American Dirt book review

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
on January 21, 2020
Goodreads

También de este lado hay sueños.On this side, too, there are dreams.
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?

This book has been talked about everywhere and I wasn’t sure that American Dirt was going to be for me when I added it to my Kindle. I am so glad I picked it up purely because it was one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. I’m so upset I didn’t pick it up earlier because it definitely would have made my favourites. Plus it is a book that everyone should read I think purely to be educated on the subject matter within this story. I have already started recommending this book to anyone and everyone who will listen which is a bizarre one for me, but it just is a beautiful story and with amazing characters.

Characters in American Dirt

American Dirt follows Lydia and her son Luca as they make the illegal journey across the Mexico-American border. The trauma and the characters reactions are what make up this book. Lydia and Luca are on the run from the cartels. They board La Beastia and ride up to the top of the border. In this time we see them gain confidence and lose faith and hope and pull themselves back to the brink. The character arcs within this story were beautifully done. Although the pair are still recognisable by the end their development was fantastically done. I don’t think that these two characters are a full representative of everyone making the journey. But I fell in love with them and started to really feel for them and worry about them. It was an anxiety-inducing thought process.

The other characters that deserve a mention are the two sisters that end up riding the train at the same time, Soledad and Rebecca. The two sisters are also running from the unknown. They are almost a little relaxed about everything at the beginning. But seeing the lack of surety that plagues becomes a brilliantly emotive part of the book. I really loved the way that it all ended up being used within the plot. American Dirt although focused on Lydia and Luca also brought so many beautiful and perfectly formed characters. They each add to the story and really build the world around them.

Good and Bad Bits

The reason I think I love American Dirt as much as I did was purely because of the emotion it pulled forward. I cannot explain my feelings that coursed through this book and how it made me feel. I am not sure what I was expecting but I definitely wasn’t expecting this. This book to bowled me over. There were moments that left me breathless, moments that made me cry and so many wholesome moments. It was the perfect mix and balance of things. I still cannot think straight when I try to think about the way everything worked out. I just loved how this book made me feel and the emotions I ended up going through.

Usually, I write about things that I ‘hated’ about the book but there wasn’t really anything in this story. I wanted to touch on the controversy that has been making its way around the book community about this book. I wasn’t aware about anything when going into American Dirt. It was only going onto Goodreads reviews and seeing the points that have been made. As a white woman, I’m not sure I have the right to say whether those people are right or wrong. What I will say is that this book has awakened a hunger for me to read more about this situation. It has opened my eyes to everything. So I will definitely be reading more books about immigration and the world they live in the future. Which for me is something that is positive.

Recommendation

I really would recommend this one. It is a completely readable book whilst also dealing with horrific things. I loved the characters and I believe that American Dirt really works well with the amount and type of characters. It’s just a really brilliant book and if you’re on the fence about reading it then I would definitely give it a go!

Have you read this one? I would really love your thoughts on the controversy and this book in general in the comments!