Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

33 reviews

womanwill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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: Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, and Dementia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

deezy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Police brutality

bookishandlegal's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I’m really conflicted about this book. On the one hand I’m really glad that it exists and that so many people are reading it. It’s an important story and I’m glad that it was written and that people are being exposed to it. For the most part the book is well written and an interesting story that kept me engaged throughout—sometimes I found that the story dragged and was really slow, even though it’s short (but I could have been in the wrong headspace when reading it). 

On the other hand I didn’t love this book. I liked it—but didn’t love it. I didn’t like the way third person was used in this book, it just didn’t work for me. I also found the way the third person jumped between the characters being focused on and the jump between time periods to be confusing and made it hard for me to engage with the story. I never felt super connected to any of the characters and I never felt like I got enough insight or development from any of the characters, which was a bummer. I think the shortness of this book lead to the lack of character development and deep insight into the characters that I wanted—if the book had been longer there would have been more time to delve into the characters lives. There were also several chapters towards the end that abruptly switched to first person and I had no idea who was talking for a bit and I found that jarring and slightly confusing. 

Overall, this is a well written fictional story about an immigration experience to the US. This is not my favorite immigration based story but it wasn’t bad and I would definitely recommend it to others to read to get more insight into some immigration experiences.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

kylamunoz's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Heart wrenching in the most beautiful, necessary way. Everyone should read this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, and Violence

mvvelde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

Infinite Country in a moving and heartbreaking novel about the journey of a family cross-border into the United States. I enjoyed the multiplicity of voices from different characters as they grappled with what life is like not only as a migrant, but as someone who looks different than the white America of the US.

Written works like this are important in that they share the migrant experience—such works show the humanity of the individuals (migrants & families) that government bills and political rhetoric label and treat as undesirables.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Infinite Country. I loved the author’s writing style and will be excitedly awaiting whatever she writes in the future.

Trigger warnings include animal abuse, violence, and rape, as well as the death of a parent.

Thank you to Net Galley and Avid Reader Press for the eARC.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-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

4.0

I’m strongly leaning towards 4.5 instead of 5. I’m the oldest daughter out of three kids - two younger brothers. My siblings and I were all born in the U.S My mom and dad are from Brazil. My dad came to America first before my mom did. My parents became citizens of the U.S a few years ago. Even though my own family history does not center around deportation- I went to a high school with peers whose families were separated for years. My parents worked with their peers who struggled with not having their entire family in the U.S So I may not fully understand personally but the way Engel wrote this was beautifully done - tugging at my heartstrings and leaking my eyes. I also understand the racism that was mentioned in this book - micro aggressions that my family experienced in the twenty nine years I’ve been alive in addition to what my mom & dad went through when they came to the U.S in the 80’s. I do appreciate that Engel took the risk in making this novel a short one - proving that not al novels have to be 300+ pages to a story worth telling. The only part I would probably change up would be the way the narration suddenly shifts.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, and Panic attacks/disorders

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Xenophobia

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Bullying

leahrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

This was a phenomenal story from start to finish.  It didn't pull punches and everything the family endures here is heartwrenching.  I loved every aspect of this but especially the different POVs and timelines.  Those were woven together flawlessly.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Animal death

brittishliterature's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts