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graciegrace1178's review against another edition
4.0
Ohhhh okay yea I totally get the hype now. Yea, this book deserves all the praise it gets. Not a five star read for me personally, but a GOOD book all the same. Kudos to Cummins!
PT: Saltwater pages, books that have been on my TBR for too long, hablo español, urban fiction, books that got me out of a reading slump
WIL
1) Clever characters. It would've been so easy to make the characters get away with pure luck. To attribute their success to means other than wits and wiles, but OH Cummins did not choose easy. These characters THINK and CONSIDER deeply and thoroughly. Problems are turned over and examined from multiple angles, re-evaluated in the context of new information. We, as readers, can trace the lines of logic so clearly, and it's AMAZING.
2) Narrative revelations. Cummins is a genius actually. The timing of new information revealed to the characters AND the flashbacks to old memories revealing new content to the audience are both incredibly well done. This is SUCH a difficult part of pacing, in this genre especially, and Cummins has mastered the craft.
3) Obstacles and Luck. It's a tricky thing, balancing the sheer luck characters will receive with the obstacles that they must experience to make their story compelling, doubly so when the story has a Political Point to make and trebly so when that Political Point is highly contentious. Again, Cummins is a genius. This whole story was crafted so carefully, and I think I'll need to read it another four times to see all the interlocking pieces and understand just how Cummins went about making this.
4) Live laugh love. But actually Cry Laugh Cry Again (complimentary).
WIDL
1) Not totally my cuppa tea? I'm usually not much of a fan of heavy (toned) literature like this. It's just a lot, and it's draining. I had to take a lot of breaks in this one because, man, it's just a lot to digest. You've got to be in the right Mental Space to really appreciate this and process it all. I definitely missed some nuance just because, after a certain point, my brain just wouldn't absorb any more of the condensed chaos this book offers.
Neutral Ground
1) Symbolism transparency. The symbols are great, but sometimes they felt a little too on the nose or just a hair too presented-on-a-silver-platter to the audience. Maybe I'm just nitpicky.
PT: Saltwater pages, books that have been on my TBR for too long, hablo español, urban fiction, books that got me out of a reading slump
WIL
1) Clever characters. It would've been so easy to make the characters get away with pure luck. To attribute their success to means other than wits and wiles, but OH Cummins did not choose easy. These characters THINK and CONSIDER deeply and thoroughly. Problems are turned over and examined from multiple angles, re-evaluated in the context of new information. We, as readers, can trace the lines of logic so clearly, and it's AMAZING.
2) Narrative revelations. Cummins is a genius actually. The timing of new information revealed to the characters AND the flashbacks to old memories revealing new content to the audience are both incredibly well done. This is SUCH a difficult part of pacing, in this genre especially, and Cummins has mastered the craft.
3) Obstacles and Luck. It's a tricky thing, balancing the sheer luck characters will receive with the obstacles that they must experience to make their story compelling, doubly so when the story has a Political Point to make and trebly so when that Political Point is highly contentious. Again, Cummins is a genius. This whole story was crafted so carefully, and I think I'll need to read it another four times to see all the interlocking pieces and understand just how Cummins went about making this.
4) Live laugh love. But actually Cry Laugh Cry Again (complimentary).
WIDL
1) Not totally my cuppa tea? I'm usually not much of a fan of heavy (toned) literature like this. It's just a lot, and it's draining. I had to take a lot of breaks in this one because, man, it's just a lot to digest. You've got to be in the right Mental Space to really appreciate this and process it all. I definitely missed some nuance just because, after a certain point, my brain just wouldn't absorb any more of the condensed chaos this book offers.
Neutral Ground
1) Symbolism transparency. The symbols are great, but sometimes they felt a little too on the nose or just a hair too presented-on-a-silver-platter to the audience. Maybe I'm just nitpicky.
writer6's review against another edition
2.0
American Dirt is definitely a book that's somewhat out of my comfort zone reading wise, but going into reading this book, I was still hoping that I would enjoy this book; especially despite all of the controversy that surrounds this book. Sadly, I ultimately thought that American Dirt was simply okay. I found the writing for both Lydia and Luca rather lackluster and underdeveloped; with Cummins' writing for Luca being especially lacking and feeling somewhat unrealistic in terms of his behavior throughout the course of the book, in my opinion. Personally, Luca came across as being too well-adjusted for a kid who's in the situation that he and Lydia are in; to the point where the writing for him didn't seem truly believable. I also found the writing for the plot rather "meh" in many ways, but especially in regards to the overall pacing of the plot, and the resolution of the book. I feel like American Dirt is about 40 to 60 pages longer than it needs to be, in order to tell a good story. Those issues admittedly made reading American Dirt feel like a real chore for me at times. That being said, despite my complaints about the book, I still found American Dirt to be a rather touching story when it comes to the mother/son relationship between Lydia and Luca. For that reason, I'm still glad that I read American Dirt, even though I ultimately think that the book is simply okay.
My rating / score: 2 out of 5 Stars on the Goodreads rating system, and 4 out of 10 on my own personal scoring system.
My rating / score: 2 out of 5 Stars on the Goodreads rating system, and 4 out of 10 on my own personal scoring system.
worldwydewifey's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I have ever read. It is written so emotively, and really make you feel like you are a part of the journey they take. Definitely has some trigger warnings for violence/SA but if you can get past them, it's a fantastic book.
There is a lot of "controversy" around the fact that this book was not written by a Mexican. I don't see the validity in that argument at all, as the author is of Latin descent and did substantive research (and is backed by) with Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to tell the most accurate story of what this journey really is like. If you are deciding not to read because of that, I think you should change your mind.
There is a lot of "controversy" around the fact that this book was not written by a Mexican. I don't see the validity in that argument at all, as the author is of Latin descent and did substantive research (and is backed by) with Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to tell the most accurate story of what this journey really is like. If you are deciding not to read because of that, I think you should change your mind.
lucyvf's review against another edition
5.0
Incredibly intense and dark but fascinating story of a mother and her son trying to escape the Mexican cartel by illegally crossing into the US. Loved it.
thelawless's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
3.5
oliviahoffmann's review against another edition
4.0
Not having an idea of what this book was about before picking it up, I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was beautiful and got attached to a number of the characters. I found the commentary on motherhood and grief really powerful. After finishing it, I read a bit about the controversy surrounding it and felt a bit conflicted. I appreciated that the author spoke to the fact (in the afterword) that she knew this was a dicey topic to write about as a non-Mexican LatinX woman, but that she tried to do so in a way that painted the humanity of the immigrant story rather than the numbers and statistics normally portrayed. I thought she succeeded in that in a thought-provoking way, but want to read more about the presence of this book and how its content may seem appropriated to many.
pick_ren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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