I’m not sure if I would’ve liked this better in print, but the audiobook to me felt a little like just listening to someone vent, which was tiring and not very interesting to me. I think the narrator did a good job, it just didn’t really work for me.

I loved the unique voices that popped out in this read. I was impressed by how addictive it was in getting to know character, and I found myself invested in getting through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Angie Cruz writes a stunning novel that paints a portrait of immigrant life in America. It is told creatively through twelve interviews with the main character as she seeks an extension on her unemployment. Woven into the tale are questionnaires and notices that impact her life. It is not an easy story to read, as it is the real plight of many living in the USA.

This audiobook made me laugh and also tugged at my heart. I loved the narration and the MC. Such a unique take on the American Dream and the immigrant experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the copy to review.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this book. The writer’s style was interesting. Most of the story was told in a one sided conversation or through official documents/applications. I don’t think I’ve ever done a book like this before. The characters were realist and well developed. The story moved at a good pace.

The narrator was fun and emoted well. At times I did have a hard time with her thick accent. I think I would have liked this as a print version as well.

3.5

I am late to the party, but this book had tears in my eyes from equaling parts laughing and crying. Cara Romero’s interviews with her job coach and learning her story as she walks through the difficult journey of finding a new job in middle age was captivating. I cannot recommend this on audio enough— the narrator, Rossmery Almonte— brought Cara to life in a captivating way!

4.5⭐️ Many thanks to @flatiron and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies

“Sometimes we need help to not drown in a glass of water.”

Write this down… Cara Romero will stay with you long after you finish this book.

Deeply heartfelt yet brimming with humor. This is THE audiobook experience of the year.

Cara Romero, a 56 year old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is looking for work after the 2008 recession closed the factory in which she was previously employed. As Cara navigates the unemployment program and its 12 interview sessions, the program questions turn into a monologue of her life story from successes to failures, from joys to sorrows.

Desahogar: to un-drown, to pour one’s heart out

As Cara poured her heart out, I listened, fully enrapt. Her need for connection was equally met by my need to hear more of her story. Her voice is frank, distinct, and eccentric. Cara’s wit allowed her (sometimes melancholic) reflection to feel light, even laugh out loud funny at times.

“It will not be easy to say I am American, because when someone says American, they don’t imagine me.”

Deeply impactful and full of honest contemplation, Cara’s ruminations give a voice to some of the most pertinent struggles of our time: immigration, gentrification, unemployment, caring for elderly, poverty.

This was not my normal audiobook experience. This was a production, as though I was a fly on the wall, hearing each and every noise during the sessions…water being gulped, chairs moving, pencil scratches, typing, and so much more. The narration by Rossmery Alamonte and Kimberly Wetherell was truly exceptional. Alamonte brought Cara to life in a bold and vivid manner.

If you enjoy audiobooks, this one is not to be missed.

I first fell in love with the writing of author Angie Cruz when I read her previous novel, Dominicana, so I was excited to read her latest book.

HOW NOT TO DROWN IN A GLASS OF WATER follows a woman named Cara Romero who has lost everything but the chance to finally tell her story.

I loved the story, and was so engaged with the characters while listening to the book on audio. The narrator was done by Kimberly M. Wetherell and Rosemary Almonte.

*many thanks to St Martins Press and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

I absolutely loved listening to this novel. If you can get your hands on an audiobook copy of How Not To Drown In A Glass Of Water, I highly recommend going that route. The narrator who reads Cara Romero’s parts, Rossmery Almonte, did a fantastic job bringing her character to life. This title deals with some difficult topics, like gentrification and loss, in a way that I have not seen done before. My only complaint was that this book was not long enough. I could have listened to Cara Romero’s stories for many more hours without getting bored.

This was an excellent examination of the chismosa as the heart and soul of a family and neighborhood. I loved the added-in documents disbursed through each of her appointments. Smart, funny, it'll have you laughing and crying.

I think this story would work well in both print and audio, and I plan to reread it in print eventually. This was a great, quick, impactful story of an immigrant woman trying to find a job after being let go from the company she thought she'd retire from. In bits and pieces of her interviews with an assigned job counselor, we get to know 56-year-old Cara. With each session, we slowly learn more about who she is and how she got to this place: about her friends, her son, her struggles with gentrification, and her neighborhood in Washington Heights.

I absolutely enjoyed this book. It struck so many different cords with me. The experience of my elders as immigrants in this country were reflected in these pages consistently. Cara Romero faces many challenges during the recession when she loses her job at the factory. Through a series of interviews where Cara is the sole voice being heard, she recounts her whole life story to the senior workforce program employee tasked to find her new work. The audiobook truly is a performance that completely embodies the character. The cast of characters in the story are relatable and heartfelt. I loved how Cara and LuLu were close, and how others in her apartment building knew Cara and leaned on her for support. I laughed and cried (on the inside) reading this book. Her sister Angela also lives in the building and we are able to see their family dynamic and how ghosts from the island (Dominican Republic) still haunt them in their present day life in New York after escaping the brutality of their mother.

This book is told through one of the most unique formats I've ever read and the end had me in tears. Rating this 5 stars was a no-brainer for me.

Cara Romero tells all about her life over the course of 12 sessions with a job counselor she's been set up with after losing her job in her 50s. During these unemployment appointments she talks about her past, her psychic, her estranged son Fernando, food, the Dominican Republic, why she moved to New York, her husband trying to kill and SO MUCH more. Just endless, incredible little stories told in a stream of consciousness to a captive audience.

I just adored this book. For one, Angie Cruz is an auto-read for me and I fell in love with Cara from the very first chapter. Cruz's writing is incredible and you immediately feel like you know Cara and are put right in the room alongside her and her counselor. Plus I am genuinely sad finishing this book and having to come to terms with the fact that Cara is not a real person, but a character. 

The format of this book was just nothing like I've ever read before and it felt so genuine and unique. Telling the story through appointments and questionnaires  was SUCH a great idea and brought the story to another level.

But the ending thooooough. Happy tears, for sure. Pick this one up, y'all.

Wow, this is one of the most fantastic audiobooks I've ever listened to. A full production, I can't imagine reading any other way. Cruz has done such an amazing job of telling this story.

<i>My name is Cara Romero, and I came to this country because my husband wanted to kill me. Don'tlook so shocked! You're the one who asked me to say something about myself. </i> ch.2

I was given an audiobook ARC of Angie Cruz's HOW NOT TO DROWN IN A GLASS OF WATER by NetGalley and MacMillan Audio and I was so impressed with this listening experience. It was more than just a great narrator in Rosemary Alente, although she was brilliant. There were also sound effects, which enhanced transitions and even character building. I was so entertained and hooked on this story from the first chapter.

This is the smart, evocative story of Cara Romero, a mid-50's casualty of the 2008 recession, estranged from her gay son Fernando, jobless, and trying to navigate the bureaucratic maze separating her from the social benefits she needs to keep her rent controlled apartment in New York City. It's a tense, dramatic story that includes details about her professional life, her sex life, her abusive nuclear family, and her violent first marriage. In fact, the excerpt I shared above is the very first thing the main character says!

Cara's unemployment provides the fresh and clever form for this story, which is explained in the opening chapter: Cara tells her story to the woman who meets with her for twelve interviews to determine her fitness for job placement through New York's job and family services department. Cara rather defies the established form of those interviews, I'm sure; but the story she tells and tge woman she presents are both unforgettable.

I highly recommend the audiobook for this one!

Rating 5 stars
Finished October 2022
Recommended for fans of literary fiction, women's fiction, feminist/intersectional themes; readers seeking lgbtq rep, poc rep, immigrant rep, older characters, realistic portrayals of motherhood
TW domestic violence, violence against children, narcissistic abuse (mostly off page or described), queer antagonism

I loved this one! It's funny and heartfelt and tragic all at the same time. It's a unique idea and writing layout and it was a joy to listen to.

This is told through appointments at a job center that turns into therapy of sorts. Cara is an immigrant and lost her job of 20 years and is I'm a program to help her find a new career moving forward. What happens is we hear all of Cara's life and struggles and joys. We see her help others and hurt those she loves, we see her maybe exaggerate a bit and reminisce on her life. We see her pain and anguish over different moments in her life.

Honestly, I really enjoyed it and would recommend!

3.5 ⭐️

First off, I really enjoyed the narration. Theres always something about excellent narration that helps draw you into the story more, like hearing Cara actually take a sip of water. The production level is really well done!

This book is based on Cara Romero, who at 50 years old is let go from her job. She now has to find a new job for the first time in ages so she meets up with a job counsellor to interview for multiple jobs, but instead Cara has some major self-reflection on her life, her traumas, her loves, and how immigrating from the Dominican Republic to the United States has effected her life.

I'm not the biggest fan of this interview style on books. I found the same thing with Daisy Jones and The Six. But once I got over that style I really enjoyed the topics presented! If you need a quick, insightful listen definitely check this out!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for sending me the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The audio was well done, two narrators and many sound effects. Definitely a production.

The protagonist is from the Dominican Republic. It seems to me that the author is using the 50-something female stereotype to the extreme for humor. I'm not Dominican, don't know any Dominicans. But all my corporate America diversity training must be working to some degree, because this book was a little too much for me. Although the last couple chapters were definitely among the best, so I'm glad that I did finish How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water.

Thank you to NetGalley, Angie Cruz the author, Kimberly Wetherell and Rossmery Almonte the narrators and to Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review the advance listen version of the audio in exchange for an honest review.

I was able to listen to How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz (Narrated by Kimberly M. Wetherell; Rossmery Almonte) by Macmillan Audio and Netgalley who provided me with an arc this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
This book ss about Cara Romero who thought she will work in the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life.
She loses her job during the great recession and is forced back into the job market for the first time. She gets setup with a job counselor and instead of talking about work she talks about the stories of her life (no spoilers). Cara has a habit of drinking water so when she talks to the counselor during her 12 sessions she always ask for a glass of water, she takes a sip, you can actually hear how she takes the sip of water.
This audiobook was amazing and funny. Is about being a woman, aging, enjoying and learning about life. You can definitely listen while drinking a glass of wine.

An incredibly unique audiobook experience.
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is a story about self-reflection, generational trauma, immigrant life in the United States, and - most importantly - perseverance. While the experimental structure of the book wasn't my favorite, I'm glad I took the time to listen.
Our main character, Cara Romero, looks back on her life through a series of interview-styled chapters. She is so unfiltered and honest that, as a reader, you sometimes feel like a fly on the wall. Hesitant at first, I quickly grew to love Cara's stubbornness and sense of humor.
Altogether, I love how Cruz explores the complexities of human existence through the lens of a genuinely relatable character.






I've never met a character who