Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

11 reviews

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Cancer and Cursing

lmkennedy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I picked this book up because it was immediately available on Libby and had such a high star rating. However, this book is receiving only 2 stars from me, not because I didn’t enjoy it but because by the end I knew something was amiss and in doing so looked into the author. I find it alarming when people choose to try and represent a community they are not a part of, even if it is done in earnest; simply because it leads to stereotypes and misinformation. Cummins writes an extremely dramatic telling of migration out of Mexico to escape cartel violence, and yet is not Mexican, nor a migrant. While I have no doubt doing the proper work to write a story that isn’t your own, credit and compensation are due to those that provide that insight. While it sounds as though Cummins gives minimal credit to those she interviewed, it does not go beyond that. Migration stories ARE dangerous for a number of reasons and taking people’s stories to retell them in a fake, overblown manner doesn’t help with the problem, nor does it help those who provided you the insight you needed to craft the story. 

This book had me often recalling the plot line of yellow face. There may be some people out there thankful for the representation regardless of who it comes from, but when it ultimately comes down to it, someone with real life experiences, even if it just having lived in Mexico (Cummins has not) can write a better, more truthful, narrative about migrants; one that likely deserves the money and press this one did. 

I am not going to list book suggestions in place of this book, because many latinx authors and reviewers already have but I highly suggest going that direction if you are interested in this material. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation

Moderate: Body horror

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

dlsmk's review

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

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.

feliscatusnum_1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

escaping_america's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

beccadamb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment