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juengerm's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Muy triste, pero también poca romántica en partes. Buen escrito y muy fácil para las personas que no son hablantes nativos.
sarah_thrive's review
4.0
I started reading this book primarily because a large part of it is set in Santa Cruz, my current (beloved) hometown! But after a few pages, I was engrossed in Reyna Grande's story of immigration to the U.S. from Mexico. The author's candor is refreshing, and she definitely has a way with words.
meghanmarion's review
5.0
I received this book free via Goodreads Giveaways.
What a wonderful memoir. This should be required reading for everyone. The immigrant experience was beautifully shared in this book and Reyna Grande is a really great writer where you can feel and see her experience.
What a wonderful memoir. This should be required reading for everyone. The immigrant experience was beautifully shared in this book and Reyna Grande is a really great writer where you can feel and see her experience.
yarnylibrarian's review
5.0
I just finished Grande's The Distance Between Us and checked my library catalog to find her novels... and realized that in 2018, she published this sequel to the memoir. I grabbed this instead so I could learn what happened to her after she went to college.
This chapter of Grande's life continues with many of the same themes from her first book, like conflicted feelings about family, the immigrant experience, financial insecurity, and longing for love and acceptance. Reyna's struggles are not over, to be sure, but in this book she learns how to better advocate for herself and to recognize and stick with people who can help her in her journey. These mentors frequently have the best quotations in the book. Marta, Reyna's Spanish for Spanish Speakers teacher, tells her: "If they treat you differently in Mexico it is because you are different... You are now bilingual, bicultural, and binational. You are not less. You are more" (96). Micah, an influential writing teacher, advises "Reyna, sometimes you have to write the book that you want to read" (127).
Before long, Reyna is expressing wisdom that would be good advice for many. At one point, she makes a difficult decision that no one in her family supports: "I would go back to school because loving my child didn't mean I had to destroy myself" (210). She invests in one tough year of time-consuming classes so that she can leave her job teaching middle school and begin one teaching "adult school" to ESL students. The new job was less taxing, more rewarding, and provided time for her to write and spend more quality time with her young son. As she settles into this job she opines:
Things really start to come together in the final pages of the book. Reyna visits her hometown, Iguala, with her 2-year-old son (Nathan) and her boyfriend (Cory, a middle-class white American). Instead of being scared away by Reyna's past, Cory doubles down and moves in with her and Nathan. He takes them to his family's home in Racine, Wisconsin, where the Grandes are welcomed and cherished - but they return to Los Angeles where they are building a life together. Reyna even makes a new kind of peace with her mother, who finds increased economic security by having endless yard sales in Reyna's front yard. Reyna and her closest sister, Mago, reflect as young mothers on the choices their own mother made. And Reyna publishes her first novel!
All is not rosy in this book. Reyna is conflicted about her attraction to the consumerist lifestyle in America and chooses to spend much of her money on clothes and hair, rather than sending to to her impoverished family in Mexico. There are other moments like this and I appreciate that she shared them rather than brushing them under the rug.
In the end, those conflicts only increased my enjoyment of the book, which alternately brought tears to my eyes and made me want to stand up and cheer. I loved that it contained so many family photos (like her first memoir). This time when I return my book to the library, I'll be checking out her fiction. Reyna Grande is such a great find!
This chapter of Grande's life continues with many of the same themes from her first book, like conflicted feelings about family, the immigrant experience, financial insecurity, and longing for love and acceptance. Reyna's struggles are not over, to be sure, but in this book she learns how to better advocate for herself and to recognize and stick with people who can help her in her journey. These mentors frequently have the best quotations in the book. Marta, Reyna's Spanish for Spanish Speakers teacher, tells her: "If they treat you differently in Mexico it is because you are different... You are now bilingual, bicultural, and binational. You are not less. You are more" (96). Micah, an influential writing teacher, advises "Reyna, sometimes you have to write the book that you want to read" (127).
Before long, Reyna is expressing wisdom that would be good advice for many. At one point, she makes a difficult decision that no one in her family supports: "I would go back to school because loving my child didn't mean I had to destroy myself" (210). She invests in one tough year of time-consuming classes so that she can leave her job teaching middle school and begin one teaching "adult school" to ESL students. The new job was less taxing, more rewarding, and provided time for her to write and spend more quality time with her young son. As she settles into this job she opines:
I discovered that if as a society we want to help children, we need to help their parents as well. When we give parents the opportunity to learn English, to improve their work skills, to get better jobs, to be exposed to new experiences and nurture their minds, they are in a better position to provide for their families. They are able to help their children with homework, or at least able to understand the demands of being a student. Also, their children respect their parents even more, seeing them fight for an education. (245)
Things really start to come together in the final pages of the book. Reyna visits her hometown, Iguala, with her 2-year-old son (Nathan) and her boyfriend (Cory, a middle-class white American). Instead of being scared away by Reyna's past, Cory doubles down and moves in with her and Nathan. He takes them to his family's home in Racine, Wisconsin, where the Grandes are welcomed and cherished - but they return to Los Angeles where they are building a life together. Reyna even makes a new kind of peace with her mother, who finds increased economic security by having endless yard sales in Reyna's front yard. Reyna and her closest sister, Mago, reflect as young mothers on the choices their own mother made. And Reyna publishes her first novel!
All is not rosy in this book. Reyna is conflicted about her attraction to the consumerist lifestyle in America and chooses to spend much of her money on clothes and hair, rather than sending to to her impoverished family in Mexico. There are other moments like this and I appreciate that she shared them rather than brushing them under the rug.
In the end, those conflicts only increased my enjoyment of the book, which alternately brought tears to my eyes and made me want to stand up and cheer. I loved that it contained so many family photos (like her first memoir). This time when I return my book to the library, I'll be checking out her fiction. Reyna Grande is such a great find!
chyraq's review
2.0
This book is sadly just a self-pitying tale. I think that Reyna has a beautiful story and has overcome a lot, but I think she diminishes her feats with her writing. This could have been so much more.
PROS:
- Solid story about overcoming the odds that are stacked up against you.
- Reyna is a brutally honest writer, she acknowledges her past mistakes with maturity. She doesn't paint herself as the hero of every story.
- A good representative of being a first-gen student in a country that doesn't serve you.
CONS:
- Her pacing. Genuinely just made the book less enjoyable. Everything was just moving so fast and with so much detail.
- Immature writing. It felt like it could've been written by any upper-level high school or college student. I have read better papers by younger writers with better skills. She seems to be stuck at an intermediate level. This is ironic because she consistently talks about her dream of being a writer while she is doing a mediocre job at it.
- A lot of her stories were super surface level. Lacked a lot of explanation. She doesn't need to explain everything to her audience, but if you're going to bring up random characters and subplots, you shouldn't just leave them or wrap them up in a few sentences at the end of a chapter.
- Along with the above point, characters lacked depth. Like, so much depth. She didn't seem to really care to develop any character but her own.
- Her "woe is me" mentality. This book felt like talking to a friend that only talked about how hard their life was all the time. It was excruciating to read her consistently reminding us that her life did suck-a-lot-and-we-should-remember-because-even-though-it's-okay-now-it-was-bad-then.
This story is interesting and somewhat motivational, but the cons listed above made it an excruciating read.
PROS:
- Solid story about overcoming the odds that are stacked up against you.
- Reyna is a brutally honest writer, she acknowledges her past mistakes with maturity. She doesn't paint herself as the hero of every story.
- A good representative of being a first-gen student in a country that doesn't serve you.
CONS:
- Her pacing. Genuinely just made the book less enjoyable. Everything was just moving so fast and with so much detail.
- Immature writing. It felt like it could've been written by any upper-level high school or college student. I have read better papers by younger writers with better skills. She seems to be stuck at an intermediate level. This is ironic because she consistently talks about her dream of being a writer while she is doing a mediocre job at it.
- A lot of her stories were super surface level. Lacked a lot of explanation. She doesn't need to explain everything to her audience, but if you're going to bring up random characters and subplots, you shouldn't just leave them or wrap them up in a few sentences at the end of a chapter.
- Along with the above point, characters lacked depth. Like, so much depth. She didn't seem to really care to develop any character but her own.
- Her "woe is me" mentality. This book felt like talking to a friend that only talked about how hard their life was all the time. It was excruciating to read her consistently reminding us that her life did suck-a-lot-and-we-should-remember-because-even-though-it's-okay-now-it-was-bad-then.
This story is interesting and somewhat motivational, but the cons listed above made it an excruciating read.
japandria's review
4.0
My one sentence review: I initially picked up this book for Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge (#15 read a memoir by a Latinx author) and I'm so glad I did because I found her life story (her path from undocumented immigrant to university student to teacher to published author) and message (the importance of diversity and inclusion) to be both important and engrossing.
showthisbooksomelove's review
5.0
I'm a sucker for memoirs, but Grande's memoir is so beautiful and makes me want to read the rest of her body of work immediately! Grande's writing is vivid, yet feels simple and approachable. It's clear the amount of effort she put into picking just the right words to convey her message so gracefully, and I'm looking forward to her fiction works.
Grande is an immigrant from a small town called Iguala, Mexico. She moved to the US as a kid, and began to pursue her writing at a young age of 13. Her love of writing helped her get through her tough times, and inspired her to keep pushing for her dreams. This memoir tells her story to become a published author, and culminates in the publication of her first novel. Her family system and friendships are intrinsic to her success as an author, both her motivation and her struggle, so woven throughout are tales of her family and ever developing relationships.
Grande is brave in sharing this story, and I'm grateful that she has made space for her voice in the world of publishing, turning down offers that would have required her to lose part of her voice as an immigrant. Her story is important to hear, and incredibly validating (I would imagine) for immigrants reading it now.
Her story as a single mother is equally inspiring to me, how she was able to continue making hard choices that would allow her to pursue her dreams while maintaining a home for her child. I could not imagine being in her situation, and continuing to have hope that things would be okay. With these experiences, she is able to deconstruct her mother and father's points of view to help herself understand her own trauma and process why they made the choices they made. She opens herself up to seeking to understand, rather than becoming mired in pain from choices that hurt her when she was growing up. This kind of processing is amazing to see written on the page, and I hope it can help others process their own trauma in a healthy way.
Grande is an immigrant from a small town called Iguala, Mexico. She moved to the US as a kid, and began to pursue her writing at a young age of 13. Her love of writing helped her get through her tough times, and inspired her to keep pushing for her dreams. This memoir tells her story to become a published author, and culminates in the publication of her first novel. Her family system and friendships are intrinsic to her success as an author, both her motivation and her struggle, so woven throughout are tales of her family and ever developing relationships.
Grande is brave in sharing this story, and I'm grateful that she has made space for her voice in the world of publishing, turning down offers that would have required her to lose part of her voice as an immigrant. Her story is important to hear, and incredibly validating (I would imagine) for immigrants reading it now.
Her story as a single mother is equally inspiring to me, how she was able to continue making hard choices that would allow her to pursue her dreams while maintaining a home for her child. I could not imagine being in her situation, and continuing to have hope that things would be okay. With these experiences, she is able to deconstruct her mother and father's points of view to help herself understand her own trauma and process why they made the choices they made. She opens herself up to seeking to understand, rather than becoming mired in pain from choices that hurt her when she was growing up. This kind of processing is amazing to see written on the page, and I hope it can help others process their own trauma in a healthy way.
kipsfj's review
1.0
It was a bit drawn out in some parts and very self pitying in others.
I felt she spent a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, which I get she had such a difficult upbringing. But she was in constant repetition of herself. She also made some rather questionable relationship decisions along the way. Which in my personal opinion was a little stupid on her part.
It’s written well -just long winded and a little oh woe me.
I felt she spent a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, which I get she had such a difficult upbringing. But she was in constant repetition of herself. She also made some rather questionable relationship decisions along the way. Which in my personal opinion was a little stupid on her part.
It’s written well -just long winded and a little oh woe me.