Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

34 reviews

dalet66's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage and Suicide

beth_simmons's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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

I found this book fascinating and challenging, intense and disturbing. I couldn't put it down, but I often wanted to. This one will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Deportation

hcop's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

zara89's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

mel_bee_421's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

bvanness428's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, and Deportation

missai's review

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

beetandbaguette's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

dlsmk's review against another edition

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

kkimball's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Very graphic but also one of the best books I’ve read this year. Would have felt much better about it  though if it was written by a Hispanic woman  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Miscarriage and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement and Trafficking