What to say about The Border?

Well, it was an okay book. I liked the story, I liked the characters, and I liked the writing, but none of the three blew me away. There were times it was super exciting and intriguing, but an equal number of times when I was just a little bored. The premise is super different and I've never ready anything similar so I do wish this one had done more for me. One thing I flat out did not like was the way the ONE AND ONLY female character was written - she was one dimensional and flat and deserved way more than given in this story. She was a object of protection and ownership for one, while the object of desire and some infighting for others. She barely had a place or voice and the few times she did, her contributions were trite at best and ridiculously sexual (flashing her breasts first in exchange for a book to give to a boy and then second to that boy because she'd already shown the clerk who gave her the book - WHY?).

I do think, based on the author's bio and the way the story felt, that it was well researched and that a lot of heart was put into the book. I think it is an important topic and one that deserves more voices and more space in today's world, and I did enjoy the book to some extent. While I won't necessarily go shouting recommendations for it from rooftops, I do think if someone finds it intriguing, they should give it a shot.

Just couldnt seem to get into this story despite trying to stay with it for as long as I could.

Do any of us truly value the life and opportunities that we have? Even by reading this review you have so many more opportunities than others in the world.

The Border is a first person account of the ruthless killing, drug trafficking and greed that proliferates portions of Mexico near the United States border. The four teens lose everything they have ever known when they are caught in the crossfire of a drug war near the border. After they are pursued and a bounty is listed for their capture or deaths, they are forced to cross the border into U.S. territory.

What comes next is heart rendering; the close connections that the friends forge, the shift from living life to simply surviving shows a different side of human nature and a dark reality that we often try not to dwell on. This story brings that reality into perspective and forces the reader to see and understand the pain that each of the characters experience.

Faced with setback after setback, the teens forge ahead with dreams of what life in the U.S. will be like. The author does an amazing job at character development through the entire story. Not a single character remained unchanged, in fact, the author highlights how the characters reflect on their own psychological changes after choices are made that impact the survivability of the entire group.

Just when it seems like everything will be okay, more adversities stand in the way; then when it seems like all hope is lost, there is still the beauty of the human spirit to overcome those adversities. This story brings to life the current political turmoil and debate of immigration but places it in a very different light then what many of us are accustomed to seeing.

Make sure that you do not miss The Border if you want to understand what truly drives the human spirit to push on when all is lost!

Lucky.
It's a strange word to use. I wonder if this is how it happens. If this is how you go on. If you simply decide that, in some small way, you got a break. That in spite of nearly everything that could have gone wrong, that did go wrong, a few of the cosmic dice have rolled in your favor. Enough to get by. Enough to leave you with a splinter of hope. And you build from there.

I had started to lose hope on arcs. I think my biggest problem was I didn't look into the books properly before requesting them so I've ended up with quite a few that just aren't for me. It became a chore to read them. The Border was a light at the end of the tunnel.

"To the other side," Marcos says, wiping the final streaks on his own face.
"To us," Arbo says.
"To our families," Gladys says.
"To the unknown-may we see it coming," I say.
The Border follows four teenagers who go on the run after the narcos gate crash a quinceanera, kill their families, and then put a cash reward on their heads. The only way out is through the unforgiving desert to the U.S. Under the best circumstances they might not survive but after rushing out without a guide and no real outline of how to get through, Pato, Arbo, Marcos and Gladys have slim to none chances of making it through to the other side to safety.

This book is so beautifully written, I don't like journey books. And The Border is one giant journey but I still loved it. Did my attention stray a bit during? Yes, but I kept reading when normally I would have put it down. The reason I stayed was because of the characters.

"Okay! Look, none of us know where we are. Let's at least admit it. We're lost."
"We're not lost. We just don't know the right direction to go."
"That's what lost is!"
"No, lost is when you don't know where you are. We know where we are."
"Please, do tell. Where are we?"
I loved the characters in this book. You've got Pato, our narrator, Arbo his cousin and best friend, Marcos the 'cool guy' that always intimidated Pato and Arbo, and his little sister Gladys who Arbo had a crush on and Pato is developing feelings for. They've all lost their families, emotions are running high which makes for a lot of hot headed arguments and they were honestly some of my favourite scenes! They've all got smart mouths especially Pato and Arbo which is one of my favourite attributes in a character. They've all lost so much and the dynamics between them are what kept me reading when the journey was boring me and I was getting impatient.

I was just beginning to accept that my future has been stolen from me, and now I'm being robbed of my past.
Pato is sweet and sensitive. He's quick witted and his whole world has been ripped out from under him. He's the driving force of the group when they're wandering through the desert. Without realizing it he has become the leader which is the last job he wants after his family was murdered.

"What would Revo tell you right now, Arbo?"
"Revo's dead."
"What?"
"You know what Revo did?"
"No."
"He fought bad guys."
"Okay."
"Well, they won. Actually, they were winning all along, and I had no idea."
I really related to Arbo, his whole life has shattered around him and he is angry, he's fucking pissed off. He's angry at Pato, Marcos, his family, the narcos, the desert. Yet somehow he manages to overcome all of that and keep moving forward. He turns his anger into fuel. People can harp on about how dangerous and toxic anger is but I don't think that's a fair assumption. Anger is the best kind of fuel. Its healthy to get angry, it's counterproductive to try and ignore your feelings, to bottle them up, because they'll only explode later on. I'd rather get a use out such a feeling, I'd rather use it to fuel me through all the hurdles in my way and Arbo proves that this works.

"You have to know when to break the rules."
Marcos is probably the most complicated character in the book. He's also perhaps the most human.
He makes a lot of mistakes, so many! All for the name of bravery, revenge, protectiveness, all the things that are such common aspects of humanity.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't curse him a lot while reading this book. He did a lot of fucking dumb shit but he tried really hard to give them all the best chance at survival, unlike Arbo though, who let his anger fuel him, Marcos let his anger blind him.

Gladys has her own compass. That's not easy, especially where we're from.
Gladys is so pure and lovely and good. She sees the best in everyone. She loves her brother so much she would rather die than lose him, she loves with all her heart. She searches for the positivity in everything. (view spoiler)

We are-and always will be-bonded together. Be Tragedy. By Triumph. By our very blood.
Anyway, I really did enjoy this book. I loved getting a glimpse into what it is like for immigrants who just want a better life than what's on offer in their country. It showed just how dangerous life in Mexico can be, the battles it's people fight daily. The Border was raw, and real which is exactly what I want in a contemporary tackling a subject people would rather pretend doesn't exist. It made me fight back tears and stifle laughs while I was reading it between customers at work. It made my heart ache for every single strong and brave person who ever took the very risky challenge of walking through that desert just so they would get a chance at asylum. You all deserve a round of applause and a drink for your bravery and hardships. And you sure as hell deserve better treatment from a country that's meant to be the land of the free. No person is illegal. You matter, you deserve to be here and you sure as hell fought to be here.
And for those of us who will never understand being in that kind of position, may we always remember our humanity, our privilege and spare a moment for those who didn't make it.
Empathy begins with the recognition that everyone has a story.

This book was very good. This book is about a group of teenagers trying to cross the Mexican border. We are taken along with them as we find out why they want to cross the border as well as situations they encounter. Some parts of the book had me on the edge of my seat and I had to keep reading to see what would happen. The character developement is great. The reason i say this, is, if a book can make you really dislike or like a character, that is good to me. And yes, you will have those you like and those you dislike. Read this book, you will not be disappointed. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. Very well written, and while fiction, it seems very true to life as explained by the author

Thank you for offering me this book to read. I have found that I can not complete the book and even if I could the review would be quite negative. The amount of violence in the book while it might be very accurate does not lend itself to the type of book I am looking for with my students.

I liked the book. It was interesting and I had never read anything like it before. However, I felt as if something was missing. The plot was simple, so maybe I thought the writing would be a little more advanced? I don't know.
Anyways, give this book a try if you're in search of something new, but don't expect a writing masterpiece.

Pato, Arbo, Marcos and Gladys are at a celebration. When they leave the garden for a few minutes their lives are turned upside down. Their families are killed by narcos. Pato, Arbo, Marcos and Gladys are seen by one of the gunmen and flee. With a bounty on their heads they decide they have no choice but to cross the border to the United States. The journey is long and full of danger.
Will they be able to evade the narcos that hunt them?
Will they make it to the US?

The Border was a thought provoking read.
I liked Pato, Arbo and Gladys. Marcos was annoying at times and made questionable decisions. It was nice how close Pato and Arbo were.
The plot was good and held my attention. I had never thought about what it must be like to cross the border from Mexico to the United States. I certainly hadn't realised how dangerous it was - not just because of gangs and border patrol, but also the baking sun.
The writing style was easy to follow but I wasn't gripped.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

Beautifully written, well researched and with realistic characters. I couldn’t put it down.

See above - I cannot review this book at this time.

The Border is a fast paced and thought provoking thriller, following 4 youngsters who having witnessed a violent tragedy go on the run through the harsh desert, facing danger at every turn.

The realities of the situation are brought to vivid and horrific life through the absorbing and immersive writing of the author – the kids are not all likable and they are not tough, although often they pretend to be and you are with them all the way in their frantic dash for freedom and their hope for a new life away from the cartels and violence of their home country.

There are some heart stopping moments here, some tear inducing emotional moments but an underlying hope for salvation – it is a fast and furious read that will stay with you after you’ve turned the final pages. The ultimate resolution leaves you thinking, it certainly puts a new face on certain aspects of our society.

The Border is entertaining but it is also authentic and hits you hard with realism – I read it in two breathless sittings and have no problem at all recommending it.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this novel, especially as it is written as a Young Adult novel. The book is about 4 Mexican teens crossing the border into the USA to escape a drug cartel who mean to murder them.
With the Mexico/US border featuring in the news recently I thought this was a very topical novel, and also a very clever and sensitive way to draw attention to the border through a young adult novel and through teenage protagonists.
This is a fast paced novel, the action flows pretty much non-stop, and it's a nail biting novel from start to finish. The main characters find themselves in life-threatening situations constantly, and Schafer did a good job of making them feel realistic and tense, but still managed to keep the narrative thread going.
The group of characters that Schafer has created were a fascinating group to read about. They were all individual characters, and Schafer seems to have captured the voice of teenagers well, which can be tricky in YA.
The only aspect of the novel I wasn't so keen on was the elements of romance that the author included. It felt baseless and seemed to appear out of nowhere simply to tick the "romance box" in the novel. It also irritated me that the only female main character was included in this romance, it suggested to me that she had only been included to be this romantic interest to another character.
Overall I thought this was a pretty good YA novel about a subject I have never read about, and actually know very little about.

Book does good job of depicting life inMexico and the dangerous world of the “Narcos”. I found the book dragged on. I had heard so much about the book and had hoped for so much more.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆☆
From the moment they hear gun shots, the lives of Pato, his cousin Arbo, popular fellow student Marcos, and Marcos' sister Gladys, are changed forever. From the minute they discover the blood bath where their parents and families have been killed, which ultimately leads to them crossing the desert from Mexico to the US, unprepared and with no clear idea of where they are headed.

The author does not hold back in showing us the horror of what Pato and his friends are going through, which is part of what makes The Border such a gripping story. I was on the edge of my seat watching these teens go from one dangerous situation to another, with only each other to lean on. The problem is, they are teens with the usual teen angst and fighting among themselves, which sometimes makes the situation worse.

This is one of those stories where I had no idea where the story was going and I love that. Would they survive the desert? Would they make it to the US? I had no idea and I was just along for, what is at times, a harrowing ride. But you know what? Every now and then little glimpses of hope and love appear in the story and those moments are more meaningful given what Pato and the group are going through. I fell in love with Pato, Arbo, Marcos, and Gladys and I just wanted them to survive. To live. The Border is a fantastic story that I think teens and adults will enjoy it.

With Trump’s proclamation of building a wall between America and Mexico, and the general anti-immigrant climate occurring across the world, The Border by Steve Schafer is incredibly pertinent. It follows four Mexican children who, following the brutal murder of their families and while hunted by the perpetrators, must make the treacherous journey to the one place that they can find safety – the United States.

Lots of facts and figures about immigration and refugees are being thrown around in the media today, so the shift of focus to a more personal (albeit fictional) story is refreshing. The four main characters are forced to cross the deadly Sonoran Desert, with very little in the way of money and supplies. The Border allows you to join their journey, from the very incident which sets it off, all the way to the conclusion. It explores the different techniques they try to survive, details the many hardships they endure while still retaining a focus on who they are as people.

That being said, for a novel which is primarily about these four people’s experiences, I did find it difficult to connect with them and, after reading, I can only remember two of the characters names (Gladys, the sole female character, and Marcos, whose character felt the most well-formed). The main narrator, unfortunately, was quite passive and served more as a conduit for the reader than as a character in and of himself. While the personalities were not as fully fleshed out, their experiences were poignant and you couldn’t help but feel for them when the going got particularly tough.

For me, at least, the book did a good job of highlighting the struggles of escaping across the desert for an uncertain safety on the other side. It was well paced, balancing out the slower and more expansive parts of the novel with sections of action and gun-fire. While the characters did not stand out particularly to me, their plight did catch my attention and, while I have fortunately never been in their situation, I could really visualize what they were going through. While not an own voices novel, it did feel like Schafer had done his research and I do recommend this novel to anyone who is in any way interested in the topic at hand.

I'll admit that this book hit me pretty hard. I knew when I agreed to read it that it was going to be emotionally-charged, but knowing and feeling aren't the same thing. The opening chapters where the families of the four main characters, Pato (the narrator), Arbo, Marcos, and Gladys, are murdered packs a punch. I appreciated the fact that Pato doesn't behave like a brave hero, he behaves like most people would, he freezes up and soils himself. When Arbo is seen by the gunmen, crying over his father's body, Marcos steps in and shots Arbo's assailant. The problem is that that assailant's brother sees them do it and swears to get revenge. And while the teens manage to escape, they have very little going for them. They have no supplies and no family they dare approach for help.


Seeking shelter at the house of an elderly acquaintance of Pato and Arbo, they have to decide what they are going to do, especially when they learn there is a price on their heads, a big one. Their options are few and they decide crossing the border into the United States is their only hope of survival. But things continue to go wrong and soon the four teenagers are left wondering if it's even worth the effort.


Goodness it was hard reading about the loss these kids suffer and knowing that it isn't uncommon south of the border. Even harder is reading about their struggle to survive in the desert, a beautiful, but brutal place that they are utterly unprepared to face. When further tragedy strikes, I literally had tears running down my face. And yet I had to admire their persistence in the face of almost impossible odds.

Frankly, a book like this is needed. With all the contention over immigration law and building walls, it's easy to forget that their are real people involved, many who are truly desperate to make a better life for themselves. This book really made me think about those who are caught in the middle coming her illegally. I believe I now have more empathy for them.

this isn't a book I would normally pick out for myself to read, but it was sent to me by Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review. would I recommend this book to my friends? probably not, but that's only because it isn't the kind of thing I think they'd be all too interested in. I don't think I was able to give this book the fair chance it deserves (totally my fault), because I overbooked myself this summer and wasn't able to fully finish reading (again, totally my fault). I wasn't in the mental state to fully enjoy this book.

that said, the parts I read were interesting, they just didn't really hook me. I know this is a super vague review, but basically what I want to say is that if this sounds like a book you'd be interested in, totally check it out — it just wasn't for me.

It's really a 4.5, but I do want to be able to give it 5 stars.

It was a great, well-researched and thought-provoking read, even before Schafer's moving author's note. The problem I encountered, however, is that I just lacked the drive to pick it up of an evening. Why? I've thought about it and I think I just didn't connect with the characters strongly enough - it's not that I don't care about migrants, it's just I had no way to connect with these four. That, coupled with some disproportionately long sections to their journey (they sure spent a considerably long time with Sr Otis!!), a little too convenient ending, and a protagonist who seemed to take a little while to settle into his voice.

Still, I'd recommend it to so many people out there, because we (as a general public) are way too complacent about this issue and focusing on all the wrong points.