RaveThe New York Times Book Review...[a] captivating and evocative first book ...Villavicencio aims to tell \'the full story\' of what it means to be undocumented in America, in all of its fraughtness and complexity, challenging the usual good and evil categories through a series of memoir-infused reported essays ... Particularly in her depictions of immigrant women, Villavicencio reveals a fullness of character that feels subversive, simply because of how rare it is ... Villavicencio writes chillingly, and fictionally, about undocumented immigrants whose full stories she can never know because they’ve hidden any trace of themselves out of self-protection ... The Undocumented Americans offers little to those who think its subjects put themselves in a vulnerable position and should be punished for breaking the law. But even critics may find it challenging after reading the book to keep their minds from wandering toward the interior details, flattering and unflattering, of people they encounter who lack legal status.
