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svmreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Miscarriage
lydiamcleod's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
5.0
A touching novel at a perfect length for the story. A recent fave.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
abnormal_shadow's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
4.0
I didn't go into this book with a clear understanding of what it was. I listened to this as an audiobook on Libby and I would very much recommend this method. It felt like a podcast. The main character address me as a character. In the book I answer her questions, I follow her story and I check up on her. The audiobook had music, the sounds of waves and the scratching of pens and pencils on paper. The main character is flawed, she often doesn't see how she makes people actually feel. She is confident and assertive to the extent that it took a public argument with her sister to understand how she actual hurt the people in her life (Fernando and the sister). Its seeing the other side of a child's life, how she feels she was doing her best, her side of the day that her son left, her side of the lives of those around her, her account of events. You can tell in the book that she is an unreliable narrator and its easy to sympathize with her until certain things click you as a reader get angry with her but not for long. She is not a bad person she is just doing bad things and doesn't understand that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Grief, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy
theabee's review
emotional
sad
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage and Addiction
bella_cavicchi'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
4.5
4.5 stars. A sheer joy and a half to read. Angie Cruz has crafted what is effectively a 190-page monologue, showcasing what feels to me like one of the most distinct voices in recent literary memory. My sentimental heart was tearing up by the final few pages, but I’ll leave that for you to experience for yourself… :)
(And for anyone craving a multi-media (!) experience, reading it is well-paired with this episode of Thresholds: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5odDnfti2oq70ktRVZ4rdU?si=1379209cd6e14d86)
(And for anyone craving a multi-media (!) experience, reading it is well-paired with this episode of Thresholds: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5odDnfti2oq70ktRVZ4rdU?si=1379209cd6e14d86)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, and Death
Minor: Miscarriage and Infidelity
helenaeoftroy's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? It's complicated
3.75
I got choked up at the end. Finishing the book felt like I was losing a friend. I want to meet Cara Romero.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Rape, and Miscarriage
rayannotates's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Minor: Kidnapping and Pedophilia
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
3.75
Overall the book is about a woman using her job counselor more as therapist because she has no one to talk to and as the sessions continue and she looks for employment in an unforgiving country and city she unpacks the harm that’s been done to her and that she’s done to others.
A refreshing older woman protagonist but if you go in not expecting the character unpack domestic and child abuse and how she continued the cycles and tries it break them it may catch you off guard. I heavily recommend checking out the content warnings. Also most of the time the Spanglish made sense but there were times when instead “he has ten years” clearly being someone in English mimicking Spanish’s “Él tengo diez años”, instead at times it felt like taking a random word and making it Spanish to make sure we remember she’s poorly educated ESL especially that one sentence she didn’t recognize Chile the country despite being Latin American that seemed silly to me.
Small details but they bothered me, all in all Cara Romero is a very human character from her selfless virtues to her flaws that hurt everyone including herself. It made me cry which is a positive to the writer!
A refreshing older woman protagonist but if you go in not expecting the character unpack domestic and child abuse and how she continued the cycles and tries it break them it may catch you off guard. I heavily recommend checking out the content warnings. Also most of the time the Spanglish made sense but there were times when instead “he has ten years” clearly being someone in English mimicking Spanish’s “Él tengo diez años”, instead at times it felt like taking a random word and making it Spanish to make sure we remember she’s poorly educated ESL especially that one sentence she didn’t recognize Chile the country despite being Latin American that seemed silly to me.
Small details but they bothered me, all in all Cara Romero is a very human character from her selfless virtues to her flaws that hurt everyone including herself. It made me cry which is a positive to the writer!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Grief, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Classism, Terminal illness, Sexism, Cursing, Child abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Stalking
reads_eats_explores's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
5.0
It’s 2009, and while “El Obama” works to piece together a shattered US economy, Cara Romero, at age 56, must find a job of her own or face her benefits ceased.
She’s been unemployed for two years since the factory where she worked most of her life moved its operations abroad.
Cars attends ‘La Escuelita’ as part of a Senior Workforce Program in New York, where she sits down with a city employee, a younger Dominican American woman, for 12 sessions, during which they will work together to find Cara a job that matches her skills and interests.
Throughout the sessions, with wit and warmth, Cara recounts her upbringing in the Dominican Republic, her journey to the United States, estrangement from her only child, relationships with her sister and extended family, and commitment to her largely disadvantaged immigrant Washington Heights community.
The potency of Cara’s first-person voice as she speaks to the job counsellor is stunning, including some delectable multilingual turns of phrase that only heighten Cara’s authenticity. Cruz intersperses the 12 sessions with documents like rent notices and job application materials she must complete, including a “Career Skills Matcher,” all of which work together to demonstrate both the power of bureaucracy to complicate a person’s life and the ability of paperwork to tell one version of a person’s story while often hiding their reality and what makes life truly rich.
Despite all the hardships that Cara faces, the book also resounds with the sense that Cara loves and believes in herself. She is one strong lady, but behind the facade, she battles plenty of inner turmoil.
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is beautiful, a thoroughly engaging read that I devoured in one sitting.
Sure, haven't we all felt the need at one time or another to ‘desahogar’? A Spanish phrase, which translated, literally means “to un-drown.” To pour one’s heart out and cry until there is no need to cry anymore. 5⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in return for an honest review.
She’s been unemployed for two years since the factory where she worked most of her life moved its operations abroad.
Cars attends ‘La Escuelita’ as part of a Senior Workforce Program in New York, where she sits down with a city employee, a younger Dominican American woman, for 12 sessions, during which they will work together to find Cara a job that matches her skills and interests.
Throughout the sessions, with wit and warmth, Cara recounts her upbringing in the Dominican Republic, her journey to the United States, estrangement from her only child, relationships with her sister and extended family, and commitment to her largely disadvantaged immigrant Washington Heights community.
The potency of Cara’s first-person voice as she speaks to the job counsellor is stunning, including some delectable multilingual turns of phrase that only heighten Cara’s authenticity. Cruz intersperses the 12 sessions with documents like rent notices and job application materials she must complete, including a “Career Skills Matcher,” all of which work together to demonstrate both the power of bureaucracy to complicate a person’s life and the ability of paperwork to tell one version of a person’s story while often hiding their reality and what makes life truly rich.
Despite all the hardships that Cara faces, the book also resounds with the sense that Cara loves and believes in herself. She is one strong lady, but behind the facade, she battles plenty of inner turmoil.
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is beautiful, a thoroughly engaging read that I devoured in one sitting.
Sure, haven't we all felt the need at one time or another to ‘desahogar’? A Spanish phrase, which translated, literally means “to un-drown.” To pour one’s heart out and cry until there is no need to cry anymore. 5⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in return for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death, Cancer, Medical content, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Police brutality, Classism, Violence, and Miscarriage
joyfulfoodie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Having lived recently in Puerto Rico with Dominican neighbors I really got a lot out of this book. The characters felt so similar to what I’ve experienced there. I loved the way the main character Cara’s English is presented, her use of Spanish words mixed in. I was pleased at how much I understood and loved reading this digitally where I could hover on words to translate if it was slang I didn’t know yet, fun new adult words, or phrases I just haven’t mastered yet. Great learning opportunity both in another life experience and some language enrichment. I found the format (one side - Cara’s - of the interview each week for job placement help) to really work and be endearing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Homophobia, Child abuse, and Cancer
Minor: Death, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Miscarriage