Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Dominicana by Angie Cruz

7 reviews

jjb21's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A nice writing style and a unique, captivating setting. About a young Dominican woman moving to New York in the 60s, and having to live with a man she doesn’t love. She’s an infuriating yet loveable character. Not much happens, but I quite liked that - it’s kind of the point.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Grief, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Medical content

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial 

Wow, this blew me away!

In 1965, 15-year-old Ana is married off (they fake her age to be 19 instead on official papers) to Juan (double her age!!!!!) and moves to the United States (New York), leaving her family, friends and only life she has ever known in the Dominican Republic. Her mom hopes that Ana will be able to find a job and send money back home, eventually having enough money and connections to bring the rest of her family to NYC. It is a grim transition and Ana is incredibly isolated, lonely and scared to be on her own with her new husband. 

As Ana navigates Juan’s infidelity, his anger, and an apartment that leaves her wanting, she begins to realize that a life with Juan is not all her mom talked it up to be. When Juan leaves Ana to go back to the DR for a bit, she begins leaning into her independence, learning English, and taking initiative to do things on her own, like dance and go to the beach! She also spends a lot of time with Juan’s brother Cesar, who had convinced her to stay in the states after she had tried escaping back home. Ana finds herself and her voice and learns about deception, betrayal and how dire consequences can be when you put your faith in the wrong people. 

Ana’s journey is so traumatic; I can only imagine. To think of myself or anyone at 15 years old navigating what Ana was forced into is devastating. And yet, Ana keeps it moving! I was so incredibly proud of her at the end of this novel, and while I’m deeply sorry she had to endure everything she did, I admire her growth, perseverance, courage, and honesty. She eventually refuses to accept being a passenger in her life and takes on the driver’s seat, which felt impossible at the beginning of her journey. I will absolutely read more from Angie Cruz in the future, and the audiobook narration was excellent as well! 

See content warnings below (some are more graphic than others, but they all hit very hard. Characters display a lot of anti-Blackness, misogyny & even use the word “retarded”) & take care while reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Cursing, Blood, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence

litliz's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book took me a bit to get into but once I was in, I was in all the way. Ana grows so much during the course of the book, which begins in the Dominican Republic but quickly takes her journey to Washington Heights. There are some really lovely passages that depict different things - one of my favorites essentially shows her disassociation in the wake of receiving tragic news after experiencing a series of traumas. Another fascinating chapter discusses the challenges faced by Dominicans in the US during the Civil Rights movement, and the idea that black people would resent Dominicans or perhaps feel that they had the market cornered on oppression and prejudice. I felt like the novel really highlighted the strength of its protagonist Ana’s spirit, the complicated dynamics between mother and daughter, and the very mixed feelings Ana has for almost every person she consistently interacts with, particularly her abusive husband, Juan, whom she feels both a strong loathing but also indebted to. Ana’s voice in particular felt very authentic and real to me and is the reason this book was so powerful, in my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Medical content, and Misogyny

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Ableism, Deportation, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, War, Excrement, and Xenophobia

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Grief, Incest, Gun violence, War, Alcohol, Child death, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Car accident, Colonisation, Excrement, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Vomit, Ableism, Abortion, Antisemitism, and Drug use

Smoking. Strangulation/suffocation. Colorism, antiblackness.

100_pages_hr's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0

It has taken me awh to process how I feel about this book. 

I absolutely loved the historical value this book held. The insight into life in both the Dominican Republic at the time and life in NYC. Both places had a lot of challenges, but especially the DR during the reign of the dictator, Trujillo. It was interesting to me to read how she thought life would be in America versus how it turned out to be.

It was really hard to read about her life once she moved to NYC knowing that it was based on a true story. She was so young and she went through so much. I felt so bad for her. I did really like the parts about her learning English though since I am an ENL teacher.

In the beginning of the book I really loved it. Towards the middle and end not so much. It was a hard read. Please check content warnings. 

I got a lot of Julia Alvarez vibes at the beginning and now really want to reread two of my favorites by her because I loved those so much more (In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity

marae216's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Blood and Medical content

sofiaxaguilar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship