Voices from Mariel: Oral Histories of the 1980 Cuban Boatlift

I read this book for my Spanish 1 class! This book was very eye opening into shedding a more positive light onto the people who came to America during the Mariel Boat Lift! I enjoyed reading everyone’s different stories and especially enjoyed watching the documentary after reading so I could see the personalities of those who’s stories were told in the book! I highly recommend if you enjoy reading books about historical events!

I loved reading this book, from beginning to end. The Mariel boatlift is such an interesting event in history that's usually glossed over. I loved all the various first-hand perspectives of the event.Not important to the review, but Jose's dad is awesome. Like, my gosh, dude deals with some crazy stuff in chapter 2.

Reading this book, I was entirely entranced by the unique stories of each person who was included. I learned what incredible stories people experienced during the Mariel Boatlift and am interested in learning more. 10/10 would read again!

The book is well written & touches the heart of readers. It’s a great collection of firsthand stories of those escaping Cuba during the crisis.

"Voices from Mariel: Oral Histories of the 1980 Cuban Boatlift" is such an inspiring and thought-provoking novel. It is able to grasp your attention so easily and give you a deep understanding of what the Cuban people underwent. It humanizes the situation and sheds light on such an important part of history that is often overlooked. With accounts from various Marielitos, this novel allows for one to get multiple accounts of the Mariel boatlift. An excellent read, that is easy to follow. Watching the documentary after reading the novel is also a must!

When I found out I was going to be reading this book I was like any other college student at that moment, “Why the hell am I being forced to read another book on top of all the other books I’ve been assigned this semester?” So I picked up my copy of Voices of Mariel and soon our professor assigned us the first chapter. The night I had to read that chapter I went back to my campus apartment. Grabbed a hot pocket and several alcoholic beverages for a night of reading chapters from several different books. After reading the chapters I needed to for the other books I was assigned, I finished the night with the first chapter of Voices of Mariel. Before I began I grabbed another hot pocket and another alcoholic beverage because I thought I was going to need it. However, I was wrong. Once I started reading the book I found that it was an extremely easy read. Not in any way that knocks the quality of the material. The book was genuinely interesting. To learn about the struggles that these people endured under a communist regime and the mass exodus that took place during that time was eye opening. Once I started reading this book I didn’t need a single alcoholic beverage to get me through it. That night I read more than just the first chapter. I needed up reading four and had trouble putting the book down once I was finished for the night. I applaud the author for being able to captivate the struggles these people endured and put it into a piece of literature that can educate generations to come about the pain that these people have suffered and the damage communism has caused.-Nicholas, S.

This novel is by far one of the most impactful and genuine representations of this historic event. Being a Cuban-American myself, this novel resonated with me on a very personal level. The true depiction of Cuba during that time as well as including testaments of fellow Marielitos made Voices from Mariel even more powerful. This is by far a book that I will recommend to anyone, especially those of Cuban descent.

This is an inspiring story that accurately retells the stories of people that came to America on the boats, and the people that helped them leave Cuba or arrive in America. The Cubans experienced brutal attacks personally, and on their families. These attacks included verbal and physical acts. It's a great book not only for research, but for a good read and generally wanting to learn about what they went through.