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8675309mp's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Racism and Cursing
Moderate: Cancer, Abandonment, Deportation, and Colonisation
Minor: Self harm, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism
avery_lehman54's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cancer, Police brutality, and Self harm
Minor: Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Deportation, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
bookgurlie's review
4.0
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Racism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Rape
emmehooks's review against another edition
4.5
This book is a mix of deeply personal fears and experiences, narrative reporting, and community building as a radical act of self-preservation and existence.
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Classism, Deportation, Medical content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Police brutality
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, War, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Infidelity
spark_879's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Deportation, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fatphobia and Suicide attempt
younganna's review against another edition
4.75
Moderate: Self harm, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Deportation, Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Confinement
Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Gun violence, Violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
deedireads's review against another edition
4.5
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.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Death
Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm
arroweee's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
gialynn521's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism
Minor: Grief, Police brutality, and Cursing