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moth_dance's review
4.0
This one felt like a true love letter to places and experiences that are part of my every fiber.
And as a mixed Guatemalan daughter and writer, I felt like I needed to read this now more than ever.
And as a mixed Guatemalan daughter and writer, I felt like I needed to read this now more than ever.
kpeninger's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I read this book as a potential Common Book for my university. I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the writing itself is beautiful - it's very clear and straightforward, it's not like it's full of purple prose or anything, but the way she constructs her clear and straightforward sentences comes together beautifully. And some of the essays are genuinely moving and thought-provoking. And then there are other essays which I just... didn't really get. Like, I could see a thin filament within the essay that connected it to some of the larger themes of the collection, but there were so many essays with only a thin filament connecting it to the wider themes that I can't even say super comfortably that there were wider themes? That sounds like such a jerky thing to say because again, this is a gorgeous volume of essays! Personal essays about someone's personal life which are personal! But because I read this specifically for evaluating it as a potential common read, I can't help but think that incoming students would be a little confused about what they are supposed to take away from the collection as a whole. If every essay were like the last one, Bridges, this would be 5 stars. But because it felt somewhat disjointed, I don't think I can really go above 3 stars, which is just because of my reading preferences.
That being said, I think in 2023 I'm going to adopt a policy of not rating personal essays or memoirs, because it feels super tacky to be all "uh, your life story is only three stars".
That being said, I think in 2023 I'm going to adopt a policy of not rating personal essays or memoirs, because it feels super tacky to be all "uh, your life story is only three stars".
yi_shun_lai's review
5.0
An absolute stunner. Reading creative nonfiction and literary fiction is by far the easiest way to get to know someone new, and de Leon's work knocks that expectation out of the park.
Pick up this volume and digest it. You won't be sorry. From Guatemala to Boston to Nigeria to Paris, de Leon never pulls punches, and you'll be a better person for it.
Pick up this volume and digest it. You won't be sorry. From Guatemala to Boston to Nigeria to Paris, de Leon never pulls punches, and you'll be a better person for it.
estam1's review
5.0
In this extraordinary book of personal essays, DeLeon interrogates what it is to be a daughter...not just any daughter, but a daughter of immigrants from Guatemala. Through eloquent and stunningly descriptive writing , DeLeon retraces her life's journey, not only as a member of the 1.5 generation, but as a Latinx woman, a teacher, a mother, a world traveler and most of all, a writer.
DeLeon's essays are varied -- linked together through her own humanity, such that the reader comes to know her seemingly well. Many of her essays are extremely relatable, such as in "Gyms," where she courageously recounts her battle with body image and the relentless need to work out; or "Work," in which she retraces her arduous process of finding her people in the world of readers and writers. In "Mother Tongue," we witness DeLeon's heart fill with love and pride when her young son speaks to her in Spanish, a language that is so hard to maintain in a world where English holds power.
The most heartfelt essays are those where DeLeon explores her relationships with her beloved parents, different from her in so many ways, but still so much the same. In an effort to reclaim her history and native language, DeLeon travels to Guatemala, and the essays that document her time in the country of her ancestors are exquisite and compelling. As DeLeon unpacks Guatemala's disturbing history that precipitated her parents' decision to leave, we feel her conscious effort to bind their past to her present.
DeLeon writes from her memory, as she strives to find the patterns and connections that unite the different phases of her life: "I like memories that are knots. Knots that are stories. Stories that are questions. They help me feel less like I need answers....My story is part of a larger story. Everyone's is" (211).
DeLeon's essays are varied -- linked together through her own humanity, such that the reader comes to know her seemingly well. Many of her essays are extremely relatable, such as in "Gyms," where she courageously recounts her battle with body image and the relentless need to work out; or "Work," in which she retraces her arduous process of finding her people in the world of readers and writers. In "Mother Tongue," we witness DeLeon's heart fill with love and pride when her young son speaks to her in Spanish, a language that is so hard to maintain in a world where English holds power.
The most heartfelt essays are those where DeLeon explores her relationships with her beloved parents, different from her in so many ways, but still so much the same. In an effort to reclaim her history and native language, DeLeon travels to Guatemala, and the essays that document her time in the country of her ancestors are exquisite and compelling. As DeLeon unpacks Guatemala's disturbing history that precipitated her parents' decision to leave, we feel her conscious effort to bind their past to her present.
DeLeon writes from her memory, as she strives to find the patterns and connections that unite the different phases of her life: "I like memories that are knots. Knots that are stories. Stories that are questions. They help me feel less like I need answers....My story is part of a larger story. Everyone's is" (211).
hellalibrary's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This is a short, but powerful collection of essays where De Leon perfectly describes what it means to be the daughter of immigrant parents. Born and raised in Boston, MA, De Leon has to learn how to navigate two spaces - as a Guatemalan and an American.
Split up into three parts, these essays start with De Leon’s childhood, to when she decides to move to Guatemala in her late twenties to learn Spanish and more about the country her parents had to flee in the 70’s, and finally, her journey as a writer.
Every essay was relatable and I saw a lot of myself in De Leon. From growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, to the importance of education and working hard that was placed upon her, I felt like I completely understood where she was coming from.
In the essay ‘Mapping Yolanda’, De Leon writes how at sixteen she got her first job at the Gap and with her discount was finally able to buy the preppy clothes and fit in with the “rich Jewish kids” at her high school, yet when she was with her cousins, they would call her “white girl”. Growing up, I knew that feeling of wanting to fit in into multiple spaces, but not really fitting in anywhere; because I wasn’t white, but I also wasn’t “Latina enough” either.
In ‘A Pink Dress’, De Leon recalls a shopping trip with her mother to buy a dress for her graduation, and all I could think about was going Prom dress shopping with my mom.
Those are the essays that hit me the hardest. The ones where she describes her relationship with her parents, but especially the one with her mother. Because my mom moved here for a better life too, and she and my dad worked hard, and pushed us and supported us to give us that better life.
In ‘Bridged’, De Leon writes, “...her face wore an expression of unfiltered joy, with a shade of Where are we? How did we get here? Are we really here? My mother has had that look before, my mother who was born in another country and moved here for a better life. It is a certain look.”, and I know that look. I’ve seen it too.
Thank you to Jennifer De Leon for a copy of the book!
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