scrow1022's review against another edition
4.0
Sharp, observant, unsparing but not mean, and loving too.
shanviolinlove's review against another edition
4.0
This collection is on fire! Potent with hiphop energy, incisive, playful, mournful, honest. I loved the refrains of "Mexican Heaven" and all the ways Olivarez reconstructed an image with sardonic insight. Only a handful of poems felt filler, as most offered poignant portraits of a devoted mother, a former fat boy who falls in and out of love, Mexican Americans negotiating a hyphenated identity in schools and shopping malls, a family rich in culture and love that gentrification and assimilation threaten to strip away. So many titles alone are poems in themselves. I keep going back to "My Family Never Finished Migrating We Just Stopped":
"they built a sanctuary underneath the sand,
under the skin we shed, so we can wear
the desert like a cobija, under the bones
of our loved ones, bones worn thin
as thorns to terrorize blue agents,
bones worn thin as guitar strings,
so when the wind blows
we can follow the music home."
"they built a sanctuary underneath the sand,
under the skin we shed, so we can wear
the desert like a cobija, under the bones
of our loved ones, bones worn thin
as thorns to terrorize blue agents,
bones worn thin as guitar strings,
so when the wind blows
we can follow the music home."
librojen23's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
José Olivarez your voice has been heard. Being a first-generation immigrant, sharing your story with the world con palabras tan poderosas is very inspirational. All that you endured being raised a Chicano in this country wasn’t easy, especially when all you’re trying to do is fit in and be apart of this society. I praise your poems, your creativity and truth.
“this one is for the day we survived. this is for the darkness we turned into a dance floor. this is for all the sadness we carried & the homies that helped us carry it. the carrying only gets heavier. therefore: the law of physics requires is to love more. celebrate louder.”
sturgeonfish's review against another edition
4.75
José Olivarez is one of my favorite poets. This book is very good, emotional, well paced and arranged. Feels very intimate.
jolee97's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
Overall a good book and enjoyable to read. I don't normally read poetry like this, but I feel that in this day and age, this is something the author felt needed to be said. It's worth the read.
joski's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.75