This was a 5-star read. I liked the formatting of the book and the main character's energy in telling her stories and optimistic, innocence she has in interviewing and applying for jobs.

HOW NOT TO DROWN IN A GLASS OF WATER was an unexpected read. A lovely, intriguingly small tale of Cara, a middle aged Dominican immigrant in NYC who narrates her life to a job counselor after the factory she has been working in for years closes after 2008. We learn about her love affairs, making ends meet in a big city, her community and, most heartbreakingly, her relationship with her estranged son.

It is a bold choice to make an entire book a one-sided conversation, but Cruz makes the book still seem like a full-formed novel, with twists and turns and extraordinary character development. I can imagine this would be an incredible audiobook. It is an unflinching look at the heartbreak of the American dream, the pitfalls of motherhood when the relationship is not nurtured, and what it manes to build your own community in big city neighborhoods. Another fantastic book from Angie Cruz.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. Told through meetings with the main character's career counselor, we learn of the life and struggles of the main character and also the absurdities of finding a job and life in the US when one's English and skills are limited. It's as if the reader is the career counselor. Such an interesting way to shape a story and I love the book title!

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is the story of Cara Romano, a 50 something Dominican immigrant living in Washington Heights. Cara loses her job of many years and must meet with a career counselor in order to continue her benefits. Cara's story is revealed through the twelve sessions that she has with her counselor. I loved the innovative structure that author Angie Cruz uses to tell Cara's story.

As for the character of Cara, you will fall in love with her as she tells her life story. She is full of love, compassion for others and at the same time a brokenness that comes from living a hard life.

I loved this story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this heartfelt book.

I think this is a great read alike for fans of Olga Dies Dreaming, a solid purchase for most mid to large libraries

I requested this title without really knowing what it was about or what to expect regarding the format, only knowing that everything else Angie Cruz has written is fantastic, this title has been added to that list. Although this story was a bit short and the format was unexpected, it was perfect. I love what Cruz does with Cara's voice: even though she is speaking English, she uses Spanish grammar and it really creates an image of who Cara is. It feels like I know Cara personally, like maybe she's an aunt or distant older cousin. The voice authentic and unique and hilarious. It is a great representation of how a Dominican woman of that age may view the world.

I will refrain from sharing any spoilers but it is great to see Cara grow and yet still maintain so much of who she is.

Fantastic read and I can't wait to purchase a physical copy and hopefully if the Spanish-language version comes out I will also be purchasing that.

I loved seeing this story unfold through the interview answers and meandering of the book's MC. She has a strong voice, and imposes it on the story by virtue of being our only source of information. I think of this book as joining a growing collection of contemporaries who shine a light on how no one is going to save us but ourselves. While ostensibly about one woman's efforts to find employment support from the government, by the end of the story it's clear how no one can count on the "grown-ups" coming to help them. Instead, she and her building-mates build a strong coalition that results in her true support and ability to persist.

Told through workforce program interviews and various job and other applications, readers will get to know and love Cara, a 56-year-old Dominican woman living in New York City who lost her factory job several years ago. Although much of her story is sad, Cara is a force to be reckoned with and there is a lot of humor in how her story is told. This was a quick read with a lot of heart.

THIS. BOOK. IS. A. GIFT. Angie Cruz is a genius (I also loved Dominicana, and cannot recommend Cruz' work enough). Told as a series of interviews & job applications for workforce development, Cruz lays bare the absurdity of the social safety net system and what it asks of participants while providing keen, heartfelt insights into the lived experience of a senior immigrant woman trying to make ends meet in a harsh city. Full of heart, wit, sometimes laugh out loud funny, sometimes ugly cry sad, I absolutely loved this novel.

What a wonderfully heart warming story! I do think the best way to experience this book is through audio.

Angie Cruz captured the life of many immigrants beautifully. The protagonist, Cara, is a Dominican woman that is a a stern “Boomer” through and through. She is independent, doesn’t talk about her emotions, and is abusive, but that’s all she knew growing up. As each page turns you are rooting for Cara to win! I sympathized, I laughed, I cried.

The immigrant struggle effects multilayers of people, and Cruz, through 1st person narration, developed a story with incredible depth. A person’s life story is never just black and white, and Cara’s journey and life progression teaches readers just that.

How could I turn down an Angie Cruz book? So full of soul, sass, and secrets! The title drew me in with its metaphorical phrase, inducing a tickle of humor questioning… how could that possibly happen? Then I’m introduced to Cara, and instantly I think I know this character, an individual, caught between a rock and a hard place with only the bed she made in secret and a sense of humor to get her through. Diving in, I was engrossed in the authors various formats of text as the tale unraveled interestingly, with me hanging on to each session, not episode!

The first novel I have read ever that gives an authentic voice to an immigrant older woman.

I enjoyed the way author weaves in the voice of main character to the overall story.
I particularly love the way a story told by the main character leads to more stories bringing the character to life.

I heard my abuelita’s style of talking in these pages.

Absolutely LOVE!

Blown away.

Those two words are the only ones that truly express what this book does.

It's powerful.

Encompassing the story of one woman, but representational of the lived experience of an entire group of people, this might be one of the most important reads of the year.

"Maybe sometimes I'm too strong. But a mother needs to be strong."

"Write this down: Cara Romero is still here, entera."

HOW NOT TO DROWN IN A GLASS OF WATER by Angie Cruz is a fairly unique reading experience. The story (set in 2009 in New York City) is told almost as a stream of consciousness from Cara Romero, a fifty-something immigrant from the Dominican Republic. She has lost her job at a factory and meets for twelve sessions with an employment counselor for Seniors so that she can collect benefits and hopefully find another position. As observers of her one-sided interviews, readers learn about her family, including sister Angela and estranged son Fernando, about her neighbors, including la Vieja Caridad (an older woman who needs her help) and her friends like Lulu. There are numerous Spanish (or Spanglish) phrases which the reader has to interpret from context, but that experience adds to the sense of isolation and marginalization which Cara must feel in an environment where she is not a native speaker. Increasingly in need of money for rent, Cora considers work as a nanny, caregiver, school security guard and more. Her responses to the bureaucratic forms are instructive about her perspective, if cringe-worthy at times. Cruz has creatively and sensitively crafted a story involving poverty and gentrification, family ties and survival.

I LOVED How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz. This book is about Cara Romero and she is something else! She has in her 50's and has lost her job. She visits a job counselor for 12 sessions and talks about her life. She talks about everything, from her upbringing to her culture to her estranged son. I loved the narrator and how authentic she sounded. I really could relate with Cara, she being Dominican and I being Cuban. I laughed and I cried. Will she get the job at the end? You have to read to find out! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

In How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water Cara Romero tells her story to a job counselor over 12 sessions. We learn about the ups and downs in her life. She sums it up by stating “…no matter how difficult my life is, I have always found a solution to my problems.” Since I am not Spanish speaking, a list of definitions would have been helpful.

This is an incredible book. It's told solely through the voice of Cara Romero, a Dominican woman in her 50s who lives in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York. The story is told via her sessions with a job counselor after Cara loses her job in a factory in the great recession. Cara tells the story of her life, her escape from her husband, her relationship with her sister, her neighbors, and her tragic estrangement from her son. She doesn't always show herself in a positive light; she is not always the hero of her story. Her story is complicated and nuanced and deeply moving. Even though she is not always likeable, I was left loving Cara and hoping for good things for her, even though the macro forces surrounding her clearly are not in her favor.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this novel, the main character looks back on a life full of ups and downs that, despite various internal and external pressures, is full and well lived. When Cara Romero is laid off from her job at a local factory at the start of the Great Recession, her life and expectations for the future are thrown into doubt. She is connected with a job counselor but, instead of discussing how to find a new job, she spends the time reflecting on the story of her own life. In the course of 12 sessions, Cara shares her early life and troubled marriage, her relationship with her now estrange son, the community she has built in the building where she has longed lived, and the pressures she feels in a neighborhood and the city that is rapidly changing.

Cara is a strong and complex character and the author employs an innovative structure to tell her story and the ways it intersects with broader societal issues, offering perceptive insights on the nature of family and larger economic forces.

Highly recommended!

I loved this short but impactful book about Cara and her experiences. The format of interviews and documents worked really well and we really got to know her and all her struggles. Highly recommend.