kclark's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This book explores the complexity of family relationships strained across time, distance, immigration status, and class. While Talia's journey from the correctional school back to Bogotá is used as the main plot of this book, the actual story of this book centers on her whole family and how they wound up split between two countries. We learn through non-sequentially how her parents met, started a family, and moved to the United States before the family was split up as a result of complex immigration status.
The way in which family saga is relayed is often a scene of Talia on her journey home, and then something triggers a memory of her family which then spins into a brief tangential story about a member of her family and often times will branch off a few more times into different vignettes which may last several chapters. This felt a bit messy while I was reading it, but by the time I reached the end of the novel and I reflected on the book as a whole, it worked for me.
The concept of Justice is central to this plot. Characters ability to react to unjust situations and dole out a version of justice is often restricted by their circumstances. We see how immigration status can disproportionately impact undocumented people and make them unable to access justice. We also see how one's personal justice and society's concept of what is just can often be at odds. Engel also explores how access to power skews the sense of justice.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. There were moments of beautiful prose that really struck me, but overall the book was not one of my favorites. In short, I liked it, but I did not love it.
The way in which family saga is relayed is often a scene of Talia on her journey home, and then something triggers a memory of her family which then spins into a brief tangential story about a member of her family and often times will branch off a few more times into different vignettes which may last several chapters. This felt a bit messy while I was reading it, but by the time I reached the end of the novel and I reflected on the book as a whole, it worked for me.
The concept of Justice is central to this plot. Characters ability to react to unjust situations and dole out a version of justice is often restricted by their circumstances. We see how immigration status can disproportionately impact undocumented people and make them unable to access justice. We also see how one's personal justice and society's concept of what is just can often be at odds. Engel also explores how access to power skews the sense of justice.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. There were moments of beautiful prose that really struck me, but overall the book was not one of my favorites. In short, I liked it, but I did not love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Animal death
Moderate: Body horror, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement
deezy's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Police brutality
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