Reviews with content warning for Violence - America Is Not the Heart

once again, i wish i had read this sooner in my life but i sure am glad that i read it now. my post bulosan-read, norcal loving, diasporic, queer, anti imperialist heart loved every bit of this book. castillo served and i ate that shit up. i can’t describe the journey this book took me on, but i beg that if u are a filipino in california, that you read this book!

Content Warnings

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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onlyonebookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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rieviolet's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.5

I really do not think that I am the target audience for this book, and that is perfectly fine but it just means that it was a bit difficult for me personally to really get the story in all its nuances and complexities. I really do not know how to explain it, it felt a bit like always being a step behind and not really being able to catch up and that might be completely intentional on the author's part but it just made for a bit of an unbalanced reading experience.

For the most part I liked the writing style and there were some passages/reflections that really stood out to me, but other times I struggled a bit with it (for example, sometimes I found the sentences either too long-wided and confusing or a bit too flat).
Since the narration moves between different timelines, at certain points I got a bit lost and forgot what and how much we as readers already knew about a certain event. Also, I'm not sure that I appreciated the shifts in point of view, I guess that I just liked certain narrators more than others.

All in all, it was a bit of an up and down reading experience for me. I got on better with the beginning and the final sections, but I found harder to get through the middle part of the story and also struggled with the more explict parts because they are really not my cup of tea.
Also, I don't really think that I understood the very final scene of the novel, its meaning or what it stood for went right over my head.
I didn't like the book as much as I'd hoped but I'm sure it'll work better for other readers.

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speroergosum's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

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jojohanna's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes

3.5

I quite enjoyed a lot in this book but unfortunately the pace was just too slow for me. I was drawn to the story and characters, but every time I took a break, it became harder and harder to get back to the story. I honestly felt that this was a lot longer than 408 pages. But again, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the story. Reading about the Filipino immigrant experience was super great. We need more stories like this!

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