megancm's profile picture

megancm's review

4.0

What an eye-opening book! I didn't know much about undocumented immigrants before, and this really shed some light on their experience here in America. We have a lot of work to do in this country.

jesscath18's review

3.75
challenging emotional informative fast-paced

christinahj's review

4.0

4 stars for content, 3 stars for presentation. What I really appreciated was this close personal narrative for how he first discovered he was undocumented and everything that happened since. And the amazing life he has lived since that day. This book presents many important details about the undocumented experience, including the misinformation (so much misinformation). There was an aspect to the presentation that took me out a bit, but I still consider it an important read.
funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced
informative reflective fast-paced

Very well written and informative. 

I don’t like to rate memoirs or autobiographies because my rating is not directed towards the author’s life story but on the way they told it. A memoir seems so personal that I feel uncomfortable rating.
However, with this disclaimer I think that the book (as a book) was great compared to the last memoir I read so...
a solid 3.5 stars it is!
emotional informative reflective medium-paced

radwaashraf's review

4.0

English review below.

هذا الكتاب لإتح عيني على حقائق كتيرة وقراءة عاطفية إلى حد ما.
إنها قصة خوسيه ، وهو فلبيني ذهب إلى الولايات المتحدة في سن الثانية عشرة ، على افتراض أنه وصل هناك بشكل قانوني ليعيش مع أجداده تاركين والدته ، لكنه سرعان ما أدرك أنه أحد "المهاجرين غير الشرعيين" في البلاد ، على الرغم من أن أجداده مهاجرون قانونيون.

يكشف عن سخافة نظام الهجرة في الولايات المتحدة ، وحياته في الاختباء على مرأى من الجميع ، والفرص التي فوتها والحياة التي صنعها والأشياء التي ضحى بها طوال سنوات طويلة بصفته مواطن غير موثق في أمريكا. فيه الكثير من المعلومات التي لم أكن أعرفها عن أنظمة الولايات المتحدة ، والقوانين الغريبة التي تفرضها ، ومعضلة عدم القدرة على التكيف أو الخروج.

إنه مراسل وصحفي وهذه هي الطريقة التي يكتب بها حياته ، ويظهر ذلك في كتابة هذا الكتاب ، على الرغم من إن بعض الفصول شعرت بالتكرار ، أو كانت تحتوي على نفس المعلومات بنفس الطريقة ، لكنها كتبت بشكل جيد ، مع فصول قصيرة وسرد عاطفي حقًا. إنه كاتب جيد لدرجة أنني نسيت خلال النصف الأول أنني كنت أقرأ مذكرات ، حيث شعرت وكأنها رواية جيدة حقًا بسرد قوي.

أعتقد أنها قراءة مهمة لفهم المهاجرين ومحاولات التوثيق في أمريكا والحصول على الجنسية.

This book is a real eye-opener and quite an emotional read.
It's the story of Jose, a fillipino who went to the US at the age of 12, assuming he got there legally to live with his grandparents leaving his mother behind, but he quickly realises that he's one of the "illegals" in the country, even though his grandparents are legal immigrants.

He uncovers the ridicloussness of immigration system in the USA, his life in hiding in plain sight, the opportunities he missed and the life he made up and the things he sacrificied living for long years as undocumented in America. It has a lot of information I didn't know about the US systems, the weird laws they impose, and the dillemma of not even being able to fit in or get out.

He's a reporter and that's the yway he bult up his life, and it shows in writing this book, though I'd say that some chapter felt repetitive, or had the same info in the same way, but it written well, with short chapters and really emotional narrative. He's such a good writer that during the first half, I forgot I was reading a memoir, as it felt like a really good novel with a powerful narrative.

I think it's an important read for understanding immigrants and documentation in America.

juanjmorales's review

4.5
emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense

starstrikers200's review

2.0
informative reflective fast-paced