Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza, Abby Sher

21 reviews

kshertz's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

I loved this book. It’s dystopian but just barely. The genius is in just how not far out in the future it feels. People who are not born in America being marked and tracked, forced to try to get to California for Sanctuary. It so clearly connects you to the main characters and you root  for everyone. It breaks your heart over and over again. But it’s so important. I wish I could make everyone read it. Especially my students from conservative households. The empathy is essential. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Police brutality, Trafficking, Blood, Child death, Deportation, Genocide, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, and Rape

theroastedbookery's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Wow.  This book was a hard read.  Not in the difficulty of the writing but in the subject matter.  The main character's journey is one of pain and suffering.  It is not a world that is too hard to imagine, though I hope it never comes to pass.  The political messages in the book are clear and present.  This book could serve as a warning for what could happen should Americans choose to turn a blind eye to immigration, climate change, and rhetoric rather than working to help and solve problems in a peaceful and inviting way.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Trafficking, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Deportation, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• 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

3.0

Sanctuary was such a different book than I expected it to be. Being tagged as a dystopia, I thought it would be more like a classical YA dystopia. Instead, it was a much more contemporary book talking about the struggles of so-called illegal immigrants. In this aspect, the book was good, but the writing itself was lacking at some points, so I couldn’t give more than three stars. 

The general dystopian setting had so much potential, but this potential was barely used. Vali, her mother, and her brother live in a future America where so-called illegal immigrants like themselves are being persecuted. This setting was so creepy since it was not too unrealistic, just like the escalation of the situation which forces Vali and her family to flee. While trying to escape, their mom gets caught by the deportation unit and Vali and her brother are on their own. 

Around 80% of the novel thus just consists of them fleeing from their home and trying to find their way to California. Most of this was just so depressing, hopeless, and probably depicted the struggles of immigrants quite well. Besides this, Vali’s feelings are portrayed so well. Some parts were a bit over the top with the bad guys and also

Vali fell in love with Malakas way too fast

. At least,

they arrive at their destination in the end. It would’ve been so depressing if they died while trying

. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing itself. At many points throughout the novel, there’s just too much telling, like about Vali’s past or the ending. Additionally, there were not many descriptions, so it wasn’t very vivid. 

Like I’ve said, I see what kind of story Sanctuary was trying to tell and I appreciate the authentic insight into the topic. Nevertheless, if the storytelling had been better, I would’ve given a better rating as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Blood, Child death, Deportation, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Slavery

zoethebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Police brutality, Racism, Child death, and Sexual harassment

savannahtrice's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was so incredible! Mendoza and Sher's world building is incredible. When Vali was describing trekking through the desert, I felt like I was right there with her. I found myself reaching for my water over and over. It had the level of cringe that naturally comes with a young adult book, but that could be overlooked by how entrancing the story was. Would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the U.S's history with immigration, but doesn't want to start with heavy non-fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

vegjeri's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Vomit, Sexual assault, Blood, and Slavery

mirareadsbooksforfun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Child death, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

reads_cats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, and War

happilyeveralli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

I can't describe how much I love subtle dystopias. Sure, the Hunger Games is an almost-masterpiece, but sometimes I just want a dystopia that feels so much like our world that it makes you shake in your boots. That's what Sanctuary is. It feels like a nightmare—far from our world, but sadly not unreachable. Listening to the book also gave it another layer of emotion. I cried and laughed with the characters; felt their joy and pain. It's very likely and basically impossible that I'll ever experience anything like the main characters, but I could only hope that in their world, they end up just fine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Blood, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Trafficking

margaridapd's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, and Racism