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jgverrero's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
WOWWW. MY HEART.
I think so often with essays there's either incoherent ramblings or just pretentious, vague metaphors. Only me??? Anyway, Gurba NAILED these essays for me and highlighted underexplored Mexican American history while doing it, I think those might be my favorite bits. She also reached a part of me so primitive when speaking among her experiences of horrific abuse. I'll never be the same and that's not an exaggeration. Writers like her is why I read.
If you're going to read any memoir this year PLEASE MAKE IT THIS ONE. Also check the comments for TW. It was a very brutal read.
Some personal favorite essays ❤️🔥
Cucuy - An essay about the serial killer, "The Night Stalker," Richard Ramirez. I'd much rather learn about twisted minds through an author living through the era instead of glorified Netflix documentary.
Pendeja, You Ain't Steinbeck - I think any avid reader can guess who she's talking about. Gruba holds nothing back in this essay when she speaks on the novel "American Dirt." (pssst, don't read white authors writing about brown experience)
Creep - OSCAR WORTHY. OMGGG HOLY ISH THIS HAD MY JAW ON THE FLOOR. SHAKING. SCREAMING.
TW: sexual assault, domestic violence, racism and racial violence
I think so often with essays there's either incoherent ramblings or just pretentious, vague metaphors. Only me??? Anyway, Gurba NAILED these essays for me and highlighted underexplored Mexican American history while doing it, I think those might be my favorite bits. She also reached a part of me so primitive when speaking among her experiences of horrific abuse. I'll never be the same and that's not an exaggeration. Writers like her is why I read.
If you're going to read any memoir this year PLEASE MAKE IT THIS ONE. Also check the comments for TW. It was a very brutal read.
Some personal favorite essays ❤️🔥
Cucuy - An essay about the serial killer, "The Night Stalker," Richard Ramirez. I'd much rather learn about twisted minds through an author living through the era instead of glorified Netflix documentary.
Pendeja, You Ain't Steinbeck - I think any avid reader can guess who she's talking about. Gruba holds nothing back in this essay when she speaks on the novel "American Dirt." (pssst, don't read white authors writing about brown experience)
Creep - OSCAR WORTHY. OMGGG HOLY ISH THIS HAD MY JAW ON THE FLOOR. SHAKING. SCREAMING.
TW: sexual assault, domestic violence, racism and racial violence
crisquevedo's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
polkadotbot's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Some of this essays have biting cultural critiques combined with poignant personal anecdotes. Others seem unfocused, with meandering thought strung together. Some are both. My rating may also be affected by the incredibly irritating audiobook production decision to put a high-pitched dinging after every frequent paragraph break
epatrickmaddox's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
angelahambaobao's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
kklecornu's review
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
4.5
This was a masterpiece of a memoir. The author seamlessly wove cultural critique and historical fact with personal narrative. Gurba's analysis of the interplay between trauma and humor was a completely fresh perspective, and the way she threaded that duality through multiple essays hammered at the nuance of her point. The last essay may be the most horrifically accurate description of domestic abuse I've ever read. Gurba's writing is confessional without being extravagant, and this work instantly puts her in the top tier of memoirists of our generation. Move over Joan Didion, California has a new literary queen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Stalking
Minor: Child death and Police brutality