Reviews with content warning for Death - The Undocumented Americans

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The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

20 reviews

deedireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

The Undocumented Americans is a moving, well-written memoir-in-essays that does exactly what I want from nonfiction: it helps open my understanding of the world and other people.

For you if: Like memoir and/or seek to learn more about the undocumented immigrant experience

FULL REVIEW:

I’m late to the party when it comes to The Undocumented Americans; it’s 2.5 years old and was nominated for the 2020 National Book Award for nonfiction (among others). I’ve watched many friends read and love it in that time, and I always knew I’d get there eventually. And now I have: This month we’re reading it for the book club I run at my office.

The Undocumented Americans is a journalistic memoir-in-essays by a young woman who was one of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard. The book not only gives us a look at her life and experiences, but also introduces us to communities of undocumented folks all over the country, from Staten Island to Miami to Flint, Michigan.

This book isn’t that long; I listened to the entire audiobook (read by the author) during a single long car ride. But it’s moving, well-written, and often sharp as a knife. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio isn’t afraid to surprise us with her choice of language to make a point, and she wields it with precision. She’s smart and unapologetic. Her care for the people she writes about seeps through every page.

I read nonfiction to broaden my understanding of humanity, to foster a stronger connection to the global community, and to become a more empathetic citizen of this world. This book most certainly helped me do it, and I’m so glad I finally picked it up.

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izwit's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

As the daughter of two immigrants, this hit me deep, physically, emotionally and mentally. So much gets discussed it becomes more than just the journey of undocumented Americans from Central /South America. We learn about the lack of mental health discussion, the hate crimes that get ignored, the way people that are supposed to be part of your communidad can still hurt you. It’s less than two hundred pages but packs a powerful punch.

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rynicolereads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This is a must read! Villavicencio's writing is honest, thoughtful, blunt, funny, and incredibly approachable. I love that she simultaneously exposed how horrible Americans are towards immigrants while also saving space for the most beautiful parts of their stories, refusing to let them go unnoticed or forgotten. The Undocumented Americans is part journalism and part memoir; Villavicencio blends interviews and pieces of her own story, and it all comes together beautifully. I genuinely hope every single American reads this book.

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