jcd1013's reviews
596 reviews

It took a little while for this book to develop into the story, but I really loved the last chapters. 

For being a book about a woman hiring a man for sex, it took a long time for the sex to happen, although once it did, it was pretty spicy. I didn't have a problem with that, as I knew that's what I was signing up for. 

I did have a problem with casual (and sometimes not so casual) sexism throughout. Like how Michael just starts driving her around in her car. Or picks her up and carries her around like she's a doll. Or kisses her without her consent, after he just punched a guy for doing the same. I nearly stopped reading it at 90% of the way through because of that. 

There was a lot that I enjoyed. The family dynamics were overall great, Stella becoming more self-assured and assertive, but yeah. There were also big giant flaws.

I'm from Tucson and have been down to Nogales several times, about a decade before this book took place, and I visited the area a few years ago - much like Javier's descriptions in his multiple attempts to cross, you can't tell the difference between Mexico and "La USA," with the exception of some border towns, where the fences loom menacingly. The same plants, the same dirt, the same ancient volcanic mountains. The desert is stunning and harsh and those who are crossing are desperate, even more desperate than they were 2 decades ago.

This was a beautiful memoir - harsh and terrible and full of love and beauty. Javier's writing is lyrical. I know very little Spanish, so there were several words I didn't understand. I either figured them out from context or I looked them up. I actually thought that not understanding made me appreciate the journey more, because of how out of place Javier had been throughout the journey.

A thoroughly solid romance novel. I enjoyed the alternating POVs and I liked both of the characters. I especially liked how it was a "coming home" book, but not necessarily a "home is better" book. I enjoyed the friendships that developed as well. 

 | started reading this last year and then came back to it. It’s an interesting group of essays, some are very lyrical, some felt unfinished (Provincetown), some as a literary critique. I'm not sure that there really was a unifying theme, which may be why I struggled to finish it. 

There’s nothing really original about this book, about three generations of women who embrace their witchiness and their connection to nature and the land, but it was well written and overall enjoyable. 

This is not high fantasy. If I thought about it more, I’d probably downgrade it, because there was a lot of pages where nothing happened. But when my world was frozen and scary, this was a really enjoyable escape. And she acknowledged that the death rate was ridiculous, so that was a plus.  

My first Pratchett! A fun adventure and I enjoyed the little blue men a lot. 

Gorgeous book of poetry exploring family and identity.