Reviews tagging Emotional abuse
We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, by Simu Liu
19 reviews
madisonfrank's review
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Classism, Cursing, Child abuse, and Grief
karina_dreamsinwords's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
5.0
“On that day I became more than just a comic book character— I became a part of an idea that everyone deserves to see themselves as superheroes, as the leads of their own stories, or simply, just as multifaceted beings with hopes and aspirations and flaws.”
In We Were Dreamers, Liu reflects back on his childhood, the harrowing journey of Simu’s parents migrating from China to create a better life in North America, and the incredible progression of his career.
A remarkable story of resilience in the face of adversity, from not only those outside of his family but also from within. Simu’s raw account of his upbringing is insightful and at times very tough to read about.
You can very clearly see the love and utmost respect he has for his family, culture & craft.
Then you get to the acknowledgments and the bit about his pup made me sob😭
Just an overall great human being honestly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia
_inge's review
medium-paced
4.0
Everything about this felt so genuine. Simu was so open about everything (with thanks to his parents for giving permission too), and in the audiobook expressed emotions through his voice in a really authentic way. He’s a good actor of course, but he couldn’t have faked laughing at some of his childhood memories or his voice shaking when expressing gratitude for those who are no longer with us. Usually if I read a celebrity memoire I just want them to give details about a film and spill the tea, but Simu made me genuinely interested in his personal life. This book taught me a lot about the immigrant experience and about the Chinese one in general, for which I’m very grateful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Abandonment
starklinqs's review against another edition
4.0
3.8 rounded up! I had a great time with this book - I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t sure if I was going to love the writing at first, so I went through the first few chapters fairly slowly, but by chapter four I was so ready to keep reading more.
First what I didn’t like: I only knock it off a point or so because I feel like some things are brushed over or there isn’t as much detail as I would have expected for a memoir - particularly the abuse he details vs reconciliation. I don’t mean this to read as: “Simu Liu HAS to write about how he reconciled with his parents and lay out each and every single step, and tell us about all the therapy he’s presumably had about coming to terms with this!” Obviously not lmao - but just from a reading standpoint it’s a bit jarring to see those multiple chapters detailing the emotional and physical abuse, but then see later on in the book that clearly there’s some sort of relationship - whether that came from his own acceptance, both sides, something that came with time, something he’s still coping with, or even if it’s something he straight up doesn’t intend to share with us as the readers at this time/ever, etc. There were smaller instances here and there where I thought he was going to go into a story but then he pulls back from writing the whole thing. I normally wouldn’t harp on that in real life but in the specifics of a memoir where the author chooses what stories to mention, it did pull me out of it just a bit.
Overall, however, he writes well and I really enjoyed this book; Simu Liu has an engaging writing style. He’s incredibly self aware while he writes about his stories - and even acknowledges when he let things get to his head or how he’d try too hard to make things picture perfect, which I genuinely appreciate. For all the jokes about him being narcissistic in this book, so many stories include him pointing out his own flaws and issues in his mindset. Also, his book resonated with me a lot as an Asian child of immigrants. While I’m not Chinese, I was reading a lot of his memoir and relating to a lot of it. I figured I’d probably relate to some parts, just being in the Asian community, but it hit me harder than I expected. I think it’ll be a good read for anyone, but I think a lot of Asian fans will especially see something in this book that they can relate to.
First what I didn’t like: I only knock it off a point or so because I feel like some things are brushed over or there isn’t as much detail as I would have expected for a memoir - particularly the abuse he details vs reconciliation. I don’t mean this to read as: “Simu Liu HAS to write about how he reconciled with his parents and lay out each and every single step, and tell us about all the therapy he’s presumably had about coming to terms with this!” Obviously not lmao - but just from a reading standpoint it’s a bit jarring to see those multiple chapters detailing the emotional and physical abuse, but then see later on in the book that clearly there’s some sort of relationship - whether that came from his own acceptance, both sides, something that came with time, something he’s still coping with, or even if it’s something he straight up doesn’t intend to share with us as the readers at this time/ever, etc. There were smaller instances here and there where I thought he was going to go into a story but then he pulls back from writing the whole thing. I normally wouldn’t harp on that in real life but in the specifics of a memoir where the author chooses what stories to mention, it did pull me out of it just a bit.
Overall, however, he writes well and I really enjoyed this book; Simu Liu has an engaging writing style. He’s incredibly self aware while he writes about his stories - and even acknowledges when he let things get to his head or how he’d try too hard to make things picture perfect, which I genuinely appreciate. For all the jokes about him being narcissistic in this book, so many stories include him pointing out his own flaws and issues in his mindset. Also, his book resonated with me a lot as an Asian child of immigrants. While I’m not Chinese, I was reading a lot of his memoir and relating to a lot of it. I figured I’d probably relate to some parts, just being in the Asian community, but it hit me harder than I expected. I think it’ll be a good read for anyone, but I think a lot of Asian fans will especially see something in this book that they can relate to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Child abuse
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Racial slurs
imstephtacular's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Hate crime, Cursing, Xenophobia, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Bullying, Sexism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Hate crime, War, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
laurenthefox's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
onemorepagecrew's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This year has given us celebrity memoir gold and We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu is no exception. I loved it so much!
I saw many positive reviews from friends here on bookstagram and I was excited to get into the audio over the weekend. I ended up finishing it in one day because I couldn’t put it down, it was the perfect blend of reflective and witty. I look for memoirs to be either entertaining or emotionally vulnerable, so to have one hit both notes is great.
In this memoir, Liu goes back to his childhood in China and explains a bit about his grandparents’ and parents’ experiences, along with the key aspects of Chinese culture that influenced their personal and parenting choices. He speaks to his experience immigrating to Canada at a young age and the abuse he faced once arriving.
He takes the reader into his teen and adult years, talking about both his career and his family dynamics. It’s such a well-told story that centers his reconciliation with the events of his life without losing accountability for the adults in his life that failed him as a child.
It’s also a story of healing and growth - it’s clear he has had therapy and I love to see it. If you enjoy a deep memoir with humor and self-awareness, this is a fantastic choice.
Content warnings: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
marisa_n's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Classism
thealyssa_ann's review
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
I definitely have a thing for celebrity memoirs and this is a real standout. You can literally hear the emotion and the heart that went into the telling of Simu’s story as he reads it. I really really appreciate that he didn’t shy away from really difficult topics, including emotional and physical abuse that is often glossed over in this genre. Plus any book that ends with telling me to hug my family and my dog immediately has my heart.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse