American Dirt is only a year old but I had MANY people suggest I read this book as they thought I might enjoy; they were right - it was a good read. And, in a first, I went to the hundreth spot for the decimal ranking. I was torn between a 4 and a 4.5. So many books I've read earned a 4, and I felt this book was significantly better than those. However, 4.5 is a score that signifies a book I truly couldn't put down and that wasn't quite true in this case. Hence, it's a 4.25.
So, I knew a little about this book before beginning. I knew it was about immigrants from Mexico coming to the United States. Prior to starting, I thought the title referred to how they were treated once in America (like dirt!). I was wrong; the title is literal. The book follows a mother and her son (and some secondary characters) about their adventures to reach America.
The book is excellent though it's a tough read. Not a difficult read because of challenging language or unknown vocabulary, but rather for the intimate and dark picture that the author paints from page 1 of the novel onwards. After an incredibly violent start to the book, the pace of the novel slows down but not the gruesomeness or hellish environment mother/son have to go through to arrive in American. Lack of money, more violence, sexual assaults, these are just some of the challenges many have to overcome during the arduous journey from Mexico to America.
Partly because of all these challenges necessary for characters' to overcome, this book was an engaging and interesting read. While I wanted much more background about the mother's relationship with the "bad guy", I did find it easy to root for the characters. In fact, there were almost too real - I struggled to stop thinking about this book once I put it down. The plight and awful circumstances necessary for them to overcome just to get to a place I take for granted each day, left its mark on me. Interestingly, this is what kept this book from earning a higher rating. While I was entertained and interested in reading, I had to put it down from time to time and take a break. Most of the books I consume don't have such a large amount of painful storytelling as this book did.
As a whole, American Dirt is a really great book. The story is fantastic, characters real, action consistent, and it educated me more fully about the dangerous and painful fight many immigrants face to enter America. If you go in understanding it can be a dark and emotional read, most likely you'll come out the other side happy you took on this excellent novel!
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