Reviews

My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet

buffee's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

I want to read her fiction novels. It took me a long time to realize that in her title she was talking about "whites" in the broadest sense. I learned a lot about Florida and the demographics in Miami-Dade. The end was oddly ominous.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

allie_schick's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring fast-paced

3.5

starsaligned's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

reneereads's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

juliajjshields's review against another edition

I loved this!! So funny, clever & insightful. This was narrated by the author and I loved how lively she recounted her stories.  

While there were various sections, the following two stood out. Capo Crucet had some hot takes on Disney and the fantasies they feed us, while also exploring her relationship to & understanding of nature being through a Disney lens since in Miami, there weren’t really parks or greenery to play in. When someone said park, she thought Disney. I found this super fascinating & thought she touched on the ways capitalism can present itself as a solution to inequities that shouldn’t be there in the first place. I also absolutely loved the author’s description of white people weddings. I actually laughed out loud multiple times. 

I appreciated learning more about Cuban history, culture & about Miami. How Cubans in Miami as Capo Crucet puts it, are white. They’re the majority population and it doesn’t cross their minds to think it to be different anywhere else. She also discusses her privilege as a light skin Latina & how that’s impacted her. Wonderful insight as well on being a university professor who was a first gen college student both at predominantly white institutions. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook. I’d recommend it to anyone! Short, sweet & impactful. Her story telling was strong & I look forward to reading her novels in the future. 

• “Our fantasies aren’t fantasies if given to us and not imagined by us”
• To white people regarding difficult topics: “Are you not yet uncomfortable because, despite this being about your people, you don’t think it’s about your people because as a white person, you’ve gotten to be just you your whole life?” OOF 

corvid_ai's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

kpatrice362's review against another edition

3.0

For a memoir with a title that SLAPS that hard, I was expecting a bit more! The stories centered around her education and post-grad experience were definitely the most impactful. The only thing that kept me going was the brutally honest writing (and the fact that it’s short)

kotabee's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

delphinaris's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This book gave names to experiences that I didn't know how to name as a mixed passing person. 

shhh_tamis_reading's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0