RaveLos Angeles Times400 pages of heart-pounding, page-turning, can’t-put-it-down, stay-up-till-3 a.m., adrenaline-pumping story ... What is great about how hard this novel is to put down is the hope that it will not be put down. Because it also examines, with sensitivity, care, and complexity of thought, immense, soul-obliterating trauma and its aftermath. It is also about teeth-gritting, unromantic perseverance ... Lydia’s willingness to kill or die for her son, and Soledad’s for her sister, serves to make them 21st century heroines. It also encourages us to ask ourselves: How could we, under the current regime of terror on both sides of the border, do more to help those who are running for their lives? ... “American Dirt” is a vital, well-crafted, compelling and compassionately told story. With a little luck, it might motivate some critical mass of women to rise up and take back the world.
