Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - In the Country We Love: My Family Divided

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero

14 reviews

n0th4nks's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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laurenleyendolibros's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Diane Guerrero is an American actor (you might recognise her from Orange is The New Black) born to Colombian parents, who came home from school aged 14 to find both her parents had been detained awaiting deportation.

The book tells the story of her whole life and the effects that being left effectively homeless and alone when still a child had on her. You don’t have to know who she is or be a fan to have your eyes opened by her story – it’s truly shocking and horrifying. And it goes without saying she’s just one child who experienced this.

I won’t say more – you should just read it. And if you’re not moved by the story of one woman, she also explains clearly why deportation is just a waste of time, energy and money; and causes more problems than it solves.

In terms of content this book gets five stars and really is a must-read. It’s the writing style that you often get in this type of book that knocks it down a little (and honestly, that might be the work of the co-writer appealing to an imagined target audience).

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luelle_'s review

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slow-paced

2.5

I wanted to read this for the longest time so I feel bad giving a low rating but I really struggled with a lot of it. I'm still glad I read it. It's important.

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gracer's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

3.0

This has been on my list for a while, and I'm glad I finally got around to it, although it wasn't, strictly speaking, well-written.

This book covers more than her experience with her parents' deportation; I did not expect there to be so much about the fallout and the aftermath of the deportation and the way that affected Guerrero's life. I think that was a welcome addition.

This was a quick read, partially because the language is so very colloquial. There's nothing wrong with that but I could have done without some of the gratuitous swearing and vocal asides -- I think in most cases there should be a reasonable alternative to actually putting "ha ha" in the text of your memoir. That said, Diane Guerrero isn't a writer (and there was a writer involved with the project as well), and that isn't the point of this kind of book.

Despite the fluffy writing, I recommend this to anyone interested in immigration. The content itself is not at all fluffy, and the book should probably be covered in trigger warnings,

(deportation, yes, but also self-harm and suicide)

which I did not realize until halfway through. It's a really nice, personable view of deportation and the effect that can have on the individual. We are so used to hearing about immigration in terms of numbers, and it's important to get personal accounts of it as well.

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