Reviews with content warning for Death - The Devil's Highway: A True Story

I’m not typically a nonfiction reader, but this book was fantastic. Urrea’s narrative structure is gripping and informative in a way that does not feel overly-academic. Oftentimes, immigration is viewed as a rather amorphous and political concept, but this book cuts to the heart and humanity of the process. It has definitely inspired me to explore more literature in this genre.

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melanders_07's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

very beautiful writing on an important topic that is rarely talked about

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jashanac's review against another edition

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dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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atsundarsingh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Incredibly written, poetic, but unflinching in its portrayal of the violence of the weaponized USA desert in what is now Arizona. I was not shocked, having read on the topic before, but I was so, so impressed at the humanity that Urrea manages to spread around to all actors in this story. Mandatory reading for the region, and for people who have strong feelings about the Southern US border.

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annie139d7's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea follows the story of a group of Mexicans as they attempt to cross the Sonoran Desert into the US. 14 of the 16 walkers end up dying before the group is picked up by American border agents. This event was highly publicized at the time, and Urrea’s work tells the story of those involved in this event and the many similar tragedies that occur in the desert.

I think most Americans have a ‘bad guy’ they view as the group causing problems at the US-Mexican border, whether that’s the boarder control, the federal government, crime syndicates, corporations, or the individual crossers themselves. Urrea’s book excels because it forces the reader to see the humanity and drives of each ‘bad guy’ and question who is at fault for the mass numbers of people dying at the border in the hopes that the reader considers their complicity in the current US immigration system.

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inwardandonward's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

My favorite way to learn about a current issue (whether it's social justice-related or something else) is through storytelling of a human experience of it. If you're like me, then The Devil's Highway is the perfect choice to learn about Mexican immigration into the US through the southern deserts. This book is heartbreaking, tense, informative, and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed how the author switched between telling the story of the group and all those who were involved with the rescue (extremely vividly, might I add) and explaining certain cultural aspects, governmental problems, the consequences of certain policies, and the effect of global events. This book will have me thinking about US immigration, the border, and the human-impacted fallout of these issues for a long time and has made me seek out other books on this topic.

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