In My Side of the River, Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez offers a poignant and accessible memoir that truly resonates with me as a reader. Her writing evolves beautifully throughout the narrative, immersing me in her experiences as she navigates the complexities of growing up as a child of Mexican immigrants. It's a must-read book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

An amazing story of immigrants trying to make a life for their family in the U.S. Told by a woman whose parents, being undocumented were sent back to Mexico. Heartwarming, heartbreaking, and a story of many successes and failures. It really was a story that made you think!

A beautiful memoir of Elizabeth growing up as a United States citizen with parents who do not have citizenship. This book is well done, showing the complications of the border, immigration policies, and views on immigrants in general. Her parents truly wanted the best for their children and their version of best put the kids in situations that were hard and uncomfortable, but here Elizabeth is now an author, a university graduate and someone with big potential, because of her parents dreams. It is really amazing what the "American Dream" can offer and I understand why so many people around the world want to be here.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted e-copy of this book.

What a timely story to read on the cusp of (another) Trump administration focused on deporting immigrants who have come to America hoping for a better life. While I'm hesitant for people in their 20's to write a memoir (because just how much life has someone lived to be able to write a book about it), Elizabeth's story of her upbringing as the oldest child of two (undocumented) Mexican immigrants was so insightful to read. I cannot imagine what she went through as a 15-year old trying to survive on her own in the US because her parents visas to come back to the US were denied. Being separated from her parents and younger brother and having to couch surf with people who were basically strangers, all so that she could stay in America for her education and then hopefully one day be able to help provide for family.

Her story of her life post-Penn graduation seems a little elitist at times. But I'm happy for her and that she was able to use her money working on Wall Street to help her family. I just really imagined her going into a different sector to be more about helping humankind (like her starting a club in high school to help the planet). Being in the banking industry just feels very much like being "a cog in the big machine."

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for this Digital Advanced Readers Copy! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

In this memoir, the author shares her story of growing up as a first-generation citizen of the United States born to immigrant parents. Overwhelmingly, it is a story of struggle, but also a story of courage, love, and determination. Camarillo Gutierrez was an excellent student who worked her way to an Ivy League education, despite numerous setbacks, including her family's return to Mexico without her. Despite all the hardships, she finds her path to success.

I enjoyed the book. I have three bi-ethnic Mexican American daughters, themselves first generation US citizens on their father's side, so I really enjoy reading the stories of Hispanic women. The story was good. However, I felt that the writing began to lack depth as the book continued, which bothered me only because it was already made clear that the author has the talent to write well. I felt that it lost some of its emotional pull as the story continued, which should not have been the case because the events she described were quite emotional. A good first try, for sure.

Thanks to Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Such a strong voice for a memoir. I appreciated the authors insights about gender and immigration and family issues. I learned a lot, which I appreciate with memoirs.

I was immediately pulled in by the title and the cover, but the author's voice and story are what impressed me the most.

Gutierrez's perspective was unique while encompassing the general treatment of immigrants coming to the United States. While so many barriers arose in her life as a young woman alone, she was not without her drive to achieve an education and secure a future for herself and her family.

Having read several memoirs over the past few years, I always come way learning something new, and this story is no different. I highly recommend this story to people who enjoy memoirs and who are interested in looking through the lens of a young woman with a compelling story.

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for the opportunity to respond to this book with my honest opinions.

My Side of the River by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez. Pub Date: February 13, 2024. Rating: 3 stars. I always struggle to rate memoirs because it is someone's personal story and this memoir in particular is an impactful one. Elizabeth is the daughter of Mexican immigrants who are in the United States on visas. She highlights the struggles of working as an immigrant and the racial disparities that come with this population. At 15, she becomes in charge of raising her sibling due to her parents's visas expired. I can appreciate the complexity and emotion surrounding this person's story, but I felt it lacked depth into the struggles of immigration and what it truly means to be an immigrant in this country. I think if the author would have waited until she was a little bit older she may have been able to give more reflective perspectives of her journey and experience. Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up to reward an amazing story of courage, drive, perseverance.....undertaken by a young woman (a young girl when she began the story!) The author is a 1st gen American who navigated high school & college (& all that goes along with that.....meal plans, health insurance, financial issues) on her own...as her parents were in Mexico. It's truly such an impressive account of her educational path, of the choices & goals she continued to hold to & achieve, sacrifices she made & resources she used to help her. It's a real good read.
I received a digital ARC from publisher St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for review purposes. This is my own fair/honest review.

I wasn’t able to get to this one before the publish date. However now that I have read it I am giving it 4 stars.

I admire the resilience and determination Elizabeth had to write her story. It was poignant and really telling about what life was like for her. I loved the way it was written and hope we get more books from her!

I love reading the memoirs of immigrants. While our circumstances are different there are always things I can relate to, especially with the memoirs of immigrants that came to the US as young kids. Overall, it was well written, but I felt like the author skipped out on the nitty gritty and just wrote the book as a broad look of her experience, only hitting the highlights/successes so she could get a book out. There wasn’t a lot of personal details, thoughts, etc, which are the things that I look for and make me enjoy a memoir. She says so herself in the book, she was going to turn her trauma into gold and financially benefit from her story. Which…girl, get it, but give us something to connect with you.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was initially intrigued by this because of the subject matter and I love hearing people tell their own stories. Unfortunately, I just feel this was a bit too early in her life? I didn't realize until about 20% in but the author is still very young. I have also been in a bit of a non fiction slump and struggled to come back to this. I do not want to rate this poorly as I did DNF it, I may come back to it later.

I enjoyed My Side of the River by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez in both print and on audio.

Elizabeth is the U.S. born daughter of Mexican immigrants and her story highlights the challenges she and her family faced. As she reaches high school Elizabeth’s parents were no longer permitted to live in the U.S. and she found herself alone to pursue her education.

I always appreciate the perspective and first hand experience of people impacted by the broken systems of immigration in the U.S. Elizabeth’s story was similar in ways to Diane Guerrero’s and I found Elizabeth’s writing to be stronger.

Many of her experiences are so recent that I wonder if she could have approached telling her story with a bit more depth and emotion if she gave it more time. At the end of the book she mentions turning her trauma to gold and I wondered if that was the purpose of this story.

Ultimately I think her voice and story are important and interesting. Thank you for the early copy.

I hope that "My Side of the River" is read far and wide. I love in-depth accounts of places that I cherish across the Southwest and the people who make them what they are. This story is gut-wrenching and absolutely sucks you it. How she tells the story is so intimate and authentic.

My Side of the River follows the childhood and young adulthood of Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez as she navigates life in the United States as the daughter of immigrants. At age 15, her parents are forced to make the difficult decision to return to Mexico, prompting young Elizabeth to make a difficult choice of her own: to remain in the US in order to finish her education and go to college.

Elizabeth’s story is filled with resilience and pain; she has a clear goal to “be the best” but has to figure out how to make that happen as a kid essentially living on her own. By the end of the memoir, I felt a sense of pride in Elizabeth after reading all the challenges she endured and overcame.

As a memoir, I did feel like this lacked just a bit. She jumps around from one big event to the next, and doesn’t always go into the emotions behind what happened. I also prefer memoirs to have a bit more reflection, which just might not be possible for someone who is still so young and still figuring things out. All that aside, I can think of many kids I’ve taught over the years who would benefit from reading this book - I know they would feel seen in Elizabeth’s story, and that is something truly important.

Overall, I think this is a worthwhile memoir and I’m excited to see what Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez does with her life! Clearly, it will be something great.

MY SIDE OF THE RIVER
Elizabeth Gutierrez

She lives on the south side of the river. It was tough growing up where she came from. But it was home.

When her parents are told they cannot return to America Elizabeth desperately tries to find a temporary home for her and her brother so she can continue her high school career in the only place she has known.

Now a homeless minor with incredible responsibilities, it takes incredible fortitude for Elizabeth to finish school, and take care of her brother and herself. She tells her story of resilience in her new memoir, MY SIDE OF THE RIVER.

Out now!

MY SIDE OF THE RIVER was great. I enjoyed reading Elizabeth’s story of her life. She has done so much already and she has so much life to live and experiences to have.

I would love to read another memoir from her a little later in her life to see how these formative years shaped her as an adult and how the lessons she learned carried over to adulthood.

I recommend this memoir to those seeking to make their own American dreams come true, whatever those dreams may be.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy! It was a pleasure!

MY SIDE OF THE RIVER…⭐⭐⭐⭐

"My Side of the River" offers a poignant and captivating memoir of Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez's journey as the daughter of immigrants facing family separation and adversity. It delves into important themes like generational trauma and the pursuit of the American dream and impacts the heart of the reader throughout.

This was so smart, so well written and another very welcome addition to the list of titles I recommend as a bookseller when someone asks what they should read instead of American Dirt. I will press this into their hands happily! Beautiful memoir.