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plantgal_jill's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Deportation, and Grief
Minor: Racism, Vomit, Medical content, and Police brutality
zombiezami's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
3.0
This book wasn't really grabbing me at first, and I still didn't find it super exciting or interesting. The author seemed to be gesturing at big topics and important issues without really doing anything unique with them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, Genocide, Colonisation, Animal death, Mass/school shootings, Dementia, War, and Infidelity
Deportationthecolourblue's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Alvarez’ writing is certainly poetic and seems rooted in a deep love of literature and storytelling, making this an easy book to enjoy reading, however, I think the book suffers somewhat from its own brevity.
Antonia herself is a compelling character, and as a portrait of an older, widowed main character the book is refreshing, but there are SO many issues being addressed in a short book - immigration, false perceptions, stereotypes, language, cultural differences, family responsibility, obligation, mental health, policing, economics... that none of these things really gets the full exploration it deserves. This is particularly clear, for me, inIzzy’s story, which didn’t hit me with the emotional resonance it should have given its conclusion.
Antonia herself is a compelling character, and as a portrait of an older, widowed main character the book is refreshing, but there are SO many issues being addressed in a short book - immigration, false perceptions, stereotypes, language, cultural differences, family responsibility, obligation, mental health, policing, economics... that none of these things really gets the full exploration it deserves. This is particularly clear, for me, in
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide
Minor: Police brutality and Racism
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