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Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can't Forget
An ambitious memoir in essays by beloved bestselling author Reyna Grande that illuminates the hidden cost of the American Dream and the complex journey of healing that follows survival.
What is the true power of stories? Can they heal the jagged edges of a traumatic childhood? Is the cost of telling the story worth the price of the cure?
Reyna Grande has spent her career capturing the raw reality of life across borders. In this intricate and deeply intimate memoir-in-essays, the author of the landmark memoirs The Distance Between Us and A Dream Called Home again turns her gaze inward to explore the scars left by migration and the ongoing work of stitching herself back together.
With her signature blend of sophistication and raw honesty, Grande interrogates how living between two nations, two languages, and two identities has shaped the woman, mother, and writer she has become. Moving from the legacy of violence in her hometown of Iguala, Mexico, to a bittersweet family vacation in Europe spent reconciling her own impoverished past with her children’s world of abundance, she uncovers startling truths about the nature of survival.
Whether being racially profiled in the Arizona borderlands or finding unexpected wisdom from the slugs in her garden, Grande unflinchingly asks: How do we bridge the gap between who we were and who we have become? How do we turn pain into power? When memory threatens to define us, how can we use story to heal while still honoring our boundaries?
Migrant Heart is a powerful testament to Grande’s role as a storyteller and cultural witness. It expands our understanding of life in the United States and the complex people who cross and live within its borders. It is an essential read for the seekers, the dreamers, and anyone who believes in the enduring, transformative power of finding one’s voice.
What is the true power of stories? Can they heal the jagged edges of a traumatic childhood? Is the cost of telling the story worth the price of the cure?
Reyna Grande has spent her career capturing the raw reality of life across borders. In this intricate and deeply intimate memoir-in-essays, the author of the landmark memoirs The Distance Between Us and A Dream Called Home again turns her gaze inward to explore the scars left by migration and the ongoing work of stitching herself back together.
With her signature blend of sophistication and raw honesty, Grande interrogates how living between two nations, two languages, and two identities has shaped the woman, mother, and writer she has become. Moving from the legacy of violence in her hometown of Iguala, Mexico, to a bittersweet family vacation in Europe spent reconciling her own impoverished past with her children’s world of abundance, she uncovers startling truths about the nature of survival.
Whether being racially profiled in the Arizona borderlands or finding unexpected wisdom from the slugs in her garden, Grande unflinchingly asks: How do we bridge the gap between who we were and who we have become? How do we turn pain into power? When memory threatens to define us, how can we use story to heal while still honoring our boundaries?
Migrant Heart is a powerful testament to Grande’s role as a storyteller and cultural witness. It expands our understanding of life in the United States and the complex people who cross and live within its borders. It is an essential read for the seekers, the dreamers, and anyone who believes in the enduring, transformative power of finding one’s voice.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 12, 2026
About the author
Reyna Grande
17 books1,151 followersReyna Grande is the author of three novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, which received a 2007 American Book Award; Dancing with Butterflies, which received a 2010 International Latino Book Award, and A Ballad of Love and Glory, which was a Los Angeles Times Book Club selection in 2022. In her memoir, The Distance Between Us (Atria, 2012) Reyna recounts her experiences as a child left behind in Mexico when her parents emigrated to the U.S. in search of work, and her own journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at the age of nine. Its sequel, A Dream Called Home, was published in 2018. Her latest book is Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings, an anthology by and about undocumented Americans.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
June 5, 2026
Reyna Grande is one of my favorite authors and I have read almost all of her books. This memoir, narrated by the author in the audiobook, just made me appreciate her more. I loved this collection of essays in which she reflects on her experiences as a writer, immigrant, and mother. These essays explore themes of family, identity, immigration, trauma, health, age, and American culture. She shared unflinchingly about her difficulties with her parents, move to the United States, educational and word experiences, and life as a writer. The parts about trauma recovery were especially impactful in my counseling work. The sections about parenting were incredibly relevant for me.
I highly recommend this memoir, but definitely read her other books first!
I highly recommend this memoir, but definitely read her other books first!
July 7, 2026
Reyna Grande (b. 1975) is a Mexican-American novelist and memoirist. 2026's Migrant Heart is her third memoir; I've previously read and greatly enjoyed her two prior memoirs, 2012's The Distance Between Us (about her childhood in Mexico, early family trauma, and precarious border crossing) and 2018's A Dream Called Home (about her later teens and twenties in California and how her family fared; see my review here).
Migrant Heart is a series of essays that largely center on Grande's 30s and 40s, though it's not a linearly-told story like her prior two memoirs. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Grande (with a brief chapter read by Grande's daughter Eva) and found these essays poignant, bittersweet, and poetic, much like her prior books, and with Grande's characteristic humility and perspective. What's always struck me the most about Grande's memoirs is how she is able to sublimate pain into art, much like many musicians and artists who make careers from this double-edged-sword of a skill. The essay I found most surprising was about Grande struggling to communicate in her native language of Spanish, given that she left Mexico at the age of 9 and never had formal Spanish language schooling again; communicating with Spanish-speaking family members isn't an issue but she writes about embarrassment and humiliation when being interviewed in Spanish language media and critiques she's received on self-translations of her books into Spanish. Grande's essays about raising two first generation Mexican-American kids and how she's fought, not always successfully, to break chancla culture (the stereotype of Latina matriarchs physically disciplining their children with sandals or slippers), to make her children understand how and where she grew up, and her complicated relationship with Mexican hometown (Iguala, in the Mexican state of Guerrero - infamous of late due to a 2014 mass kidnapping incident) were also excellent.
Further reading: other immigrant stories I'd highly recommend
Missed Translations: Meeting the Immigrant Parents Who Raised Me by Sopan Deb
The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
My statistics:
Book 120 for 2026
Book 2426 cumulatively
Migrant Heart is a series of essays that largely center on Grande's 30s and 40s, though it's not a linearly-told story like her prior two memoirs. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Grande (with a brief chapter read by Grande's daughter Eva) and found these essays poignant, bittersweet, and poetic, much like her prior books, and with Grande's characteristic humility and perspective. What's always struck me the most about Grande's memoirs is how she is able to sublimate pain into art, much like many musicians and artists who make careers from this double-edged-sword of a skill. The essay I found most surprising was about Grande struggling to communicate in her native language of Spanish, given that she left Mexico at the age of 9 and never had formal Spanish language schooling again; communicating with Spanish-speaking family members isn't an issue but she writes about embarrassment and humiliation when being interviewed in Spanish language media and critiques she's received on self-translations of her books into Spanish. Grande's essays about raising two first generation Mexican-American kids and how she's fought, not always successfully, to break chancla culture (the stereotype of Latina matriarchs physically disciplining their children with sandals or slippers), to make her children understand how and where she grew up, and her complicated relationship with Mexican hometown (Iguala, in the Mexican state of Guerrero - infamous of late due to a 2014 mass kidnapping incident) were also excellent.
Further reading: other immigrant stories I'd highly recommend
Missed Translations: Meeting the Immigrant Parents Who Raised Me by Sopan Deb
The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
My statistics:
Book 120 for 2026
Book 2426 cumulatively
May 12, 2026
Such an ambitious memoir that hits all the raw points you don't expect. Reyna takes us on a complex journey of healing and the costs of the American Dream that is rarely mentioned but has a significant impact on BIPOC communities, especially Latinx peoples immigrated from Mexico or Central America. I found Reyna's storytelling so impactful as she explores everything from family trauma to living between two identities. This book expands our understanding of life in the United States and the nuanced people who cross and live within its borders. A book that cannot be missed, as its poignancy stays with you long after you put it down.
Thank you NetGalley & Primero Sueño Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you NetGalley & Primero Sueño Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!
June 2, 2026
4.5 stars
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I just finished Migrant Heart by Reyna Grande, and I absolutely loved it. In her earlier books, Grande focused on the painful realities of her past, and rightfully so. Those stories carried the weight of trauma and survival. But in this memoir, she makes it clear from the very beginning that her intention is different. This time, her goal is to search for light within the very same hardships that once felt only dark.
She beautifully captures the struggle of growing up between cultures, assimilating into American life while slowly and almost without realizing it losing parts of her Mexican identity. What moved me most was her conscious effort to reframe her experiences, not to deny the pain, but to find meaning and growth within it.
As a first generation Cuban American, this book felt deeply personal. Spanish was my first language, and growing up in Miami kept me closely connected to my roots. After moving to Charlotte a decade ago, I began to feel parts of that identity soften. My Spanish is not as effortless, and the Miami Cuban accent that once shaped my voice has faded.
This book is thoughtful, reflective, and beautifully written. It made me think about identity, belonging, and the quiet ways we change over time. I felt seen in these pages and highly recommend it.
She beautifully captures the struggle of growing up between cultures, assimilating into American life while slowly and almost without realizing it losing parts of her Mexican identity. What moved me most was her conscious effort to reframe her experiences, not to deny the pain, but to find meaning and growth within it.
As a first generation Cuban American, this book felt deeply personal. Spanish was my first language, and growing up in Miami kept me closely connected to my roots. After moving to Charlotte a decade ago, I began to feel parts of that identity soften. My Spanish is not as effortless, and the Miami Cuban accent that once shaped my voice has faded.
This book is thoughtful, reflective, and beautifully written. It made me think about identity, belonging, and the quiet ways we change over time. I felt seen in these pages and highly recommend it.
May 8, 2026
Migrant Heart is a deeply reflective collection of essays examining immigration, memories, motherhood, and the complicated act of turning personal pain into public testimony. This collection feels very meditative, shaped not only by the wounds of childhood and displacement, but also by the emotional aftermath of sharing these wounds with the world. Grande writes with remarkable vulnerability, balancing intimate personal history with larger questions about storytelling in itself. Throughout the essays, she interrogates what it means to live between two languages, countries, and the different versions of oneself, all while confronting expectations placed upon immigrant writers who expose their trauma. Some of the book's strongest moments emerge from tension, particularly when Grande reflects on audience reactions, public visibility, and the learning curve that comes with establishing personal boundaries. This collection is emotionally heavy at times, but Grande's warmth and humor provide balance. Essays centered on gardening and aging add a thoughtful texture that compliments the more painful recollections elsewhere in the book. Even when certain themes recur, the essays remain cohesive and purposeful. Migrant Heart is a moving exploration of survival, self-definition, and the enduring power of storytelling. Thank you Primero Sueno Press for sending me a review copy. You can pick this up when it publishes May 12th, 2026 wherever you buy your books!
May 12, 2026
Happy Release Day to Migrant Heart 🥳 thank you so much to Primero Sueño Press for providing me with the ARC of this book. I finished it last night but figured posting my review on release day would be fun!
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Migrant Heart was a beautiful read. I loved getting to hear this author’s reflection on her life experiences, her journal as an author, and her own identities. I found pieces of myself in some of these essays that felt seen and heard through her words.
.
I most definitely plan to pick up her other works she mentioned in this essay collection!
⭐⭐⭐ ⭐
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Migrant Heart was a beautiful read. I loved getting to hear this author’s reflection on her life experiences, her journal as an author, and her own identities. I found pieces of myself in some of these essays that felt seen and heard through her words.
.
I most definitely plan to pick up her other works she mentioned in this essay collection!
⭐⭐⭐ ⭐
Read
June 11, 2026This collection of essays touches on so many important themes. Reyna shares her journey of trauma, healing, and growth in spaces that ask us to shrink ourselves to belong, where our language and culture aren’t always welcomed, and where we’re sometimes made to feel out of place.
I appreciate her honesty in sharing her story and growth. It gives voice to experiences that are often silenced.
Thank you, @writerreynagrande , for yet another wonderful book and @primerosuenopress for the copy of this read.
I appreciate her honesty in sharing her story and growth. It gives voice to experiences that are often silenced.
Thank you, @writerreynagrande , for yet another wonderful book and @primerosuenopress for the copy of this read.
February 20, 2026
thank you netgalley for the arc! 🦋❤️🩹🐝🇲🇽 3.5/4 ⭐️ - i can't decide truthfully.
reyna is so honest and real in this book. she talks about very heavy subjects - alcoholism, death, grief, immigration, harsh family dynamics, sexual assault, fear of aging, to name a few. she really poured her heart out in this body of work, and i admire her greatly for this!
ive never read any of her previous work, and she mentions how each of her books were a labor of love. i loved reading about this very real and honest process of writing a book and the action that has to be taken to nurture it after its published. it isn't all butterflies and rainbows, like many things in life.
one section i absolutely loved was her section on language. while i did not grow up speaking spanish as i was the only POC (besides my cousin) in my family, i related to her so much as she mentioned her fear and anxiety of speaking broken spanish. her story is different than mine in many ways, but the anxiety surrounding the language is so valid. ❤️🩹
there were a few places where the book felt a little disjointed. we kind of skip around to a few topics that would relate for reyna within 1 chapter and it would just throw me off. i'd be like wait, we were talking about this, and now we're relating it to this that sorta kinda goes with this topic? that's the only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me! otherwise, i'm inclined to pick up another one of her books. i wish her nothing but success, from one latina to another 🤍
reyna is so honest and real in this book. she talks about very heavy subjects - alcoholism, death, grief, immigration, harsh family dynamics, sexual assault, fear of aging, to name a few. she really poured her heart out in this body of work, and i admire her greatly for this!
ive never read any of her previous work, and she mentions how each of her books were a labor of love. i loved reading about this very real and honest process of writing a book and the action that has to be taken to nurture it after its published. it isn't all butterflies and rainbows, like many things in life.
one section i absolutely loved was her section on language. while i did not grow up speaking spanish as i was the only POC (besides my cousin) in my family, i related to her so much as she mentioned her fear and anxiety of speaking broken spanish. her story is different than mine in many ways, but the anxiety surrounding the language is so valid. ❤️🩹
there were a few places where the book felt a little disjointed. we kind of skip around to a few topics that would relate for reyna within 1 chapter and it would just throw me off. i'd be like wait, we were talking about this, and now we're relating it to this that sorta kinda goes with this topic? that's the only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me! otherwise, i'm inclined to pick up another one of her books. i wish her nothing but success, from one latina to another 🤍
July 12, 2026
I love when a book is informative, challenging, and thought provoking. 1000% recommend this quick read! Not only was it engaging, but the structure was so good.
Every chapter followed a different theme & writing style. Still, each chapter worked together to build onto the overarching plot and it read as a loose autobiography.
As a child of immigrants, I saw myself a lot in each story and I feel delighted that these books continue to be published.
Every chapter followed a different theme & writing style. Still, each chapter worked together to build onto the overarching plot and it read as a loose autobiography.
As a child of immigrants, I saw myself a lot in each story and I feel delighted that these books continue to be published.
June 7, 2026
Esteemed author Reyna Grande offers readers a convincing collocation of life experiences tethered to pains and triumphs. In MIGRANT HEART, she delves deeply into her personal recollections to reveal plain truths in a panoramic perspective. Noted for highly emotive memoirs of her migrations from Mexico to the US (THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, A DREAM CALLED HOME), she now arrays the futures those books implied.
One especially illustrative chapter, “A Flight to Remember,” details the hours Grande spent on a plane talking with a young Guatemalan man who was newly released from detention after trying to cross the US border into Texas. Having almost no possessions, he was hoping to reunite with his brother in Sacramento and seek legal asylum. She gave him informed advice, and he later texted her a brief, heart-rending message: “Que dios la bendiga,” which translates to “May God bless you.”
Grande fixes her gaze upon the fears and potential victories of immigrants, nearly all of whom are stricken with extreme poverty, as they must bear the physical deficits of harsh travel and the treatment they will receive from the US Border Patrol. She vividly describes her complex medical problems, including keratoconus, a retinal disorder for which there is no expedient remedy, leaving her to fear the darkness. Grande emotively compares her suffering to the traumas of asylum seekers lost in a miasma of constantly shifting regulations. She shares tales of her birth family, her starkly deprived childhood, and her remarkable ability to conquer perhaps the toughest boundary: language.
Grande’s academic ambitions and sharp intelligence led to “subtractive bilingualism” --- the loss of one’s native tongue in the struggle to gain the ability to speak and write in one’s new, non-native homeland. And she cherishes incidents, experienced with her children, that are focused on such unusual enjoyments as observing local slugs and bugs and one sweet butterfly. Extensive travel in Europe and the deserts of the Southwest US have inspired her “to keep bearing witness, to keep telling these stories.”
Reyna Grande’s memories, writings, talks and sage observations have garnered her many awards and inclusion in a plethora of educational programs. She has the admirable ability to enhearten her audience through her expertise as a wordsmith and acting as an exemplar to others by sharing her personal saga. Her viewpoints of a woman growing older and enjoying the positive signs of progress among her children and grandchildren will give hope and determination to those who are in the process of overcoming the trials and traumas of oppression, aiding them in discovering life’s higher purpose.
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
One especially illustrative chapter, “A Flight to Remember,” details the hours Grande spent on a plane talking with a young Guatemalan man who was newly released from detention after trying to cross the US border into Texas. Having almost no possessions, he was hoping to reunite with his brother in Sacramento and seek legal asylum. She gave him informed advice, and he later texted her a brief, heart-rending message: “Que dios la bendiga,” which translates to “May God bless you.”
Grande fixes her gaze upon the fears and potential victories of immigrants, nearly all of whom are stricken with extreme poverty, as they must bear the physical deficits of harsh travel and the treatment they will receive from the US Border Patrol. She vividly describes her complex medical problems, including keratoconus, a retinal disorder for which there is no expedient remedy, leaving her to fear the darkness. Grande emotively compares her suffering to the traumas of asylum seekers lost in a miasma of constantly shifting regulations. She shares tales of her birth family, her starkly deprived childhood, and her remarkable ability to conquer perhaps the toughest boundary: language.
Grande’s academic ambitions and sharp intelligence led to “subtractive bilingualism” --- the loss of one’s native tongue in the struggle to gain the ability to speak and write in one’s new, non-native homeland. And she cherishes incidents, experienced with her children, that are focused on such unusual enjoyments as observing local slugs and bugs and one sweet butterfly. Extensive travel in Europe and the deserts of the Southwest US have inspired her “to keep bearing witness, to keep telling these stories.”
Reyna Grande’s memories, writings, talks and sage observations have garnered her many awards and inclusion in a plethora of educational programs. She has the admirable ability to enhearten her audience through her expertise as a wordsmith and acting as an exemplar to others by sharing her personal saga. Her viewpoints of a woman growing older and enjoying the positive signs of progress among her children and grandchildren will give hope and determination to those who are in the process of overcoming the trials and traumas of oppression, aiding them in discovering life’s higher purpose.
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
May 28, 2026
Title: Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget
Author: Reyna Grande
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Essays/Memoir
Star Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
I received an advanced reader copy of this book through the publisher, Atria Books, and Netgalley, my thanks to both!
I love essays and memoirs, especially ones that dig deep. Nonfiction can be picky for me, but I really loved Migrant Heart! Reyna Grande is a woman with deep trauma and psychological scars. A writer and novelist, she opens up about her family history, including how she crossed the border illegally as a child. This book was so raw and brave to me: I was spellbound by this deep, painful yet lovely book. I couldn’t stop reading, and when I wasn’t reading, it was haunting my thoughts. In it, Grande questions being a child of both America and Mexico, picking apart the knots of her childhood and upbringing, her present, and her future, as well as the future of her young children. I was totally captivated, and this book was nothing less than a bare, naked lens into what it is like to be a child of two worlds, too much and too little of both yet not enough. I think everyone needs to read these essays, because they would have much more empathy towards people crossing the border into America.
Grande was so naked and raw in these essays, truly exposing her wounds and scars. I loved her vulnerability and the way she approached all of these topics with unflinching honesty. Her voice is warm in some places, yet bleak and sad in others. I aspire to be an author like Grande, lyrical and warm but honest and frank as well. I just finished this book a few days prior, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Migrant Heart is one of my favorite books of 2026, and I will be actively looking for more of Reyna’s work. This memoir seemed to take my heart out of my chest and squeeze, I’m not ashamed to say I was crying at certain intervals of the book. The sheer bravery of this book bowled me over, and I will never forget it. The bottom line: Honest, painful, and deep, I loved Migrant Heart!
https://literatureobsessed.blogspot.c...
Author: Reyna Grande
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Essays/Memoir
Star Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
I received an advanced reader copy of this book through the publisher, Atria Books, and Netgalley, my thanks to both!
I love essays and memoirs, especially ones that dig deep. Nonfiction can be picky for me, but I really loved Migrant Heart! Reyna Grande is a woman with deep trauma and psychological scars. A writer and novelist, she opens up about her family history, including how she crossed the border illegally as a child. This book was so raw and brave to me: I was spellbound by this deep, painful yet lovely book. I couldn’t stop reading, and when I wasn’t reading, it was haunting my thoughts. In it, Grande questions being a child of both America and Mexico, picking apart the knots of her childhood and upbringing, her present, and her future, as well as the future of her young children. I was totally captivated, and this book was nothing less than a bare, naked lens into what it is like to be a child of two worlds, too much and too little of both yet not enough. I think everyone needs to read these essays, because they would have much more empathy towards people crossing the border into America.
Grande was so naked and raw in these essays, truly exposing her wounds and scars. I loved her vulnerability and the way she approached all of these topics with unflinching honesty. Her voice is warm in some places, yet bleak and sad in others. I aspire to be an author like Grande, lyrical and warm but honest and frank as well. I just finished this book a few days prior, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Migrant Heart is one of my favorite books of 2026, and I will be actively looking for more of Reyna’s work. This memoir seemed to take my heart out of my chest and squeeze, I’m not ashamed to say I was crying at certain intervals of the book. The sheer bravery of this book bowled me over, and I will never forget it. The bottom line: Honest, painful, and deep, I loved Migrant Heart!
https://literatureobsessed.blogspot.c...
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Es una recopilación de ensayos sobre pensamientos y hechos que la autora no puede olvidar. Algunos de ellos se centran en eventos ocurridos en su vida o en la de su familia, otro son eventos de caracter social y político relacionados con la migración y el activismo que la autora realiza en esta área.
A Reyna Grande sólo la había leído con su novela histórica Corrido de amor y gloria, sabía muy poco sobre su vida y fue grato ver cómo utiliza su habilidad narrativa para estructurar estos textos tan variados que transmiten un mensaje claro: estas son las cosas que que ocupan mi mente, algunas menos agradables que otras, y si no puedo dejar de pensar en ellas, es porque aun estoy trabajando sobre ello: los nexos familiares, el racismo internalizado, el activismo alrededor del tema de la migración, su trabajo como escritora, la maternidad y muy importante, la salud física y mental.
Me fascinan este tipo de libros donde puedo llegar a conocer mejor el piso político de las autoras que leo, los pensamientos que las desvelan hasta las tantas y dónde está puesto su corazón al momento de escribir. Algunos de estos ensayos se sienten como desahogo y confesiones, hay honestidad y vulnerabilidad a puños en estas páginas. Además de que, como buena escritora y conferencista, Reyna Grande incorpora datos estadísticos e históricos, cita libros y autores que la inspiran, realmente te da la mano y te invita a conocerla, con la clara advertencia de que hay cosas aquí que le duelen a ella y que pueden ser de caracter sensible para nosotras como lectoras (te recomiendo revisar los Trigger warnings si hay algunos temas que prefieres evitar).
Este libro hizo que me dieran todavía más ganas de continuar leyendo la obra de la autora.
A Reyna Grande sólo la había leído con su novela histórica Corrido de amor y gloria, sabía muy poco sobre su vida y fue grato ver cómo utiliza su habilidad narrativa para estructurar estos textos tan variados que transmiten un mensaje claro: estas son las cosas que que ocupan mi mente, algunas menos agradables que otras, y si no puedo dejar de pensar en ellas, es porque aun estoy trabajando sobre ello: los nexos familiares, el racismo internalizado, el activismo alrededor del tema de la migración, su trabajo como escritora, la maternidad y muy importante, la salud física y mental.
Me fascinan este tipo de libros donde puedo llegar a conocer mejor el piso político de las autoras que leo, los pensamientos que las desvelan hasta las tantas y dónde está puesto su corazón al momento de escribir. Algunos de estos ensayos se sienten como desahogo y confesiones, hay honestidad y vulnerabilidad a puños en estas páginas. Además de que, como buena escritora y conferencista, Reyna Grande incorpora datos estadísticos e históricos, cita libros y autores que la inspiran, realmente te da la mano y te invita a conocerla, con la clara advertencia de que hay cosas aquí que le duelen a ella y que pueden ser de caracter sensible para nosotras como lectoras (te recomiendo revisar los Trigger warnings si hay algunos temas que prefieres evitar).
Este libro hizo que me dieran todavía más ganas de continuar leyendo la obra de la autora.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you to Primero Sueno Press for the ARC.
This was my first collection of essays by Reyna Grande. I have read other collections that she has edited or contributed to, but this was my first of solely her work.
Migrant Heart is a memoir told in essays. Several key themes emerge: immigration, the harms of chancla culture, the disillusion with/illusion of the American Dream, in/visibility, identity, parenting, and aging. This group of essays felt cohesive even as each individual essay took on a different theme or exploration of memory. Grande is an immensely vulnerable memoirist, revealing deep intimacies and reflections on their lived experiences. In many of these essays she incorporates thoughts on what that vulnerability has cost her and how her speaking engagements and reader interactions have evolved to establish and refine reader/audience boundaries. As with any group of collected essays by a singular author, some repetition is inevitable and it is present here as well.
As a reader of a particular age, I loved the three essay series "The Menopausal Gardener's Almanac." The way that Grande explores their changing and aging body through metaphors of a peach tree, bees, and oddly enough, slugs. The cheeky undertone was a welcome shift as the book drew to a close, adding a layer of buoyancy after so many weighty essays. Other pieces that resonated:
-Stitching My Mother Tongue
-Juana La Mexicana
-La Jaula de Oro
-A Flight to Remember
-Spare the Chancla and the Child
Minus 0.25 stars for the multiple Harry Potter references that added nothing to the essays in which they appeared.
This was my first collection of essays by Reyna Grande. I have read other collections that she has edited or contributed to, but this was my first of solely her work.
Migrant Heart is a memoir told in essays. Several key themes emerge: immigration, the harms of chancla culture, the disillusion with/illusion of the American Dream, in/visibility, identity, parenting, and aging. This group of essays felt cohesive even as each individual essay took on a different theme or exploration of memory. Grande is an immensely vulnerable memoirist, revealing deep intimacies and reflections on their lived experiences. In many of these essays she incorporates thoughts on what that vulnerability has cost her and how her speaking engagements and reader interactions have evolved to establish and refine reader/audience boundaries. As with any group of collected essays by a singular author, some repetition is inevitable and it is present here as well.
As a reader of a particular age, I loved the three essay series "The Menopausal Gardener's Almanac." The way that Grande explores their changing and aging body through metaphors of a peach tree, bees, and oddly enough, slugs. The cheeky undertone was a welcome shift as the book drew to a close, adding a layer of buoyancy after so many weighty essays. Other pieces that resonated:
-Stitching My Mother Tongue
-Juana La Mexicana
-La Jaula de Oro
-A Flight to Remember
-Spare the Chancla and the Child
Minus 0.25 stars for the multiple Harry Potter references that added nothing to the essays in which they appeared.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"Writing became my path...I write the stories I longed to hear, creating a home on the page myself -- a stable place in a life of transitions and losses."
In this gripping book of powerful personal narratives, Reyna Grande revisits many aspects of her life, including those that have been featured in her prior novels and memoirs. She delves deep and doesn't hold back, revealing emotions that have both accompanied her for her entire life and others that are surfacing now. She revisits the pain and trauma of her youth as a child left behind in Mexico when her parents migrated to the US, and reflects on her life in terms of what it would have been had she not crossed the Mexico/US border at nine years old. Grande recalls the pain of sexual assault that she was unable to address at the time, and also discusses what it is to age as a woman in our society, complete with health challenges that may befall us. Moreover, she talks about her career as a writer, and all that it takes to be successful, including the guilt that she has dealt with when having to leave her family to go on book tours. Grande's thoughtful essays regarding motherhood and parenting as a child who was parented in a violent home are particularly poignant.
If you are a fan of Grande's books, then this book of essays will pull it all together for you. If you don't know of her work, read this one and then go back and read her others. I enjoyed every page of this stunning collection and highly recommend it. Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC.
In this gripping book of powerful personal narratives, Reyna Grande revisits many aspects of her life, including those that have been featured in her prior novels and memoirs. She delves deep and doesn't hold back, revealing emotions that have both accompanied her for her entire life and others that are surfacing now. She revisits the pain and trauma of her youth as a child left behind in Mexico when her parents migrated to the US, and reflects on her life in terms of what it would have been had she not crossed the Mexico/US border at nine years old. Grande recalls the pain of sexual assault that she was unable to address at the time, and also discusses what it is to age as a woman in our society, complete with health challenges that may befall us. Moreover, she talks about her career as a writer, and all that it takes to be successful, including the guilt that she has dealt with when having to leave her family to go on book tours. Grande's thoughtful essays regarding motherhood and parenting as a child who was parented in a violent home are particularly poignant.
If you are a fan of Grande's books, then this book of essays will pull it all together for you. If you don't know of her work, read this one and then go back and read her others. I enjoyed every page of this stunning collection and highly recommend it. Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC.
May 21, 2026
I enjoyed the uniqueness and variety of the writing style throughout the book and the book also sheds great insight into the life and struggles of someone who is fleeing to the states. The book is also filled with ignorance and incredibly offensive remarks towards law enforcement and government officials from someone who should be grateful she is even living in the country she is writing about. Rather than hold other countries accountable for their conditions the author pleads ignorance and encourages others to break the laws and illegally immigrate to the United States. While the humanitarian view is true to heart the author neglects to discuss the practicality of the U.S. not being able to just take in over a billion people who are wanting to move there. The author again follows the narrative of spreading hate towards the U.S. without looking at other countries around the world that have far stricter policies. My biggest encouragement for the author would be to talk to economists and statisticians and law enforcement to understand practicality and the horrors they face on a daily basis surrounding the claims she is making. The author also made several claims throughout the book that are only factual in opinion or based on social media rather than doing actual research to gain a full story and better understanding. The author regularly claims to be a victim, especially in her early education years, and expects everyone to meet her needs in unrealistic ways.
June 2, 2026
🦋 "With a little help, we can rise above the circumstances we are born into, We can find the strength to survive. and we can learn to fly."
🫶 Let me start by saying thank you to primerosuenopress for the gifted ARC & finished copy! I annotated my arc because there is so much I want to look back to, and I’m so glad to have the hardcover, too!
Where have I been? This is the first book I read by Reyna Grande, and her writing is so raw and impactful. In Migrant Heart, she pours her heart out and shares the challenges she has faced in her journey to achieve the American Dream.
❤️🔥 I LOVE that this book is about different aspects of herself as a woman - the migrant, the writer, the daughter, the mom, and the wife. Being a woman is complicated enough, but now add the struggles of juggling two cultures. There were so many times I found myself agreeing to the way she felt because while I was born in the US, being the first generation brings similar experiences.
The format of the essays is so interesting - one is dictionary format, one has two columns, one includes text messages, and so on - different ways to express herself while keeping you glued to the page.
🤎 I could go on with the number of reasons you should read this memoir.. there is something for everyone. 5 stars, no doubt.
🫶 Let me start by saying thank you to primerosuenopress for the gifted ARC & finished copy! I annotated my arc because there is so much I want to look back to, and I’m so glad to have the hardcover, too!
Where have I been? This is the first book I read by Reyna Grande, and her writing is so raw and impactful. In Migrant Heart, she pours her heart out and shares the challenges she has faced in her journey to achieve the American Dream.
❤️🔥 I LOVE that this book is about different aspects of herself as a woman - the migrant, the writer, the daughter, the mom, and the wife. Being a woman is complicated enough, but now add the struggles of juggling two cultures. There were so many times I found myself agreeing to the way she felt because while I was born in the US, being the first generation brings similar experiences.
The format of the essays is so interesting - one is dictionary format, one has two columns, one includes text messages, and so on - different ways to express herself while keeping you glued to the page.
🤎 I could go on with the number of reasons you should read this memoir.. there is something for everyone. 5 stars, no doubt.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I loved the conversational tone Grande used in these essays. It felt as though I were sitting on the couch, listening to her share her musings and stories. It was so easy to fall into. Yet, Grande managed to avoid the pitfalls that sometimes accompany a conversational tone that yank the reader out of the book. This was delightful to read.
Despite being about her personal experiences and musings, Grande's essays connect to shared human experiences, helping invite the reader in, making it a conversation between her and the thoughts of the reader.
The main aspect preventing me from giving this book five stars is The Menopausal Gardener’s Almanac section toward the end (and not because it’s about menopause). This section felt jarring in comparison to the rest of the collection, as it shifts into a column-style format and spans three chapters, issues of the almanac. The conversational flow is interrupted by both the formatting and the collage-like combination of many different snippets of ideas. The disruption is further emphasized when the book returns, for one final chapter, to its original flow and format before ending.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this read. It helped me to feel and helped me to think.
(Received free advanced reader copy)
Despite being about her personal experiences and musings, Grande's essays connect to shared human experiences, helping invite the reader in, making it a conversation between her and the thoughts of the reader.
The main aspect preventing me from giving this book five stars is The Menopausal Gardener’s Almanac section toward the end (and not because it’s about menopause). This section felt jarring in comparison to the rest of the collection, as it shifts into a column-style format and spans three chapters, issues of the almanac. The conversational flow is interrupted by both the formatting and the collage-like combination of many different snippets of ideas. The disruption is further emphasized when the book returns, for one final chapter, to its original flow and format before ending.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this read. It helped me to feel and helped me to think.
(Received free advanced reader copy)
July 3, 2026
Migrant Heart is a beautiful and poignant set of personal stories about the author’s life. The common theme is about how her migration in childhood from Mexico to the US has altered and shaped her identity.
While reading, it occurred to me that her experience and how she writes about it reminded me of the way adoptees often describe the feeling of having an alternate life, that they might have led. It’s not so much a matter of comparing the two experiences, but the reality of having another entire psychological identity that lives with you like a shadow.
As an adult, the author develops a degenerative eye disease. There is talk of an eye transplant in the future. She writes “the idea of a transplant immediately resonates with my own life. As an immigrant, I have already experienced a profound form of bodily transplantation. My entire being still carries the phantom limb pain of a life left behind.”
Thanks to Goodreads and the publisher for a review copy of this beautiful book.
While reading, it occurred to me that her experience and how she writes about it reminded me of the way adoptees often describe the feeling of having an alternate life, that they might have led. It’s not so much a matter of comparing the two experiences, but the reality of having another entire psychological identity that lives with you like a shadow.
As an adult, the author develops a degenerative eye disease. There is talk of an eye transplant in the future. She writes “the idea of a transplant immediately resonates with my own life. As an immigrant, I have already experienced a profound form of bodily transplantation. My entire being still carries the phantom limb pain of a life left behind.”
Thanks to Goodreads and the publisher for a review copy of this beautiful book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget by Reyna Grande reminded me why I return to essay collections again and again. Grande writes with clarity and restraint about migration, family separation, identity, and the lingering weight of memory. The essays feel intimate without being indulgent, reflective without losing narrative momentum.
What stood out most to me was how effectively she balances the personal with the political. Her experiences are deeply individual, yet they illuminate broader conversations about immigration, belonging, and cultural inheritance in a way that feels grounded rather than rhetorical. The collection invites empathy without asking for pity.
I am always drawn to essayists who can elevate the so-called “ordinary” life into something expansive. Grande does that here. Books like this are a reminder that reading across experiences is not just enriching, it’s necessary.
Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget by Reyna Grande reminded me why I return to essay collections again and again. Grande writes with clarity and restraint about migration, family separation, identity, and the lingering weight of memory. The essays feel intimate without being indulgent, reflective without losing narrative momentum.
What stood out most to me was how effectively she balances the personal with the political. Her experiences are deeply individual, yet they illuminate broader conversations about immigration, belonging, and cultural inheritance in a way that feels grounded rather than rhetorical. The collection invites empathy without asking for pity.
I am always drawn to essayists who can elevate the so-called “ordinary” life into something expansive. Grande does that here. Books like this are a reminder that reading across experiences is not just enriching, it’s necessary.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
This is a collection of essays by Reyna Grande that cover various aspects of her life and experiences as an immigrant. Grande came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was a little girl after her parents moved here to escape the violence and poverty in their hometown in Mexico. The essays cover everything from the pain of her losing her Spanish as she learned English, to her disconnection with her mother, to trying to figure out how to raise her children in an interracial home, to working to break the cycle of abuse. At the end of the book, she also covers her journey into her midlife, including menopause and other health issues.
This is a beautifully written book that will give you a new perspective on those that have immigrated to the U.S. from another country. It's raw and honest. It's a short book that is definitely worth the read.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is a beautifully written book that will give you a new perspective on those that have immigrated to the U.S. from another country. It's raw and honest. It's a short book that is definitely worth the read.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’m grateful to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a first-generation immigrant from Russia, this memoir felt very personal to me. My story is completely different from Reyna Grande’s, but this book reminded me why I always say that only immigrants can truly understand other immigrants. Even with different backgrounds, there are emotions and experiences that connect us all.
I really loved how heartfelt and honest this memoir was. Reyna Grande writes beautifully about family, identity, sacrifice, and belonging, and her memories felt deeply emotional and real. I especially connected to the themes of searching for home and carrying pieces of your past with you wherever you go.
This was a moving and memorable read that stayed with me after I finished it.
As a first-generation immigrant from Russia, this memoir felt very personal to me. My story is completely different from Reyna Grande’s, but this book reminded me why I always say that only immigrants can truly understand other immigrants. Even with different backgrounds, there are emotions and experiences that connect us all.
I really loved how heartfelt and honest this memoir was. Reyna Grande writes beautifully about family, identity, sacrifice, and belonging, and her memories felt deeply emotional and real. I especially connected to the themes of searching for home and carrying pieces of your past with you wherever you go.
This was a moving and memorable read that stayed with me after I finished it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book is one of the best memoirs I've read in a few years. Reyna Grande's collection of essays covers her life from childhood to her current years. I loved the chapter headings with photos and how the author organized the essays, reflecting the cycles of nature.
The author's writing is honest, vulnerable, and sometimes humorous. I felt like I was having coffee with a friend, sharing heartfelt experiences. If you've read her previous books, this memoir may be familiar to you from her essays on her immigration experience, but there is much more to the memoir.
My favorite chapters were: Menopausal Gardener's Almanac, Stitching my Tongue, The Creative Life, and the one about her vision loss.
The publisher would serve readers by adding a content warning for sexual assault.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this e-arc.
The author's writing is honest, vulnerable, and sometimes humorous. I felt like I was having coffee with a friend, sharing heartfelt experiences. If you've read her previous books, this memoir may be familiar to you from her essays on her immigration experience, but there is much more to the memoir.
My favorite chapters were: Menopausal Gardener's Almanac, Stitching my Tongue, The Creative Life, and the one about her vision loss.
The publisher would serve readers by adding a content warning for sexual assault.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this e-arc.
May 28, 2026
"Someday, somehow, I was determined to fit into a narrative of success that, even if it didn't always align with my own desires and identity, would be much better than the life I'd had as a child. So I said goodbye to the redwoods and deer..."
Reyna's personal essays grip the reader and don't let go. You feel her pain and joy, her confusion and understanding. I found her pages about subtractive biligualism during her school days to be particularly moving (as she speaks of her own children being unable to speak to their grandmother) as "the violence of tearing out a piece of your being".
Most effective, she writes about how it feels to be a writer: "My fiction offered a shield, but my memoir was a scalpel." And, "a writer's labor doesn't end with the final manuscript - it is lifelong commitment."
Well crafted, poignant and achingly beautiful, this book of essays is a must-read.
Reyna's personal essays grip the reader and don't let go. You feel her pain and joy, her confusion and understanding. I found her pages about subtractive biligualism during her school days to be particularly moving (as she speaks of her own children being unable to speak to their grandmother) as "the violence of tearing out a piece of your being".
Most effective, she writes about how it feels to be a writer: "My fiction offered a shield, but my memoir was a scalpel." And, "a writer's labor doesn't end with the final manuscript - it is lifelong commitment."
Well crafted, poignant and achingly beautiful, this book of essays is a must-read.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
In this unflinchingly honest depiction of being a successful artist, a wife, a mother, and a person straddling two cultures, Grande bravely interrogates her family of origin, society at large, and herself in an attempt to make sense of the life she’s lived. These braided essays thoughtfully weave her experiences with the natural world and the political and historic influences that shape it. She shares her inspirational path from illegally crossing the border from Mexico without knowing English to becoming a master of storytelling in her adopted language. I was engaged and moved throughout. I received a galley from the publisher at an event celebrating new nonfiction from Latina writers.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This is the first time I read work by Reyna Grande and the first chapter had me saying ‘Así se hace!’ The other me (and reader me) was thrilled to see the immediate introduction to cognitive reframes. It’s never too late to identify learned negative behaviors and work on them. This memoir often makes you holds two truths at the same time. A person doing her personal best selling clothes at a flea market; a person selling her books at an author’s stand. A parent who did their best while failing. We all have forms of migration; and walls (physical and metaphorical) aren’t going to stop it.
Thank you Primero Sueño Press for this physical ARC.
Thank you Primero Sueño Press for this physical ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I’m honored to have received an advance copy of Migrant Heart by Reyna Grande. Having followed Reyna’s work for years, and having had the privilege of being in conversation with her through The Brown Book Club, this book feels especially meaningful. Migrant Heart is deeply personal, reflective, and beautifully written, full of the honesty and emotional depth readers have come to expect from Reyna, while also offering something new. It speaks to identity, migration, family, love, and the ongoing search for belonging in ways that feel both intimate and universal. I have a feeling this book is going to resonate with many readers, and I’m excited for our community to experience it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Grande’s Migrant Heart addresses different parts of her life in a series of honest reflections in essay form. Each essay addresses the ways in which her immigrant background and her turbulent childhood have shaped her life, relationships and created the backbone and inspiration for her writing career.
She addresses many themes throughout these essays from motherhood, loss, menopause, creative expression and much more.
The essays are engaging and give insight to Grande as a person and the realities of an immigrant experience in spite of what seems like a never ending hostile political climate (regardless of the administration in the White House)
She addresses many themes throughout these essays from motherhood, loss, menopause, creative expression and much more.
The essays are engaging and give insight to Grande as a person and the realities of an immigrant experience in spite of what seems like a never ending hostile political climate (regardless of the administration in the White House)
May 14, 2026
Lots of really difficult, heavy topics were covered throughout these essays and I just want to thank Reyna Grande for writing with so much love, tenderness, and vulnerability. I appreciate the nuance with which she writes about complicated relationships with abusive and/or neglectful parents and how those relationships are informed by the abuse those parents often received from their own parents, poverty, their home countries, hostile immigration systems, etc, and how difficult (yet rewarding) it is to make the effort to break out of those cycles of abuse.
I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through NetGalley and am leaving this review voluntarily <3
I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through NetGalley and am leaving this review voluntarily <3
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is one of the most beautiful collections I've ever read. I feel like, so often, we only hear one side of the story. We're either told about one half of a migrant's life or the other, and rarely see both sides at the same time. Reyna gives us a beautiful look into her life and the struggles and successes of migrating to a foreign place. I wish I could read this book for the first time again, it's beautiful and the prose is *chef's kiss*. Thank you for giving us a peek at the pieces of yourself that one rarely sees.
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