soderick's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
4.0
jenleah's review against another edition
4.0
So much controversy surrounding the author and this book. I don't know how to completely disregard what I felt like was a gripping novel from the numerous criticisms. Who can and should tell this story? My rating of four stars is just for how much I was invested in this story.
alyssam_'s review against another edition
4.0
More accurately, this is 3.5/5. It’s a page-turner with visceral descriptions—more so in the first half than the second.
Yet, the whole read felt like a Hollywood depiction. In both senses of it being cinematic but also obviously ‘for entertainment purposes only.’
It, at parts, felt stereotypical, overly-convenient, and very constructed. Which started to annoy me towards the end.
However, it is a fictitious book after all and you can’t help but neeed to know what happens to Lydia and Luca.
Yet, the whole read felt like a Hollywood depiction. In both senses of it being cinematic but also obviously ‘for entertainment purposes only.’
It, at parts, felt stereotypical, overly-convenient, and very constructed. Which started to annoy me towards the end.
However, it is a fictitious book after all and you can’t help but neeed to know what happens to Lydia and Luca.
eleanorferrari17's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
charmaine_kambabazi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-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
rhonaea's review against another edition
3.0
Started well and had me gripped but, as in the novel, it felt a long journey to the finish. This is the controversial story of a Mexican mother, bookstore owner and wife who survives the massacre of her family to flee north to the US on the migrant route, La Bestia. With her, journeys her 8 year old son an assorted characters engaged with along the way. At the root of the tale is a passion of sorts for a drugs lord who appears to track her movements, commission the deaths of her/family (not quite explained) yet not quite finish the job (either to kill her or claim her). My issues with the book are under-editing and narrative credibility. I’m not going to enter into the other debates. I know others absorb your the tale; it came as a personal recommendation - by for me, it missed by a margin.
markeefe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
virginia_pixley's review against another edition
It was very slow moving and the author is not Latinx and has faced criticism for appropriating a cultural issue for profit.