diane Guerrero's parents' deportation from the U.S. to Colombia when she was fourteen. It's also about growing up, family, community, struggling to make ends meet, and becoming a successful actress. That's part of what I found so moving--She is candid about the cost of moving forward before she had the tools to deal with events that would traumatize an adult.
In some places, the Twitter-speak was distracting to me, but then I'm old. :) I think the conversational tone would resonate with people a little further from AARP eligibility. Diane Guerrero's narration of the audiobook adds to its power, and the call to action at the end of the book is more critical than ever.
In some places, the Twitter-speak was distracting to me, but then I'm old. :) I think the conversational tone would resonate with people a little further from AARP eligibility. Diane Guerrero's narration of the audiobook adds to its power, and the call to action at the end of the book is more critical than ever.
biobibliophile23's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful story. Diane Guerrero opens up about many hot button issues including having your entire family deported (at an age when life is already confusing and stressful), mental health, family and romantic relationships, and so much more.
Trying to find her own way at a very early age due to her father, mother, and brother being deported to Colombia, Guerrero finds herself relying on the kindness of her friend's families while she finishes school. Feeling despondent and lost, then determined and hopeful, she takes us on her journey to finding success, trying and failing, drinking/partying too much, managing your finances, struggling with mental health, figuring out college/her future, alienating herself from her family, chasing her dreams, and her mixed feelings about the country that disrupted her childhood.
This book covered all the bases. I got really angry with her, I laughed at her quirky jokes, I cried for her, I rooted for her, and I celebrated with her. This book humanizes the issue of immigration in our country and I think it would be an extremely eye-opening read for people who seem to think living in the US illegally is a black and white problem with no gray area. It is immensely complex and as we learn from Guerrero, it alters lives at every turn.
I listened to this book on Audible and I am so happy I did as Guerrero narrated it which made it that much more passionate.
Trying to find her own way at a very early age due to her father, mother, and brother being deported to Colombia, Guerrero finds herself relying on the kindness of her friend's families while she finishes school. Feeling despondent and lost, then determined and hopeful, she takes us on her journey to finding success, trying and failing, drinking/partying too much, managing your finances, struggling with mental health, figuring out college/her future, alienating herself from her family, chasing her dreams, and her mixed feelings about the country that disrupted her childhood.
This book covered all the bases. I got really angry with her, I laughed at her quirky jokes, I cried for her, I rooted for her, and I celebrated with her. This book humanizes the issue of immigration in our country and I think it would be an extremely eye-opening read for people who seem to think living in the US illegally is a black and white problem with no gray area. It is immensely complex and as we learn from Guerrero, it alters lives at every turn.
I listened to this book on Audible and I am so happy I did as Guerrero narrated it which made it that much more passionate.