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queencolleen's review against another edition
4.0
I have yet to read Jennine’s fiction, but put this book on my list after I saw an article about students burning this book after a campus visit. She is a talented writer and shares her perspective on being Cuban both in Miami and Nebraska. Overall the book was quick and thought provoking. There were just several times in the first half where I felt the stories could have been expounded upon more. Sometimes it felt like stories were glossed over but morals and messages were attributed to them that could have been inferred if she just dove in a little more. But I did understand that there were some stories that she just wasn’t ready to tell yet.
bookiecharm's review
3.0
The first essay was the best. There’s a lot of conflation between the use of race and ethnicity that weakens the author’s arguments here. I’m begging white/mestize Latine academics and authors to contend with this because it’s confusing and harmful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Vomit
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Mental illness
shewantsthediction's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
slbeckmann's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to Macmillan-Picador and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Beautiful, intimate prose that deeply touched me - I am not a POC, but grew up a foreigner and cultural outsider in the US, raised by parents that were in many instances clueless about what that meant for me as their (oldest) child. The remarkable openness with which the author reflects on her upbringing, what shaped her, and the mindsets she encounters is in turn hilariously funny, touchingly vulnerable, achingly familiar, and a challenge to those that do not need to contend with being obviously an outsider.
Highly recommended!
Beautiful, intimate prose that deeply touched me - I am not a POC, but grew up a foreigner and cultural outsider in the US, raised by parents that were in many instances clueless about what that meant for me as their (oldest) child. The remarkable openness with which the author reflects on her upbringing, what shaped her, and the mindsets she encounters is in turn hilariously funny, touchingly vulnerable, achingly familiar, and a challenge to those that do not need to contend with being obviously an outsider.
Highly recommended!
sammisaysread's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0