Reviews tagging 'Blood'

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

46 reviews

lay_kone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

missai's review against another edition

adventurous sad medium-paced

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

3.0

An intimate, action-packed exploration of what it takes to make the treacherous journey across Mexico and to the U.S. border. This book illustrates the mentality and resolve required to literally leave everything behind in search of a better life. It also shows how losing everything, being driven to rock bottom, makes even the risk of death seem inconsequential. The characters we meet shed their identities, and at times their humanity, to survive just one more day, one more mile.

Unfortunately, this book falls into the paradoxically "sanitized-yet-still-trauma-porn" category that is endemic in women's historical fiction. One could argue that the numbness experienced by the characters is mirrored in the reader's own experience, where every new terrible thing is no longer shocking. To me, though, this concept wasn't executed well enough, and reads as more of a stylistic issue, which extends to other areas of the writing.

Narrated from third-person, the POV sporadically jumps around to various characters outside the main one. Consequently, all of the perspectives are watered down. The son's POV felt contrived and didn't add any emotional depth for me. Once the twins were introduced, I actually found the main character's plot line wholly uninteresting and wanted to know more about the girls. They experience so much intimate trauma that is largely brushed aside and used as a plot device.

And I have issues with the world building in general. I didn't come out of this novel feeling like I learned much about how cartels operate, how migrants navigate the "legal" systems in Mexico, or how U.S. government decisions regarding the border impacted migrants' journeys. All of these elements are included superficially, so I was disappointed that the novel didn't add any depth to my existing understanding of these topics. It also rubbed me the wrong way how the story romanticized the cartel leader; I'm all for humanizing villains, but it was done in a light-handed way that I think leans more towards problematic than nuanced.

Overall, the prose was good and so was the narration, but American Dirt is certainly not the tell-all on Mexican migrants' experiences the way positive reviews make it out to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Trafficking

Moderate: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Gun violence, Misogyny, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation

beetandbaguette's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

beccalora's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Deportation

Minor: Rape

dlsmk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

megannoelle'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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

alli_k20's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

texashippie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

murve's review against another edition

I started this audiobook on Libby after recognizing the cover from multiple Goodreads lists over the last few years. I didn't read the summary or know what it was about when I started. After hearing the initial graphic content, I decided to look more into the title and its author. 

Countless other reviews and websites have covered the full issues with this book. But since this author identifies as white and is attempting to cover a very sensitive Mexican/Latinx perspective, I will not be finishing this title. 

For a more eloquent review from a Mexican American reader with additional resources: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3083591534

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Murder

This is an author you should avoid supporting.

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

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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