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wholeottabooks's review against another edition
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Synopsis: Cara Romero is a Latina mother that has lost her job during the Great Recession. She shares her life story over the course of 12 sessions with a job counselor.
My thoughts: Angie Cruz did a spectacular job with this novel. She delicately carried the complexities of a Latina identity in the United States. I felt like I had been sitting directly across from Cara and felt her voice, concerns, and longing deep in my heart. This novel gives a voice to a group of women that often do not have a voice, that do not have a second chance, that do not have the option of explaining themselves. I absolutely loved this book but felt it was a little longer than it needed to be and ended abruptly. This is a character that you can’t forget.
My thoughts: Angie Cruz did a spectacular job with this novel. She delicately carried the complexities of a Latina identity in the United States. I felt like I had been sitting directly across from Cara and felt her voice, concerns, and longing deep in my heart. This novel gives a voice to a group of women that often do not have a voice, that do not have a second chance, that do not have the option of explaining themselves. I absolutely loved this book but felt it was a little longer than it needed to be and ended abruptly. This is a character that you can’t forget.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
tanishah's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Abandonment
anna_23's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
5.0
In this book we are part of the 12 sessions Cara Romero has to attend for the Senior Work Program, technically to only give enough information so her social worker can help her find a job, but often diving into her everyday life, her relationship with her family including her son, who she hasn't seen in around 20 years and the lives of her neighbors in a close knit community in Washington Heights.
This book is for certain, one of the books that affected me the most, emotionally, this year. I found myself slowly getting attached to Cara and getting invested in her struggles and the ones of her friends and family. Angie Cruz did a wonderful job putting us in the mindset of a flawed woman who first deflected the fact that she did things wrong in her life and slowly learned that while for her it came from a place of love and care, she still did things that hurt people, especially her son Fernando.
Also Cruz showed the slow and rocky road of questioning your own set and often harmful beliefs (like internalized misogyny, homophobia or toxic masculinity) and unlearning them. While also exploring why they manifested themselves in the first place.
While I am often not a fan of the one sided interview narrative, this time it really worked for me. Mainly, because Cruz gave Cara such a lively and engaging voice that I didn't feel like I lacked another perspective. I was glued to the page (or the audiobook narrator's voice, I guess) listening to her sad and honest observations of her own actions, her love and support for the people around her and the charming humor that often came from her love for horoscopes. And while we only got Cara's perspective, I felt I got enough information about the other characters to understand why they acted the way they did. Especially toward the middle, when Cara was more open to be honest about her flaws and past hurts, which opened the possibility for really cathartic and beautiful recountings of conversations that were a joy to read.
I also loved how central the importance of community was in this book, which is a theme I almost always love. It was so lovely to see the care this little apartment block had for each other, which was mostly made up of immigrants from different Latin American countries.
One of my favorite relationships was between Cara and her neighbor Lulu. All the small little details, like the way Lulu helps Cara to get up in the mornings when she is struggling and Cara helps Lulu when she is overwhelmed with her family.
Additionally, we see how the community has to stand up against the increasing gentrification of their neighborhood and the rising unemployment after the 2008 recession.
Between the sessions we get documents that Cara had to fill out or received during the duration of the novel, during which I first, found myself zoning out but later found to appreciate, especially thinking about how many documents have been found of people throughout history and, that different to Cara's fictional story, we are not able to hear the stories that are attached to them.
I listened to the audiobook and I recommend it to anybody, who has the access and possibility to listen to it. The producers put a lot of work into it adding music, outside noises and more. The narrators (Kimberly M. Wetherell and
Rossmery Almonte) did an incredible job and brought Cara Romero to live.
Highly, highly recommend this book and hope everyone will enjoy Cara Romero's story as much as I did!
Also if you liked the way the relationship was written between Evelyn and Joy in 'Everything, Everywhere, All at One' I would 100% give this a try!
Trigger Warnings: homophobia, misogynie, domestic violence
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Abandonment
serendipitysbooks's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-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
4.25
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is the story of Cara Romero, a 56 year old woman from the Dominican Republic, who now lives in the US and needs to find work following the closure of the factory where she had worked for many years.
Cara is a fantastic character, one not quickly forgotten. She’s got a strong, opinions and a vibrant personality, has lived through some hard times and had bad things happen to her, but has also made bad decisions and hurt others. She’s clearly got a heart of gold, but her actions don’t always reflect that. She’s incredibly easy to root for, even when her behaviour is infuriating. Or worse. Over the course of the book we see Cara grow as she recognises the role she has played in fracturing some relationships, and hurting those she loves most. It’s a rewarding journey to watch, to see her recognise her problematic behaviour, sit with the pain of that, and then take positive action to improve.
The structure of this book is unique. It unfolds over the course of twelve sessions Cara is required to have with a job counsellor in order to continue receiving unemployment insurance. The book is essentially a transcript of what Cara says during each session. We never hear from the counsellor - although I get the feeling she didn’t get a lot of opportunity to say much! Cara is clearly a talker and during the sessions shares much of her life, including the ups and downs of many key relationships including with her son, her sister and her neighbour. Interspersed with these are various documents such as her steadily increasing rent bills and job questionnaires.
I listened on audio which I recommend. The audio has high production values including sound effects, making it akin to listening to an old-fashioned audio play. In addition the narrator does a fabulous job with Cara and I appreciated hearing her voice with the correct accent and intonations. Not all the documents worked so well in the audio format, but they were a much smaller part of the book than the job counselling sessions. The pros of audio far outweighed the cons - at least for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death
Minor: Homophobia
suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A character study of Cara Romero, revealing the many endearing qualities of an older Dominican woman who has flaws and has done harm, but has had to keep moving forward with her life and do the best she can to help herself and her community.
We are essentially hearing a monologue for most of the 200 pages. The audiobook sound effects and narration made it a very immersive, full experience.
We are essentially hearing a monologue for most of the 200 pages. The audiobook sound effects and narration made it a very immersive, full experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
julietealy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
vinacasti's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Homophobia
Minor: Death
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