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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
mr_cain's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
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
5.0
A sweet little story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Cursing
Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent
thoughtsfromtheafro's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The structure was a little off putting at first, but I settled into it. The way the therapist was weaved (or rather, wasn’t) into the dialogue was an interesting choice. I would’ve loved an additional pov intermittently — especially from a family member and/or those to whom she refers frequently.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Grief
Written in “Spanglish”lvd92's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.0
This book was quite a surprise. The main character is Cara, a woman in her sixties who fled her home country many years ago. She lost her job in a factory two years ago as that company moved its production outside of the US, and now needs to find a job because her benefits will expire. She receives assistance to find a job as part of some program which she qualifies for due to her age, which means she has to come in for appointments. The whole book is essentially her telling this job assistance worker about her struggles in life.
The moment I realised what it was, I considered not continuing it because this type of storytelling tends not to work for me. However, I gave it some more time and I am really glad I did. To be honest, I am not sure how I would have fared with reading it physically - I think this story was made for audio. Cara was such an engaging character and storyteller, she drew me in completely. The voice actor who portrayed her did an amazing job. She feels incredibly real as a flawed human being who is doing her best to stay afloat and help people around her. Tough themes are addressed in this book, such as family drama, starting out with nothing, being a foreigner in a strange country, physical abuse, being a person subjected to rigid procedures, etc. I think they were handled well - not sugar coating without being too heavy, in a slice of life kind of way.
Truly a solid read.
The moment I realised what it was, I considered not continuing it because this type of storytelling tends not to work for me. However, I gave it some more time and I am really glad I did. To be honest, I am not sure how I would have fared with reading it physically - I think this story was made for audio. Cara was such an engaging character and storyteller, she drew me in completely. The voice actor who portrayed her did an amazing job. She feels incredibly real as a flawed human being who is doing her best to stay afloat and help people around her. Tough themes are addressed in this book, such as family drama, starting out with nothing, being a foreigner in a strange country, physical abuse, being a person subjected to rigid procedures, etc. I think they were handled well - not sugar coating without being too heavy, in a slice of life kind of way.
Truly a solid read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
The main character has treated her gay son quite horribly in the past. The main character does not see what she has done wrong at first, because she sees it as trying to protect her son from a harsh world. She does not understand why her son has broken off contact and runs when he sees her. The narrative does not reward this, in my interpretation, but I think you should know before starting this book. Gradually, due to her own desire to mend things with her son, but also because of pushback from others, she is trying to do better. Towards the end of the book, she has not completed this arc of character growth, but it is clear she is now somewhere on that path.lportilla's review
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
booknerderika's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This was such a raw story. Covering topics like gentrification, living in the U.S. without citizenship, and generational trauma all through one person's story. I wasn't completely sure in the beginning, but as the story went on, I was hooked.
I highly recommend the audiobook for this one. It made the story so much more real. I was able to see my mom, my tías, my grandma in so many of the dominican women in this story. 🇩🇴
I highly recommend the audiobook for this one. It made the story so much more real. I was able to see my mom, my tías, my grandma in so many of the dominican women in this story. 🇩🇴
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual content
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
booksinherhead's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
this epistolary novel absolutely caught me by surprise! In HOW NOT TO DROWN IN A GLASS OF WATER Dominican immigrant Cara Romero carefully describes her life to her job counselor over twelve sessions. Artful, lush, heartbreaking, and hopeful. I won't forget this one anytime soon. THIS is the sort of novel I truly love to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Medical content, Death, and Sexual violence
itschelseaw's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was really good; I enjoyed the writing style more than I thought I would and learning more and more about Cara Romero's life was heartbreaking and lovely at the same time. Seeing the changes in her as she learned through both the "education" and experiences of those around her after the 2008 crash was very tender. When she got the bag of food at the end I cried a little bit; it felt like the first buds of spring blooming.
Cara Romero was a very funny character too; never too serious but also deeply serious at the same time. She felt deeply human in that I could see her point of view, see how she hurt those around her, and why she did it, and ultimately come back around to love and a desire to be loved.
Just... a deeply human story, and it was pulled off well.
Cara Romero was a very funny character too; never too serious but also deeply serious at the same time. She felt deeply human in that I could see her point of view, see how she hurt those around her, and why she did it, and ultimately come back around to love and a desire to be loved.
Just... a deeply human story, and it was pulled off well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse and Homophobia
graceesford's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Infertility