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careinthelibrary's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Violence, and War
Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Bullying, Hate crime, and Racial slurs
Minor: Infidelity and Deportation
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo ❤️🔥
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
❤️🔥 The plot: When Hero de Vera arrives in America, disowned by her parents and still recovering from two years imprisoned by police in the Philippines, she feels like she's already lived many lifetimes. Living in America with her Uncle Pol, his wife Paz, and their daughter Roni brings her a new family, a new job, new potential for love. Can she reconcile this new life with the home and the memories she's left behind?
I bought this after seeing @hannahdotmay rave about it and, like so much that Hannah brings into my life, it was beautiful.
It's rare that I read a book where the characters feel so real and loveable even when they're not "likeable". Paz is the queen of this: The novel opens with a section in second person about her upbringing, which at first I thought a bit strange as it then veers hard into third person for Hero's story. But this section sets the scene so perfectly for the rest of the book and allows you to understand the complexity of her character as she operates in the background of the main story, to see her softness even when she's being harsh to Hero or Roni.
As well as delivering complex characters, the writing here was beautiful. There were a million moments where I had to put the book down for a moment to appreciate what I'd just read.
Overall, I was amazed by how much love was packed into this book, its deep appreciation for the different ways in which love can be shown, and how painful it can be sometimes, to let yourself feel and to give to other people.
❤️🔥 Read it if you love stories about families that aren't just about parents and children, scenes focusing on food and meals as sites of connection, wlw stories, and romantic storylines within larger novels.
🚫 Check TWs before reading and avoid if you're looking for a more quote-unquote "heartwarming" read as this is definitely more on the bittersweet end of moving storytelling.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
❤️🔥 The plot: When Hero de Vera arrives in America, disowned by her parents and still recovering from two years imprisoned by police in the Philippines, she feels like she's already lived many lifetimes. Living in America with her Uncle Pol, his wife Paz, and their daughter Roni brings her a new family, a new job, new potential for love. Can she reconcile this new life with the home and the memories she's left behind?
I bought this after seeing @hannahdotmay rave about it and, like so much that Hannah brings into my life, it was beautiful.
It's rare that I read a book where the characters feel so real and loveable even when they're not "likeable". Paz is the queen of this: The novel opens with a section in second person about her upbringing, which at first I thought a bit strange as it then veers hard into third person for Hero's story. But this section sets the scene so perfectly for the rest of the book and allows you to understand the complexity of her character as she operates in the background of the main story, to see her softness even when she's being harsh to Hero or Roni.
As well as delivering complex characters, the writing here was beautiful. There were a million moments where I had to put the book down for a moment to appreciate what I'd just read.
Overall, I was amazed by how much love was packed into this book, its deep appreciation for the different ways in which love can be shown, and how painful it can be sometimes, to let yourself feel and to give to other people.
❤️🔥 Read it if you love stories about families that aren't just about parents and children, scenes focusing on food and meals as sites of connection, wlw stories, and romantic storylines within larger novels.
🚫 Check TWs before reading and avoid if you're looking for a more quote-unquote "heartwarming" read as this is definitely more on the bittersweet end of moving storytelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Torture, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, and Racial slurs
rieviolet's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Gun violence, and Homophobia
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Vomit
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