Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

24 reviews

theblushbookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

Short but packs a powerful punch. Infinite Country is the story  of a family separated by immigration and deportation trying to reunite. As daughter Talia navigates the trials of leaving Colombia to return to where she was born in America, we hear the perspectives of her parents, Mauro and Elena, as they navigated their own emigration many years before. This novel is raw in its illustration of what U.S. immigration law does to families and is worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Deportation, Rape, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction and Grief

Minor: Gun violence

mia_difelice's review

emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Rape, Xenophobia, Racism, Bullying, Deportation, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

essie__reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

5.0

This book follows the members of one undocumented Colombian family, as they navigate the experience of family members deportation from the United States and the hardships they face while trying to reunite and build a better life for their whole family in the United States. The book describes each of the family members experiences in Colombia and/or the United States, as they go through life facing the challenges of living as a family separated between Colombia and America. Mauro and Talia, father and the youngest daughter, living in Colombia together. While Elena, Karina, and Nando live in America- waiting for their sister and husband to join them. It describes Mauro and Elena's love story and how they were able to move to Texas and all of the events leading up to Mauro's deportation and the decision to send Talia to Colombia with her father. Elena, Mauro, and Talia have to make difficult decisions to leave the country they have known and loved in order to seek new and safer oppurtunities in America and reunite as a family, all while risking deportation. Their journeys depict challenges of living undocumented including struggles to find affordable and safe housing, racism, sexual assault, and the daily fears of deportation. 

I would definitely recommend this book. It opened my eyes to a lot of the challenges undocumented immigrants may go through. I listened to the audiobook and did not enjoy the narrator, so I'd recommend reading a print or ebook copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, War, Grief, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Dementia, and Animal death

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Racism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

decklededgess's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

trigger warnings: injury and injury detail, animal abuse and death, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, alcohol and alcoholism, racism and bigotry, confinement, deportation, death of parent

This book is such an important read. It's heartbreaking yet hopeful and forces you to see the struggle of immigration from the eyes of people who have to deal with public vitriol for being immigrants during a time where xenophobia was at its worst. This book focuses on the struggles of one family as they immigrate, get broken apart due to deportation and their struggle to reunite. The timeline hops all over the place as it gives context and fills you in on the questions of how, why, where, and so on.

Beautifully done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Bullying, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Racism, Hate crime, and Grief

yarelhdi's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy, Gun violence, Death, and Mass/school shootings

annieliz's review

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Colonisation, and Grief

caseythereader's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Police brutality, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

elliefk98's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Again, not a huge crier, but this one was a tear jerker. The story of one family's immigration to the States and trying to create a life for themselves will resonate to some degree with any member of a diasporic and immigrant family seeking something better (or just different) in another country.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, and Dementia

Minor: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Misogyny, Bullying, and Abandonment

jennifer_bush_73's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism and Violence