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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
5.0
Parents are generally smarter and more experienced than their kids. But there’s this thing that sometimes happens with the kids of immigrant parents. There’s a tacit understanding that because your parents didn’t grow up in America, they don’t get American stuff. My sisters and I either taught our parents about American problems, or we just handled them ourselves. My parents would not have understood a Mrs. Kantor type—the charm of her brashness, the way it overpowered everything else. I also thought that she’d use their foreignness, their very accents, to discredit me further. Nonimmigrant Americans often equate accented English with a lack of intelligence. But my parents are educated and smart. They can write in English beautifully with clear grammar. But their spoken accents are strong to some. I knew Mrs. Kantor would hear their accents and think they were stupid. I wasn’t going to let anyone think my parents were stupid. I had to protect them. That’s why I never told them.
Specifically, the line where she says "I had to protect them". I have had this sentiment before with my parents. Like Wu's parents, they are intelligent, hardworking, and have all of my respect. Unfortunately, when you are perceived as an immigrant that does not speak English well in the United States all of that respect is no longer merited in some people's eyes. It is unfair, but it is accurate and often puts us, their children, in a position where we have to grow up too fast. We have to take on the role of caregiver in order to protect them from being humiliated for factors out of their control.
Wu speaks extensively on her relationships with men throughout the book, both in a professional and romantic capacity. Her narratives around some of her romantic relationships are vaguer than others. It is definitely not the focus of the book. However, it does give insight to what she learned about herself in the context of those relationships. Additionally, she shares details about both her more positive experiences with them men in her life and the more #MeToo adjacent ones. It is unfortunate that sexual abuse towards women is so commonplace, but it not surprising. Her experience on Fresh Off the Boat especially was disturbing to read, but I'm glad she had the space here to tell it.
The narrative of her experiences is relatable and feels authentic, like listening to a friend talk to you about their life. The writing is easily digestible but holds emotional depth and impact. I personally am not an avid follower of Constance Wu, but still found her story compelling and would recommend this memoir if you are looking for a good one to pick up.
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism
sthurma22's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Rape
thatbookbinch's review against another edition
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Fatphobia
katiekenniston's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault
steviewigles's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
crystaltran's review against another edition
4.5
there’s a lot of difficult and personal topics included in this memoir. a lot of chapters recount her struggles with her womanhood, pursuing the arts, struggling with her emotions and trying to suppress them, and experiencing sexual harassment/assault. there’s a lot of sensitive topics spoken about, but i thought they were handled really well and talked about in such an intelligent and deep way. a lot of her struggles with these experiences were so relatable and real even if i haven’t personally experienced the same thing that she writes about.
i really enjoyed reading this memoir, both for the actual writing style and the stories included. constance is a really gifted writer and i honestly hope she releases more writing in the future. i generally feel odd rating memoirs anything less than 5 stars because who am i to judge someone’s personal life story, but i did take away a star only because (and this is mainly from an editing perspective) a lot of the chapters felt disjointed. it’s not told in chronological order, not that it needs to be, but the order in which the chapters are don’t have much of a flow and makes reading some things a little difficult with the continuity and generally lowered the quality of reading. the last chapter especially didn’t really feel right as the last chapter- i would’ve just tweaked the order in which the chapters were presented, but otherwise, this is a really wonderful yet vulnerable read.
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
ag_cheng's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
bookwormie's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
brittanylee0302's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol and Bullying
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Violence
236girls's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, and Sexual assault