Steve Schafer

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Actual rating: 3.5/5

This was a very original book indeed, like nothing I had read before. The author takes a well-known phenomenon (the crossings of Mexicans into the US) and takes us on a journey through hell. What makes it even more compelling is the fact that the people embarking on this journey are teenagers with no one left to care for them. This is certainly a lesser known, but definitely a key phenomenon in migration flows today.

The key question our protagonists are faced with at the beginning of the story is one no person should ever have to face. What do you do when leaving in search of a better life might mean never making it to the other side, but staying means certain death? This is the question Pato, Arbo, Marcos and Gladys, four ordinary teenagers, must answer quickly, after the party of the year ends in tragedy. And so they embark on what may very well be the last journey of their lives, following in the footsteps of so many before them... and with the narcos hot on their trail. Because a slight chance of making it is better than the certainty of dying.

I found the book to be very well written: there were moments throughout when I was really holding my breath. Throughout their journey, the four are faced with a myriad of obstacles, and I was left wondering up until the very end whether they would make it or not. I liked the freshness and honesty in the description of the characters, even though that meant I ended up not liking all of them equally. We see everything through Pato's eyes, as a clueless teenager having to deal with something so much bigger than him, and I enjoyed it greatly. We feel his fears and doubts, and are part of the growing process that he forcibly goes through to survive. The other characters, however, fall short by comparison. They feel like "types" more than actual people and that is a real shame because of the potential they showed at the beginning. I also wasn't a fan of the romance: I could predict something along those lines would happen, but it seemed to come out of nowhere. For a book that was trying (and succeeding!) in being original and unconventional, to fall into the trap of mandatory YA romance was slightly disappointing.

Overall, a solid read which will definitely appeal more to its intended audience than to me and does a great job of raising awareness while entertaining.

For this and more reviews, visit Book for Thought.… (mehr)

Four teenagers are thrust into survival mode when dozens of people, including their families, are brutally murdered at a quinceanera in Mexico in THE BORDER by Steve Schafer. These four decide, with some sage advice from people they barely know, to try to cross the border into the United States. As difficult as it appears to be, it becomes harder than any of them ever imagined it could.
A harrowing adventure of a novel, THE BORDER keeps the reader constantly wondering whether these teenagers will succeed in crossing the border and finding new lives for themselves. There is a lot of heartfelt self discovery along the way, about who they really are and who their families really are. Schafer crafts these for young people in such a way that each of their faults as individuals makes the group stronger. Having this level of detail and clarity about each character really puts the reader in their shoes and feels what they feel. Schafer also makes a commentary about the hard realities of border crossings, not just literally doing it, but its greater political and social impact on Mexico and on the US.
An emotionally charged story, THE BORDER succeeds in being a exciting adventure and shedding a light on many lesser known aspects of modern border crossing.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire, Steve Schafer, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (mehr)

It was meant to be the great celebration as it is a tradition in Mexico: Carmen’s 15th birthday, the so called quinceañera to which many friends of the family were invited. But then suddenly shouting and gunshots. Just a couple of minutes later, almost all guests are dead, shot in the head. Only the teenagers Pato and Arbo, best friends since they were born, and the siblings Marcos and Gladys have survived because they had gone outside and could hide in the backyard. Then they are seen and they have to run. In Mexico under to law of rivalling gangs no one can escape their verdict. They must go north, to the USA, take the hard route through the desert without money, without knowing how. An old friend of Pato’s father helps them at first, and hides them for a couple of days, but the gangs are after them and soon the four lost souls find themselves out in the blazing sun without water or orientation.

Steve Schafer’s novel narrates a story we mainly know from the news: Mexico, a country in which the governmental institutions are powerless against the well-organised gangs who rule not only the drug market but also the human trafficking business. It is with them you have to come to terms with and either you accept their rules or you find yourself shot dead. The story thus seems to be quite authentic and especially the people’s fear which is omnipresent throughout the plot gives a good impression of what life is like there.

In the centre, we have two main aspects. The first is the illegal transgression of the northern border. It is not only the danger of being caught by the border patrol – neither on the Mexican nor on the US side this is something you can with for. It is also the dangerous and often fatal route through the desert. During daytime, the sun is burning hot and since you cannot carry as much water as you’d normally need, it is a tricky calculation if your supplies will suffice for your route. On the other hand, without a local guide, you are soon lost and erring around the sandy landscape. The four teenagers, too, make these experiences which more than once bring them close to death. Also the other refugees who pop out now and again tell the same story. Additionally, this is a market and again, you cannot just you what you want to without following the rules of the gangs.

The second and even more interesting aspect is the relationship between the four of them. For one thing, they are too young to know why their parents were shot. This question is looming over them, especially when Pato and Arbo come to realise that Marcos, who is a bit older, seems to know something. And when the two boys have to accept that their fathers’ business might not have been what they always thought it was and that they, too, might have made deals with the gangs, they have to adapt everything they ever believed in to this. Further, being threatened by death brings them closer together at times and more apart at others. They are on the edge with their nerves and often close to just giving up.

The author especially succeeds in the psychological portrayal of the characters under those extreme conditions. They are lively and never act like adults might in their place. They have a survival instinct but nevertheless stick to their teenage convictions shaped by the idea of friendship and mutual support. All in all, a young adult novel with the typical topics of the genre presented under the most awful conditions and written at a high pace which makes you read on.… (mehr)