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A review by jenbsbooks
After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America by Jessica Goudeau
3.25
I found this book in a Little Free Library and saw it had good reviews. I was able to get the audio and ebook easily from my library. Each format has its benefits, so I like to have it in all three, although I went primarily with the audiobook.
I liked this and was glad I read it, but it just didn't rate up there in the 4 or 5* territory for me. I had to push through a little. 3rd person/past tense for the most part (the prologue, which features Mu Naw in 1989 when she was just five years old, was present tense). Three parts, with multiple chapters in each/30 overall. Personally, I didn't really see a distinct division of why there were different parts? I was very glad the Table of Contents listed the POV/Date/Location for each chapter. Glancing through the other reviews, one stated a friend had read all the Mu Naw chapters together, then the Hasna, then the informational ones. The constant flip-flopping between these three was hard on me.
This felt like three different books ... Mu Naw's story, Hasna's story, and then background information on the history of refugee law in the US. While I appreciate non-fiction, I have to wonder if I might have been pulled in more if either woman's story was more involved, and not interrupted by the two other sections here. Even if it was "fictionalized" with more dialog and feelings ... I just never really connected, I always felt outside looking in. The author does address her choice to stay with the 3rd person.
There were a few things I struggled with ... didn't get all of them marked (to remember) listening to audio. But, i.e., in chapter 20 "Mu Naw realized that her marriage was over ..." That was SO out of the blue, I had to stop the audio, check the text, did I miss something? No, after the statement is made it starts to get into some of the background, but also, it was NOT over ... (maybe I wouldn't have had an issue with "realized her marriage was in trouble" or something less definite than the statement used.
I'm not a Trump fan ... and I figure any Trump fans probably won't read or enjoy the book. The US Refugee Resettlement chapters, while informational, were a little dry. I'm not sure how much of the information I'll retain, more of just a generalized overview of things.
While I appreciated Hasna's story too, I can't help but wonder if these would have been better kept to their own/separate books. While there is the connection of coming through the US Refugee program, the storylines never crossed, as I thought perhaps they would?
ProFanity 1 time ... on my Storygraph, I track whether the f-bomb is used or not, either or. Here, ONE time still gets into the F-Yes tag.
I liked this and was glad I read it, but it just didn't rate up there in the 4 or 5* territory for me. I had to push through a little. 3rd person/past tense for the most part (the prologue, which features Mu Naw in 1989 when she was just five years old, was present tense). Three parts, with multiple chapters in each/30 overall. Personally, I didn't really see a distinct division of why there were different parts? I was very glad the Table of Contents listed the POV/Date/Location for each chapter. Glancing through the other reviews, one stated a friend had read all the Mu Naw chapters together, then the Hasna, then the informational ones. The constant flip-flopping between these three was hard on me.
This felt like three different books ... Mu Naw's story, Hasna's story, and then background information on the history of refugee law in the US. While I appreciate non-fiction, I have to wonder if I might have been pulled in more if either woman's story was more involved, and not interrupted by the two other sections here. Even if it was "fictionalized" with more dialog and feelings ... I just never really connected, I always felt outside looking in. The author does address her choice to stay with the 3rd person.
There were a few things I struggled with ... didn't get all of them marked (to remember) listening to audio. But, i.e., in chapter 20 "Mu Naw realized that her marriage was over ..." That was SO out of the blue, I had to stop the audio, check the text, did I miss something? No, after the statement is made it starts to get into some of the background, but also, it was NOT over ... (maybe I wouldn't have had an issue with "realized her marriage was in trouble" or something less definite than the statement used.
I'm not a Trump fan ... and I figure any Trump fans probably won't read or enjoy the book. The US Refugee Resettlement chapters, while informational, were a little dry. I'm not sure how much of the information I'll retain, more of just a generalized overview of things.
While I appreciated Hasna's story too, I can't help but wonder if these would have been better kept to their own/separate books. While there is the connection of coming through the US Refugee program, the storylines never crossed, as I thought perhaps they would?
ProFanity 1 time ... on my Storygraph, I track whether the f-bomb is used or not, either or. Here, ONE time still gets into the F-Yes tag.