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A review by clairemariarose
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
2.0
OCTOBER 2021 UPDATE: consider this book demoted. the more i think about it, the more i dislike it. i was too generous with my initial rating. even reading over this review, my thoughts were negative in november 2020. and they remain negative! 2 stars, 2.5 stars if i'm feeling really nice.
NOVEMBER 2020 REVIEW: i flirted with the idea of rating this 3 stars but thought maybe that was too harsh. so i settled on 3.5 stars and rounded up for the star system.
basically i have a lot of ~thoughts~ here. a white woman writing this story really doesn’t sit right with me. and the romance aspect was really wack. and for all the trauma that jeanine cummins forced down my throat during this journey that ending was pretty convenient. also maybe this is me just reading too far into it, but i fear that stories like this just work to fuel the idea that most undocumented immigrants are a result of “illegal border crossing” when in reality most just overstay their visas.
with all that being said, though, i ultimately appreciate the fact that this story exists. immigration can be harrowing. cartel violence is very real. the characters felt real.
but idk. i wasn’t super in love with the writing or the pacing or the actual storytelling aspects. maybe i’m just being overly critical idk ahh don’t come for me
NOVEMBER 2020 REVIEW: i flirted with the idea of rating this 3 stars but thought maybe that was too harsh. so i settled on 3.5 stars and rounded up for the star system.
basically i have a lot of ~thoughts~ here. a white woman writing this story really doesn’t sit right with me. and the romance aspect was really wack. and for all the trauma that jeanine cummins forced down my throat during this journey that ending was pretty convenient. also maybe this is me just reading too far into it, but i fear that stories like this just work to fuel the idea that most undocumented immigrants are a result of “illegal border crossing” when in reality most just overstay their visas.
with all that being said, though, i ultimately appreciate the fact that this story exists. immigration can be harrowing. cartel violence is very real. the characters felt real.
but idk. i wasn’t super in love with the writing or the pacing or the actual storytelling aspects. maybe i’m just being overly critical idk ahh don’t come for me