This book broke me. Deeply, spiritually, mentally, all of it. This is the first book I’ve ever read from the Guatemalan perspective, which truthfully made it all the more emotional and while I know El Bestia is not how my family made it to the US, it’s still gut wrenching to think about that ever even being a 1% possibility. I think what made this so difficult to stomach was the fact that we were following teenagers, literal children, attempting to escape their extremely dangerous circumstances via and equally dangerous means, and knowing that even if there is a happy ending, can you even call it happy?

This book was painful, gruesome, and emotional. You were in the heads of our two main characters, a young boy with the plan named Pulga, and a young girl (and recent reluctant mother, Pequeña, as they travel from their city in Guatemala through Mexico and eventually across the border into the United States alongside their young friend turned brother, Chico. This is a sad story of three kids being forced to grow up much too quickly, of the desire to keep their innocence while consistently being exposed to the tragedy and injustice that happens around them, and of fighting for the will to live when everything in you is telling you to give up. This book hit me deep, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these three.