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A review by crybabybea
Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America by María Hinojosa
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
3.75
This book had, I think, three goals in mind:
1) To tell the story of the author's experience juggling being an ambitious journalist as a Mexican-American woman
2) To share a brief history of immigration, as experienced by the author through her decades of journalistic endeavours and personal experience as an immigrant
3) To connect the two above, and paint a larger picture of people affected by immigration policies
María Hinojosa achieves what she set out to do. I found the overall tone and themes to be well-done, and well-connected, as any good memoir should be. María is an example of what is possible for immigrants in America, if they are supported and allowed to thrive without bureaucratic red tape, federal policies, and cultural scapegoating that seek to keep immigrants as second-class citizens at best, and enemies of the state at worst. She's had a prolific career that centers voices of the marginalized, and was arguably revolutionary to journalism in the way she approached stories intimately, leading with empathy.
There were some research flaws, specifically dates that were slightly off, and details of certain stories told. While not necessarily incredibly important, argument-breaking errors, they were noticeable and kind of gave the sense that María was retelling the events from memory without researching to double-check, or that she didn't have an editor that cared enough to double-check.
Personally, I just didn't vibe with a lot of the thought processes. It's very girlboss, liberal feminism, which is perfectly fine, but not my cup of tea.(also she kept referring to herself as "small and petite" which started to creep me out) I do think she came across as neutral and unbiased, which is saying something considering how personal the events/stories/topics are to her. She includes criticisms of both the Republicans and the Democrats, and strikes a great balance of pointing out the flaws in the American system, while still acknowledging the opportunities she received as a virtue of being an American citizen.
1) To tell the story of the author's experience juggling being an ambitious journalist as a Mexican-American woman
2) To share a brief history of immigration, as experienced by the author through her decades of journalistic endeavours and personal experience as an immigrant
3) To connect the two above, and paint a larger picture of people affected by immigration policies
María Hinojosa achieves what she set out to do. I found the overall tone and themes to be well-done, and well-connected, as any good memoir should be. María is an example of what is possible for immigrants in America, if they are supported and allowed to thrive without bureaucratic red tape, federal policies, and cultural scapegoating that seek to keep immigrants as second-class citizens at best, and enemies of the state at worst. She's had a prolific career that centers voices of the marginalized, and was arguably revolutionary to journalism in the way she approached stories intimately, leading with empathy.
There were some research flaws, specifically dates that were slightly off, and details of certain stories told. While not necessarily incredibly important, argument-breaking errors, they were noticeable and kind of gave the sense that María was retelling the events from memory without researching to double-check, or that she didn't have an editor that cared enough to double-check.
Personally, I just didn't vibe with a lot of the thought processes. It's very girlboss, liberal feminism, which is perfectly fine, but not my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Deportation
Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, and Abortion