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A review by maryehavens
Come On In: 15 Stories About Immigration and Finding Home by Adi Alsaid
3.0
I was going to give this book 2 stars because I almost abandoned it but I ended up loving the second to last story so much I added a book by that author (Zoraida Cordova, if you were curious).
Like any collection, there were some highlights, a very low point that made me want to abandon the book (and, I think if I were reading it, I would have skipped that story. I kept thinking it would get better but it didn't. I HATED the main character!!), and some just o.k. stories. It was hard not to compare it to Hope Nation which I listened to over the summer. There were so many EXCELLENT stories in that collection - I walked away with some amazing new writers to investigate.
I expected a lot of the collection as well since the subject matter of immigration is such a rich topic. I just didn't connect with many of the stories. I enjoyed the ones that felt more like non-fiction/memoir than the fiction so maybe that was it.
Highlights: Where I'm From, Salvation and the Sea, The Curandera and the Alchemist, First Words (librarian LOVE!), and, my favorite, Confessions of an Ecuadorkian. I mean, how can you not love such a clever play on words? It was meant as an insult but I can see it being a lovely embrace of multiple identities.
So....yeah. Maybe lower expectations and some skipping would have made this a more enjoyable experience. Looking forward to reading Cordova's Brooklyn Brujas!!
Like any collection, there were some highlights, a very low point that made me want to abandon the book (and, I think if I were reading it, I would have skipped that story. I kept thinking it would get better but it didn't. I HATED the main character!!), and some just o.k. stories. It was hard not to compare it to Hope Nation which I listened to over the summer. There were so many EXCELLENT stories in that collection - I walked away with some amazing new writers to investigate.
I expected a lot of the collection as well since the subject matter of immigration is such a rich topic. I just didn't connect with many of the stories. I enjoyed the ones that felt more like non-fiction/memoir than the fiction so maybe that was it.
Highlights: Where I'm From, Salvation and the Sea, The Curandera and the Alchemist, First Words (librarian LOVE!), and, my favorite, Confessions of an Ecuadorkian. I mean, how can you not love such a clever play on words? It was meant as an insult but I can see it being a lovely embrace of multiple identities.
So....yeah. Maybe lower expectations and some skipping would have made this a more enjoyable experience. Looking forward to reading Cordova's Brooklyn Brujas!!