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sbkee's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Mass/school shootings, and Grief
strawberrypinch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Child death, Deportation, Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Racism, Sexual violence, Rape, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, Stalking, Cancer, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts
kaela_arcuri's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Grief, Rape, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Gun violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Stalking
abbywj's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Deportation, Grief, Trafficking, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Violence, and Death
jennifer_carroll's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Violence, Child death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
misssharpe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Rape
quillathe_23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Miscarriage, Gore, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Trafficking and Rape
soph_mills's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Rape, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Deportation, Violence, Murder, Death, Child death, Torture, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Death of parent
lay_kone's review
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Rape, Child death, Trafficking, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Deportation, and Sexual assault
missai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Unfortunately, this book falls into the paradoxically "sanitized-yet-still-trauma-porn" category that is endemic in women's historical fiction. One could argue that the numbness experienced by the characters is mirrored in the reader's own experience, where every new terrible thing is no longer shocking. To me, though, this concept wasn't executed well enough, and reads as more of a stylistic issue, which extends to other areas of the writing.
Narrated from third-person, the POV sporadically jumps around to various characters outside the main one. Consequently, all of the perspectives are watered down. The son's POV felt contrived and didn't add any emotional depth for me. Once the twins were introduced, I actually found the main character's plot line wholly uninteresting and wanted to know more about the girls. They experience so much intimate trauma that is largely brushed aside and used as a plot device.
And I have issues with the world building in general. I didn't come out of this novel feeling like I learned much about how cartels operate, how migrants navigate the "legal" systems in Mexico, or how U.S. government decisions regarding the border impacted migrants' journeys. All of these elements are included superficially, so I was disappointed that the novel didn't add any depth to my existing understanding of these topics. It also rubbed me the wrong way how the story romanticized the cartel leader; I'm all for humanizing villains, but it was done in a light-handed way that I think leans more towards problematic than nuanced.
Overall, the prose was good and so was the narration, but American Dirt is certainly not the tell-all on Mexican migrants' experiences the way positive reviews make it out to be.
Graphic: Trafficking and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Suicide, Violence, Rape, Child death, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Body horror, Misogyny, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Death of parent, and Deportation