Idk, I think I'll always be very indifferent about books that are not own-voices. This is a tough sell for me.

This was not a book for me. i Struggeled with the book, i had a hard time to connect with the characters and didn`t feel like the story was honest, espesially when reading the afterwords of the author.

I loved the cover of this book, so clear so simple, so unlike the stories kids need to hear about the treks their parents made to America. I realize Thomas isn't try to tell any more than the story of one person, but many of us need to hear the story.

Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

This is a sore subject for me because this is a story about a Mexican woman crossing into the United States written by a white author who will never understand what their struggles are truly like. The writing is phenomenal. It's richly vibrant. As a minority woman I just couldn't get into the story. Maybe others will think otherwise. Happy reading!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime/thriller books and even psychological thrillers too so I am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

Thank you to She Writes Press & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available June 9th 2020.

I struggled with this book, not with the story but with the concepts behind them. In the foreward of this book, author Alma Luz Villanueva notes that she is hesitant about reading a book about the trauma of migration between Mexico and the United States by a non Hispanic white author but that she was persuaded by the afterword. As a curious reader, I quickly jumped to the afterword in which the author describes her work with Latinx students as well as her work with BorderLinks. She states "at this point in my life, I wanted to write about the undocumented immigrant community in a way that others could see through their eyes and experience and understand why they were driven to leave their homes and risk their lives to come to our country." And that's exactly the issue with Luz. The story is technically well written, vividly described, but it is not honest, true or empowering. Thomas's writing is just that, her writing, her American citizen's viewpoint of immigration and the story reeks of American savior complex. Perhaps if Luz was a different story, if it was Thomas tackling her native upstate New York family's racist viewpoints or her story as a working class woman who decided to work with undocumented persons, it would have felt more genuine.