Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

11 reviews

emmehooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book is not for the white allies hoping for a feel good story. This book is about the harsh, painful, racist truth of being undocumented in America and the ways the American  “justice” system tears people and communities apart. 

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

savvylit's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is an undocumented American herself. Thus she is intimately familiar with the fear-informed ways in which undocumented people approach every aspect of life in the United States. After Trump's election in 2016, she set out to interview a wide variety of undocumented people across the country. This book is a result of that project and serves as an unforgettable testimony to the lives of undocumented Latinx people.

One aspect that is discussed thoroughly in this book is the exploitation of undocumented workers by their so-called employers. In her chapter on Ground Zero, for instance, Villavicencio discusses the fact that many of the first responders on September 11th were undocumented. She gets to know a group of folks who were instrumental in the debris cleanup at Ground Zero. All of them now experience financially and physically devastating chronic diseases as a result of the harsh chemicals & carcinogens they were exposed to on the (underpaid) job.

Another key topic that Villavicencio explores is the myriad ways that being undocumented affects mental health. For example, she becomes deeply involved in the lives of families whose fathers are on the brink of deportation but have taken sanctuary in local churches. Though the children are still able to see their father, they struggle with the fact that they're forced to live apart. Some of the children she gets to know even begin to dissociate as they struggle to process their new, fraught realities.

This book isn't entirely about untold suffering and exploitation, however. It is also about solidarity, hope, radical joy, and the myriad ways that the undocumented support each other. And Villavicencio bears witness to it all - with passion, rage, and deep understanding.

I truly believe that The Undocumented Americans should be required reading for all who identify as American.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Deportation, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness

izwit's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

sydthereader's review against another edition

informative reflective sad

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, and Cancer

Minor: Self harm

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, and War

skudiklier's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book is heartbreaking, amazing, raw, important, and at times darkly funny. I knew I would be glad I read this book, but there's something about Karla Cornejo Villavicencio's voice that makes me want to listen to everything she says. Some of the things described in this book made me incredibly angry and incredibly sad, and all of it felt so so real. I think anyone who considers themselves American should read this book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, Drug abuse, and Cursing

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Alcohol, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Colonisation, Fatphobia, and Mass/school shootings

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia

Minor: Dementia and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

elissareadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

this was so so stunning. defies genre to put together something absolutely mesmerizing. i'll recommend this for ages.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Police brutality, and Medical content

bowlofnicole's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content and Physical abuse

thechiaraface's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

 This is creative/narrative non-fiction that tells the stories of a variety of undocumented immigrants in the United States along with the authors own experience as an undocumented immigrant and dreamer herself. This slim book (~200 pgs) combines sensitive investigative reporting and a powerful personal narrative. 

 

This book is compelling, informative, and eye-opening. The writing is incisive, filled with honesty and care. Her writing style is straight-forward, casual, and questioning. She does not hesitate to include phrases like 'what the f***' like an average person would say when put in such a difficult situation. The author does not pretend to have the answers, but poses insightful questions, creates thought-provoking narratives, and paints nuanced portraits of her subjects - fellow undocumented americans,as well as her own life. She shows the many sides of undocumented Americans not shown in the news - the heartbreak, the hope, the nuance the headlines are missing. This book is raw and revealing. I was immensely moved by this book and I HIGHLY recommend this book. If you were one of the many people who read American Dirt this past year, may I suggest balancing it out with this #ownvoices non-fiction.  

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence