vanesst's review
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Deportation, Racism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
caidyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Dementia, Animal cruelty, Rape, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
scherezade's review
- 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
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Terminal illness
laurenmcnamara's review
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Rape, and Suicide
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Violence
Minor: Grief, Medical trauma, and Police brutality
bafine's review against another edition
- 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 a feat of descriptive and lyrical prose, intricate multiple viewpoint story-telling, trauma, and love. I am both heartbroken and heart-warmed. In a mere 191 pages I experienced culture, love, loss, desperation, shame, strength, and triumph.
<blockquote>p.32 In Houston, Mauro worked with many men who'd investigated the southern borderlands by foot, some four or five times. ...Still, they returned, even as the journey became harder, the hazards more vicious, <b>convinced this land offered more than theirs had already taken from them.</b></blockquote>
I don't wish to belabor on the subject, but please, <u>if you have not yet read a now famous book of migrant stories written by a white woman, remove it from your list and replace it with this one.</u> I have now read both and I can tell you that not only does this book tell the story of immigration from an actual Latinx dual-citizen daughter of immigrants, but it is much better written.
<i>Infinite Country</i> is rich with Andean folklore and wildlife. In my mind I could envision the streets of Bogotá and flew with the condors high above treetops. I got lost in Engel's beautiful myths of how humans came to be.
<blockquote>p.95 Traditional Knowledge maintained that the first race of humans was extinguished by the gods because of their cannibalism. A second generation of humans transformed into the animals that inhabit the earth. The third race of humans was created anew by the gods, formed from clay. We are only soil and water baked in the sun to dry, ...Is it any wonder we are so fragile and destined to break?</blockquote>
When I read about the way we treat immigrants and their families in America, I always feel so broken. We call ourselves a melting pot, <i>"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore"</i> but we turn away anyone who doesn't look or speak like us. <i>Infinite Country</i> is a love letter to immigrants and to the earth. Animals and fault lines do not create borders--humans do.
I hope to see this book popping up in book clubs around the country and world. I am so grateful that this was my Book of the Month pick on early release. I recommend this book to everyone, but especially fellow white Americans. We have so much work to do.
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
_lia_reads_'s review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Terminal illness, Grief, Bullying, and Alcoholism