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Mela's Reviews > American Dirt
American Dirt
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edit instead of taking the time to comment telling me something im not going to read please donate to border angels: https://borderangels.us10.list-manage...
I'm sure we can all agree, you having read this book and understood the implications and the importance of the work being done at the border that this a worthy cause. if you can spend 28.99 on the book you can spare a donation, n'est-ce pas?
i didnt readthis book. save your breath, do not comment telling me to not rate what i havent read.
i did read this review by myriam gurba. do yourself a favor and read her work and this scathing and hilarious review instead. then go read something writte by someone with actual experience of the border. not someone benefiting from privilege and so tone deaf as to use the border wall as fucking centerpieces.
https://tropicsofmeta.com/2019/12/12/...
I'm sure we can all agree, you having read this book and understood the implications and the importance of the work being done at the border that this a worthy cause. if you can spend 28.99 on the book you can spare a donation, n'est-ce pas?
i didnt readthis book. save your breath, do not comment telling me to not rate what i havent read.
i did read this review by myriam gurba. do yourself a favor and read her work and this scathing and hilarious review instead. then go read something writte by someone with actual experience of the border. not someone benefiting from privilege and so tone deaf as to use the border wall as fucking centerpieces.
https://tropicsofmeta.com/2019/12/12/...
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
December 14, 2019
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-50 of 65 (65 new)
message 1:
by
Brittany
(new)
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rated it 3 stars
Dec 31, 2019 02:26AM
While I thank you for sharing this review to help me understand different perspective, I find it a little unfair to rate and review a book you admit to never reading. Surely there are other platforms for sharing the review you did and don’t think this is the best way to do that. Just my two cents.
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i find it a little unfair that the author thought it okay to write a book that perpetuates harmful tropes when she knows nothing about it. when the book is overwhelmingly reviewed and rated positively i think its okay to share this review here. thanks for your opinion tho, mybe ill check it out of the library.
especially when its being hailed as a new american classic.
I think you should check out the author’s note in the book if nothing else. She knows more about it than you think.
I will also not be reading this book and I agree that you have every right to post a bad review, if we didn't put up a bad review everyone else would continue to think it was this amazing, inspiring novel when in actuality it's not. It shouldn't be celebrated and I really appreciate you and myriam for posting your thoughts. It really gave me a better idea of what the book really is
Why are you reviewing and starring a book you never read and have no intention to read? Oh, wait, you’re just another Goodreads crusader, and don’t care as much about the book’s contents and whether or not it’s well-written, only about the identity of the author. This is why I’m starting to think that everyone should publish anonymously.
How about you don't rate books you haven't read.
LOL goodreads crusader. nope just a daytime librarian who prefers anti-racism and honesty over profit.
So @mela are you going to review and star EVERY book that doesn't align with your point of view whether or not you have read it given you reasoning?
if i think there is a scathing yet hilarious call out posted by a better voice? but like srsly carissa what do you care what i do with my time. go read.
Why did you post a bad review for a book you didn’t read? Imagine yourself in the author’s shoes and people judging your book not for its content but for who you are. Would you be ok with that? Then again, I’m sure you haven’t committed any sins in your life whatsoever.
Irresponsible to rate a book without reading it. You have perpetuated the problem with the narrative of not thinking for yourself. Shame on you.
When she referred to Pete Buttigieg's spouse as "first lady" I passed. You don't get to engage in homophobic behavior and then take the moral ground.
I thought it was really cruel of Myriam Gurba to call the author “pendeja”. This poor woman did not compare herself to Steinbeck, someone else did that. She clearly states in her review that she hated the book from the onset, so she clearly just read it to find fuel for her own fiery perspective. So you didn’t love the book, ok, there’s no need to resort to name calling. Obviously this book received acclaim from authors of all races, so I’ll go ahead and form my own opinion instead of listening to the ranting of a white-hating, angry woman.
hahahaha who rates a book they never read??????
Like everyone said, don’t rate a book you didn’t read. Don’t support it/the author
Raven wrote: "When she referred to Pete Buttigieg's spouse as "first lady" I passed. You don't get to engage in homophobic behavior and then take the moral ground."I missed this. Where did she say this?
ahaha white hating. reevaluate elise and find another platform. she clearly had reason to hate it from the beginning. HAVE YOU SEEN HOW THE pendeja USED THE BORDER WALL AS CENTERPIECES AT A DINNER.
If your logic is correct, are you suggesting that Harriet Beecher Stowe should not have written Uncle Tom’s Cabin because she didn’t ‘experience’ slavery?
"i didnt readthis book. save your breath, do not comment telling me to not rate what i havent read. ""I had an emotional response to another person's views and acted on this impulse without first informing myself properly. Don't waste your time telling me to check my facts before I indulge in venting my emotions."
Grow up, dickhead
(and btw, 'Save your breath' makes no sense for typed communication)
Now this county is writing reviews on books they don’t read .. dear lord what next .
wow someone on the internet is namecalling and telling me to grow up.
Rob wrote: "If your logic is correct, are you suggesting that Harriet Beecher Stowe should not have written Uncle Tom’s Cabin because she didn’t ‘experience’ slavery?"I am suggesting you research James Baldwin's writing on Uncle Tom's Cabin, sure.
She spent 5 years at the border for this book. Bye.
A 4.2 rating for American Dirt via folks who actually read the novel says quite a bit! As to Mela, I suspect that her motto is: "When you can't be profound, be profane!" She does have rather a lot of "Ditto-sayers" who support her, most of whom haven't read the book. Meanwhile, Sandra Cisneros & Julia Alvarez have praised the book, though they may not be considered sufficiently "authentic voices" by the likes of Mela.
um you can absolutely give a review for this book, there are thousands of assumptions ppl make on a daily basis over people/things/events they have not actually read about. Do you need to read first hand police reports to have an opinion about a news story? No, this argument is weak af and ignorant. I find it so ironic all of these 5 star review say this is a "gripping account on the migrant story" this is not reflective what so ever. These ppl get off on other's pain and it's sickening. But I'm mexican so maybe I'm too biased to appreciate this kind of writing ;)
Authors can't win.People want them to add more diversity to their stories and characters,yet they aren't allowed to write about any cultural experiences they haven't experienced themselves?!
If you had read her foreword you would know that she states clearly that hers is a book of fiction and that her goal was to raise more awareness about the topic of illegal immagration which she has done successfully considering that you read the book and are therefore talking about it. I’m sure she has done mistakes but at least she has done more than just write an angry comment on a social media.
Great. Flagged and reported your review for removal.
Well, I had this on my TBR list, then took it down after reading some of the reviews. But reading all the controversy has confused me. Anyway, I have decided to read it now. Thanks for sharing the article.
Don’t worry about deliberate controversy stirred up by jealous would-be writers and their ditto-heads, too afraid or limited to make up their own minds. Thus all the indignant ‘reviews’ by those who haven’t even read the book.
You shouldn't rate what you didn't read. It's fiction, not a factual account of true events.
Her husband was an illegal immigrant as well as her parents. She did extensive research on the subject. You don’t have to experience something firsthand to write a NOVEL.
It's fucking fiction you retard. You haven't even read it. How fucking ignorant
Leaving a review on a book you haven’t even read is ignorant.
@Mela I hope you realize that Cummins wasn't responsible for the cover art, her book launch, OR the centerpieces at her book launch. That would be the publisher's responsibility. I discuss this further at myspendidmess.com/gurbaAs others have said, it's irresponsible and misleading to rate and review a book you never read. (Much like Gurba did.) Your rating was done to intentionally skew the total average rating for this book.
Your review is doing literally the same thing you criticize the author for...commentary on something you haven’t yourself experienced. Righteous indignation doesn’t automatically equal enlightened perspective
Rating a book when you haven't read it, is nothing short of online bullying, but I guess you are okay with that.What you are doing is far worse than whatever you think the author is guilty of.
Methinks all this noise is about nothing less than jealousy that the author got large advance.
BTW, her other book is about Irish gypsies. I guess they should be up in arms too? Seeing that only Irish gypsies should ever be allowed to write about that topic? Can you see how absolutely ridiculous that notion is?
So what do you think of Shakespeare and Steinbeck and Dickens and all of the other great writers who had no personal knowledge of their subjects either? Are you giving Hamlet and Grapes of Wrath only one star as well?
If you didn't read the book, you shouldn't be commenting on it...
Kristin wrote: "If you didn't read the book, you shouldn't be commenting on it..."Here's a bunch of books you could read instead: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Sam wrote: "Your review is doing literally the same thing you criticize the author for...commentary on something you haven’t yourself experienced. Righteous indignation doesn’t automatically equal enlightened ..." Ugh, no. My review is to counter just a **tiny** bid her HARMFUL, RACIST, commentary. thank you.
Lisa wrote: "Leaving a review on a book you haven’t even read is ignorant."Reading trash like this will make you more ignorant. try these instead https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
James wrote: "You shouldn't rate what you didn't read. It's fiction, not a factual account of true events."fiction can hurt.
Tiana wrote: "She spent 5 years at the border for this book. Bye."try reading someone who actually crossed it instead. bye.
Lmao melanie 🤣🤣 all these people coming at you are making me rethink my mean reviews
What a worthless review. I'll have to read it to decide for myself, and I'll throw in 4 extra stars if needed, to balance out your unfair rating of a book you never read.
