When Ana is 15 years old, her family marries her off to Juan, who is twice her age and takes her with him from the Dominican Republic to New York City. Ana is left to manage a new country, new language, and new life more or less on her own while dealing with her unhappy husband. Juan's brother Cesar, on the other hand, shows her a happier side of New York life, and Ana must choose between her heart and her duty to her family.

DOMINICANA is author Angie Cruz's reimagining of her mother's immigration story. The book is full of details of working class immigrant life that we don't often see in history books or novels. Ana felt so real, and my heart broke for her a million times.

The downside of this book for me was that much of life outside Ana's apartment felt hazy, which I think is just inherent with us getting the story from her teenage, overwhelmed point of view. I did like that every character, even when they acted terribly, was shown to have a reason for why they did so, whether it was for personal advancement or family status. Virtually everyone lived in a gray area because they were simply trying to get by.