A review by victoriadiesattheend
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

4.0

Loved. Ultimately this is a story of the “American Dream,” motherhood, and gentrification told through Cara’s POV throughout her sessions with a case worker. This case worker is assigned to help Cara find a job during the 2009 recession. Each chapter is one of these sessions. The author did a fantastic job relaying setting and the point of the story through such a limited POV and lens.

Cara is a Dominican immigrant but in my experience her story translates well to immigrants in general. I saw a lot of my mother in Cara especially because this was set during the recession. It really hit home for me and I think it would especially hit home for children of Hispanic immigrants. Her character was flawed but through those flaws and hardships there was a lightness the author was able to bring to the story. And for a book that’s only 190 pages long you are able to see a woman in her late 50s grow. It was great.