Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

10 reviews

ngoodenb's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, and War

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Lydia and her son Luca are the heart of this story of love, loss, and the brutal reality of drug cartel violence in Mexico. By centering a middle class family,  Cummins makes it clear no one is safe when a community is taken over and draws the stark contrast between their previous lives and their new ones traveling to the United States border alongside other migrants. The journey is more harrowing than most of us are aware of, and we get to know other stories through the people they meet along the way. 
A heart-pounding look at the fact that the people anxious to cross the border are individuals with complex histories,  not a mob of faceless "invaders" as some political leaders have claimed. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

strawberrypinch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Deportation

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kkimball's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Very graphic but also one of the best books I’ve read this year. Would have felt much better about it  though if it was written by a Hispanic woman  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Miscarriage and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement and Trafficking

bookellys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is an incredible read!

I loved the writing style and how the narration would switch between characters unannounced yet seamless. The inclusion of the Spanish phases were so simple yet gave you that little reminder and a sense of someone’s story being translated for you.

It’s extremely descriptive, I could almost feel the rumble of la bestia beneath me. This also made it a tough read at times, as you get so invested in the characters, some of whom go through unspeakable experiences. 

If you enjoyed (is that the right word for this type of book?) The Beekeeper of Aleppo then I think you’d enjoy this too. For me, this hits the mark whereas The Beekeeper felt like there was something missing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

katelyn_beee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

tkibbee17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

So much trauma 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

acerbicread's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

The book makes you feel emotional for a lot of reasons, but I understand the "trauma-p*rn" description that professional reviews have given it. 
It's trauma that feels unauthentic. Read a book about immigrating by someone who actually experienced it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

domtheknight's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I feel that I can't rate this book because I'm extremely conflicted about many things.  I read it because someone picked it for a book club I'm in; otherwise I would not have picked it up based on description.  If I hadn't felt that I should finish it in order to participate in book club, I would have put it down almost immediately, and at many additional times throughout the story.  This book was not for me.

As for whether it's for anybody... from a technical writing standpoint, like in terms of making good sentences with words that sound and feel a certain way, Jeanne Cummins has skills.  It's bare and factual for the most part, but every paragraph is screaming in grief, underneath.  Grief, and horror and desperation.  It's creepy in that way, and sometimes that's good and what is right for the story.  But given the subject matter and the author, it honestly crossed the "violence for violence sake and not to further the story" line many times.  

The point of this story, having sat on this review overnight, seemed to be everything that can go wrong will be more awful than you can imagine.  I don't know why you tell that story.  There's no character growth.  Is the point to generate sympathy for immigrants?  Is the point to just be horror?  I think there's too much grief to be horror, but it's not really a grief book either.  It didn't feel like a horror book and it wasn't marketed as horror, but that's the ultimate end story I get from it.  I never cried, I just felt numb.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, and Mass/school shootings

I'm not sure I got all the warnings. This book is very dark and fairly graphic about it, the plot is that a woman sees 16 members of her family shot (this is in the first couple paragraphs), manages to save her son, and then must run. They are in Mexico, they take various migrant paths, with some migrants coming from further south countries. There are gangs and violence and Lydia basically decides they need to go to the USA fairly early on and the rest of the story is whether or not they make it, plus some details about situations their fellow migrants are running from. In some cases the details left off the page felt worse than what was on the page.