What readers think of American Dirt, plus links to write your own review.

This is a riveting,compassionate, eye-opening account of immigrants on their journey to the U.S. These fictional people, coming from various countries in Central America,become very real and put faces on the many statistics we have read about immigrants. Each is coming north for different reasons, but as the horrors of their pilgrimage are faced, it becomes obvious that not one of them chooses this route to "el Norte" without being desperate. In many instances the evil they encounter is tempered with goodness by people encountered who have the courage to help.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and Bookbrowse for giving me the chance to read this upcoming novel. And thanks to Linda as well! After reading an excerpt, I worked so hard to obtain an ARC of this title, I eventually ended up with two!

This is a fantastic slant on the immigration story and of course, very timely. The author's choice to center the story around a middle class mother and son, with a reporter husband, is what made it so compelling to me. I felt that I could really relate to them more than some of the other immigration tales I've read recently. Their frightening and adventurous journey will keep you turning pages late into the night, rooting them on at each step.

But it was the end of the story, including the author's afterword that brought tears to my eyes. A reminder of our shared humanity and that people and their individual stories cannot be summed up in soundbites. I highly recommend this to all.

I was simply stunned with this book; it is fantastic. It is a deep story of a mother and her child and what necessitated them to leave home. I felt like I was with them on their trip, feeling terrified, tired, and afraid. I was getting to the end of the book, and almost afraid to finish it ... I really did not want any of these people to go through any more pain. The story is told with a great deal of detail that allows you to immerse yourself in the story. The author's note was very helpful in expanding on how and why she wrote this novel. Honestly, I would give this 10 stars. I think it is one of the best books I have read this year.

I stayed away from all the controversy about this book until after I had read it. I formed my own opinion about the book first. Keeping in mind that this book is fiction, my opinion is what I will refer to in this review.

I felt that the content of this book was very current, in time, and probably very accurate, in relevance. The plight of the immigrant, regardless of the nationality, is one of fear, confusion, bodily harm, and massively expensive. Our current government and administration only make it harder. I felt that Cummins did a good job in conveying the difficulties and fears that go along with trying to illegally immigrate into the United States.

The book opens with a mass murder. Sixteen people killed - two survive. Then it backs up and tells the story that leads to the killings. From there it focuses on a mother and son trying everything in their power to immigrate to the United States and at the same time stay hidden from a far reaching Cartel that wants them both dead.

I felt that Cummins wrote a good book. There may have been liberties taken, but that is acceptable in a fiction book. She developed good characters and went with a current and relevant plot. I had one objection to this book, however it is the same objection I have had with other books, so it is not singular to Cummins. My objection is the amount of Spanish she used in the text. Some things were translated, others were not. If you are writing to an English speaking audience, then write in English. If you want to write in Spanish, or any other language, then write the book in that language. I don't mind a foreign word here and there, but I think this was a bit overkill. I always take 1/2 star off my rating for this, as I did here also. With that said, I would recommend this book and I plan to read other books by Cummins.

Each immigrant has a different story. She chose Lydia's and is believable.

I’m trying to figure out why individuals have rated this poorly written book so highly. So many better books out there. I felt nothing for these characters it seemed like a soap opera or an episode of Weeds.