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madladym's review against another edition
4.0
I know there's some controversy surrounding this book. Putting that aside, this book made me think. It made me hurt. It was powerful.
tbookstwo's review against another edition
5.0
- Hope is a fragile thing, easily shattered, yet it’s often the only light guiding us through darkness.
- In a world that seeks to define us by our borders, we must remember that humanity knows no boundaries.
- The stories we carry shape us; they are both a burden and a source of strength.
- The beauty of the world can coexist with its brutality; it is in this duality that we find our resilience.
- Every step forward can feel like a betrayal of the life left behind, yet it is necessary for survival.
- Each new day is a chance to reclaim our narrative, to rewrite our stories in a world that tries to silence us.
- Empathy is a bridge that connects us, allowing us to see the humanity in others’ struggles.
- In a world that seeks to define us by our borders, we must remember that humanity knows no boundaries.
- The stories we carry shape us; they are both a burden and a source of strength.
- The beauty of the world can coexist with its brutality; it is in this duality that we find our resilience.
- Every step forward can feel like a betrayal of the life left behind, yet it is necessary for survival.
- Each new day is a chance to reclaim our narrative, to rewrite our stories in a world that tries to silence us.
- Empathy is a bridge that connects us, allowing us to see the humanity in others’ struggles.
katiebutton1978's review against another edition
5.0
This was hard to read, and still I know it didn’t scratch the surface of the horrors people face when trying to save themselves and their families. This is the story of a mother and her young son fleeing southern Mexico after their family is murdered by a cartel and continuing to hunt them. This book gives a human face to one reason America is sought by so many.
p2warner's review against another edition
4.0
Sooo this book.... It does not feel right to say I liked this book as it is the definition of harrowing. It was compelling, riveting , well written, educational and definitely made me feel lots of emotions. But this tale of one woman’s forced migration from Acapulco to the USA is not for the faint of heart. You get a front row seat to the multitudes of traumas that make up the migrant experience. I’m glad I read it, but will definitely will be reaching for light read after this one. 4/5
jamuckley's review against another edition
5.0
“That these people would leave their homes, their cultures, their families, even their languages, and venture into tremendous peril, risking their very lives, all for the chance to get to the dream of some faraway country that doesn’t even want them.” -Jeanine Cummins, American Dirt
“American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins was one of the most anticipated books of the year. Let me tell you, this book lived up to the hype. From the first chapter you are gripped by the horror of the Mexican drug cartels, the evil prospect of someone looking not just to kill you, but looking to kill everyone in your family and everyone you care about.
The book is both a cautionary tale but also revelatory of the evil that unchecked power can produce and the lengths that it would go to track you down, hunt you, and seek to destroy you when you get on an evil person’s bad side.
Don Winslow calls “American Dirt,” the Grapes of Wrath of our times. I feel like the parallels between this book and John Steinbeck’s classic historical fiction of times during the dust bowl in Oklahoma in the 1930s is an excellent comparison. I think where to the diverge is that the dust bowl lasted less than a decade and the way that drug cartels have situated themselves in places like Acapulco and numerous other cities in Mexico and South America, the violence, the murders, the drug, sex, and people trafficking look to continue unchecked for a long time to come.
The book grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go until the epilogue. The perils of the life of a migrant seem to be continuous and endless. From the threats of being robbed, raped, arrested, abducted to the threats of exposure in the hot desert landscape to the dangers of travel by freight train or by box truck or on any other number of means of transportation not suitable for use by humans, every twist and turn of this book catches your breath in your throat.
This book is one of the top fictional novels I’ve read this year, and even the past few years. I loved how Cummins incorporated in colloquial Spanish throughout. It was something I appreciated as I used to be fluent in Spanish, mostly Spanglish from years working with Latinos and taking more than five years of Spanish in high school and college.
I really recommend you go read this book soon, or at a minimum add it to your “to-read” list.
“American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins was one of the most anticipated books of the year. Let me tell you, this book lived up to the hype. From the first chapter you are gripped by the horror of the Mexican drug cartels, the evil prospect of someone looking not just to kill you, but looking to kill everyone in your family and everyone you care about.
The book is both a cautionary tale but also revelatory of the evil that unchecked power can produce and the lengths that it would go to track you down, hunt you, and seek to destroy you when you get on an evil person’s bad side.
Don Winslow calls “American Dirt,” the Grapes of Wrath of our times. I feel like the parallels between this book and John Steinbeck’s classic historical fiction of times during the dust bowl in Oklahoma in the 1930s is an excellent comparison. I think where to the diverge is that the dust bowl lasted less than a decade and the way that drug cartels have situated themselves in places like Acapulco and numerous other cities in Mexico and South America, the violence, the murders, the drug, sex, and people trafficking look to continue unchecked for a long time to come.
The book grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go until the epilogue. The perils of the life of a migrant seem to be continuous and endless. From the threats of being robbed, raped, arrested, abducted to the threats of exposure in the hot desert landscape to the dangers of travel by freight train or by box truck or on any other number of means of transportation not suitable for use by humans, every twist and turn of this book catches your breath in your throat.
This book is one of the top fictional novels I’ve read this year, and even the past few years. I loved how Cummins incorporated in colloquial Spanish throughout. It was something I appreciated as I used to be fluent in Spanish, mostly Spanglish from years working with Latinos and taking more than five years of Spanish in high school and college.
I really recommend you go read this book soon, or at a minimum add it to your “to-read” list.
charieprocter's review against another edition
5.0
Such a story of humans
I don't want to say anything as the story needs needs to be discovered and read as it goes. Recommended by a friend that said it wouldn't leave her
I don't want to say anything as the story needs needs to be discovered and read as it goes. Recommended by a friend that said it wouldn't leave her
duckaduck's review against another edition
4.0
Strange book. The second half is superb. The evolution of the characters, the hardship of the journey and tension involved was beautifully crafted.
The bits I didn't like. The relationship between Javier and Lydia was farcical. Javier was like something from a cartoon and the idea of them forming a relationship was just comical. This meant the threat from him never felt real.
The character of Luca only really work from about page 200 onwards. Before that it he was a bizarre mixture of thoughts that wouldn't occur to an 8 year old and thoughts that only a 5 year old would think. It was truly bizarre. His character was more like a dog sidekick in a computer game until about page 200 whne suddenly he became human.
The bits I didn't like. The relationship between Javier and Lydia was farcical. Javier was like something from a cartoon and the idea of them forming a relationship was just comical. This meant the threat from him never felt real.
The character of Luca only really work from about page 200 onwards. Before that it he was a bizarre mixture of thoughts that wouldn't occur to an 8 year old and thoughts that only a 5 year old would think. It was truly bizarre. His character was more like a dog sidekick in a computer game until about page 200 whne suddenly he became human.
yak_nika's review against another edition
4.0
Неймовірний досвід читання про страшну і буденну річ як еміграція. Коли аби втікти, незважаючи куди. Аби безпечніше.
Дуже емоційно чіпляє
Дуже емоційно чіпляє
alifromcali10's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this fictional book was well written and honestly had me caring about what happened to multiple characters which doesn’t happen often for me. After I finished the book, I just sat there thinking about the fact that sure this is a work of fiction, but people go through this everyday to seek refuge or a better life.
It’s so sad what drove most of these characters to leave their homes and the fact that a lot of them didn’t have homes to return back to.
Overall, I liked the storytelling even if some parts were slow. I keep going back and forth from a 4 to a 5 so it’s probably a 4.5 score for me.
It’s so sad what drove most of these characters to leave their homes and the fact that a lot of them didn’t have homes to return back to.
Overall, I liked the storytelling even if some parts were slow. I keep going back and forth from a 4 to a 5 so it’s probably a 4.5 score for me.