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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
5.0
This was such a compelling walk through Constance Wu's experiences in Hollywood as a first generation child of Chinese immigrants as well as a woman. I am first generation myself and there were many moments that I could relate to. There is one quote in particular that hit me hard that she wrote in page 84 as follows:
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism
readingtofeedthesoul's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
3.0
Autobiography, inspiring story of a women in the creative industry
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Rape
steviewigles's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
love constance, could feel the emotion with her reading the audiobook. certain parts felt disjointed and like i wouldve ordered them differently but hey! it’s her memoir not mine!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
crystaltran's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
i had no idea Constance was such a beautiful writer, but reading this memoir felt a lot like reading poetry a lot of the time. it was a really wonderful recount of her life story, with a lot of focus on her theatre background, love life, and her life pre-fame. i thought there would be more detail/stories about her life after becoming famous but she mostly passed over that topic in order to talk about bigger themes in those moments of her life which i honestly really appreciated because it made her seem more relatable to the average reader.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
ag_cheng's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
bookwormie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.75
Her collections of essays felt like a journal dictating pivotal (few felt irrelevant) moments in her life and were not in chronological order so it was a jolt to transition sometimes. Lots of 90s nostalgia, relationships, challenges and poor treatment in her career, and tons of self reflections and regrets. In this book she is courageous, vulnerable, and has a big personality; a bit annoying sometimes tbh). She narrates the audiobook and damn, when she gets quivery and emotional about some really hard, painful moments I can relate to= really moving to experience her book in this way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
zombiezami's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Death, and Excrement
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Constance Wu seems really down to earth and humorous and I liked a few of these essays, particularly the ones about her time on Fresh Off the Boat and her Twitter villain era (I guess X villain era now, ugh), the time her middle school teacher accused her of plagiarism (that was fucking cruel), and the final one about her parents.
That said, there's not much tying these essays together and I wish she'd gone into some more interesting anecdotes, particularly around her time in Hollywood, or that there'd been more introspection into the anecdotes we got. I kind of don't want to be like "she needed to share more" because god knows sharing this much about your life with the world must be hard, but also if you're writing a memoir you need to either have really interesting experiences like Jeanette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died or the ability to show what your experiences mean to you like Michelle Zauner's Crying In H Mart. Though there are essays with both these traits, there are some without that drag the book down, especially in how random it feels.
That said, there's not much tying these essays together and I wish she'd gone into some more interesting anecdotes, particularly around her time in Hollywood, or that there'd been more introspection into the anecdotes we got. I kind of don't want to be like "she needed to share more" because god knows sharing this much about your life with the world must be hard, but also if you're writing a memoir you need to either have really interesting experiences like Jeanette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died or the ability to show what your experiences mean to you like Michelle Zauner's Crying In H Mart. Though there are essays with both these traits, there are some without that drag the book down, especially in how random it feels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
brittanylee0302's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
This book was nothing at all what I anticipated. That being said, its definitely a very raw read. Wu addresses her issues she faced becoming an actress, & her issues with her relationships later in life. A little dry at times, but still pretty good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol and Bullying
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Violence
btw0825's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment