Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Behold the Dreamers

Jende and Neni Jonga recently immigrated to the United States from Limbe, Cameroon, in search of a better life and greater financial opportunities. After a grueling search, Jende lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers (big yike). Meanwhile, Neni juggles caring for their son Liomi while pursuing her dream of becoming a pharmacist. While life is by no means easy for Jende and Neni, their optimism about what the future holds for them in the United States rapidly crumbles when Lehman Brothers implodes, the U.S. descends into a financial crisis, and Jende considers the precarious nature of his immigration status.

Behold the Dreamers balances the optimism that may flow from moving to the United States with the harsh realities of the immigration system, economic strife, and racism. Running through the book as well is an examination of gendered dynamics both in the Jonga and Edwards families, and the reader is directly shown the tension between the myth of a "post-racial America" in the wake of President Obama's election and the very lived experiences of Black people—specifically, Black immigrants—in the U.S. The novel also shows the ways in which non-immigrant U.S. residents are generally oblivious to the challenges and inequities of the immigration system, and how Black people's needs and desires are often set aside in favor of [wealthy] white individuals' interests.

This is a book in which, while one set of characters is certainly much, much easier to sympathize with, none of the characters are terribly likable—but Mbue constructs these characters well despite their lack of likability because none of the characters fall "flat" in terms of their complexity. The one thing, however, that was a bit strange to me was a particular plot point that felt rather sudden, forced, and unrealistic given the character’s traits (IYKYK).

I definitely enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to reading Mbue's new book, How Beautiful We Were!

Content Warnings

hkropp's review

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challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.5

The way the author captured emotion was amazing. It felt like you knew Jende, Neni and Clark.

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machenn's review

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emotional reflective medium-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? No

4.5

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ifersinklings's review

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, other than it was about a immigrant family. This book was so much more than just about that, though. It was about family, the allusion of what the American Dream really is, about money and the cost of having wealth. There were so many different lessons in this story that I was surprised were executed so well, but also subtly.

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