Infinite Country

Sorry, this just wasn't it.

Only women knew the strength it took to love men through their evolution to who they thought they were supposed to be.

Both bloated (in its prose) and devoid of the fabric that, for me, gives a multi-generational tale its weight. The subject matter is highly-charged, but the characters that move throughout feel more puppet than person.

I can accept character-as-stand-in for the purpose of making broader comments on the nature of home, security and violence, but so much of the book's impact hinges on a lack-lustre emotional payload that these positions would be better expressed in a work on non-fiction. As if to reinforce this, the strongest image from the book, and the one that will undoubtedly stick with me the longest, comes from reality—the haunting and devastating story of Omayra Sánchez.

The ending adds to the sense that these characters have not been real with a saccharine against-all-odds, redemptive resolution that reinforces that love and family are the Infinite Country, but at the cost of undermining the themes of generational trauma, and the impact of the book as a whole.

It's just incredibly forgettable. This should have been a powerful story and strengthen your empathy for immigrants but instead I feel disconnected from the characters and annoyed by the political statement. I know going into this that politics would be addressed but when you treat your readers like idiots and have to bash them over the head with your political opinion, it just becomes tiring.

The pacing and plot was boring as well. It felt like the characters were simply reacting to their life and have no personality in the process. Once again, TRAUMA DOES NOT EQUAL PERSONALITY. Why are so many books like this

cw: deportation, rape, sexual assault, racism, violence, and mentions of suicide and murder.

“I often wonder if we are living the wrong life in the wrong country.”

And that's one of the thoughts that went through my head all through this story. What does it mean to belong to a place in which you live? How important is it to respect the laws regarding borders when your family is split apart? How can you make a place your home? What is worth risking to be able to be together with those you love? And why does it have to be this way?

The story centers on five members of a family, and each gets a chance to take center stage and tell his story. There are the parents, both born in Colombia, in a time of war and violence there. There are the three children, one born in Colombia, and two born in the US after the parents go there for more opportunity.

There are no heroes in this story, no Edens in which to live, no people who are able to follow all the rules, and that's one of the deepest, truest parts of this book.

There's an intermingling of the story with the old tales of Colombia, too, and that adds much depth to the book.

This is one of those stories that gets better and better, and richer and richer the more you reflect upon it.

3.5 Stars

Good, makes you think, quick read. As the World moves forward we all need to see things from different angles and from other's perspectives. Things are never black and white and this book spoken from all the different perspectives definitely does make one think in so many different ways.

This is an unpopular opinion alert. I saw so many rave reviews for this one so I snagged it as my BOTM one month. Sadly, this was disappointing.

I went into this one expecting to read about a family's journey and hardships in dealing with America and it's immigration roadblocks. While the family's story is extremely sad and heartbreaking, the writing is bland and overly full of flowery details, which takes away from the core message.

The characters themselves are flat and boring and I felt absolutely no connection to them at all. I was honestly expecting to see more of Talia's story since this one started off so strongly, with her at the forefront. I also felt like this one should have been a lot longer in order to flesh out both the story and the characters.

For such a short book, this was a struggle to get through, let alone even wanting to pick up and read. I know so many others have loved this one, so if you've been eyeing it, still give it a try. You may end up enjoying it more than I did.

cw: deportation, rape, sexual assault, racism, violence, and mentions of suicide and murder.