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woolgatherer's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Seeing Ghosts was a beautiful and poignant memoir that invited the reader into Chow's journey through grief. As much as this memoir was an homage of sorts to her late mother, it was also one that reflected on family dynamics—particularly between Chow and her father—as well as honoring one's family history and culture. Grief certainly was at the center of this memoir, but there was also an abundance of care and love that permeated throughout the pages. Chow demonstrates how one can still find hope even in times of darkness.
I was familiar with Chow's work from her time with NPR's Code Switch, and her wonderful storytelling really shone in this memoir in a way that honored her family, history, and culture. I also appreciated the insight of growing up in Connecticut in an Asian immigrant household, which had its own challenges. (On this note, I am all for more Asian American New Englanders writing about their lived experiences, haha.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Medical content, Cancer, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Suicide
noveltay's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Animal death, Grief, and Racism
moonbebe722's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, and Cancer
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Miscarriage, and Police brutality
nannahnannah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Initially, I was drawn to this memoir because of the similarities between Kat Chow’s life and mine, despite us also being very different: the death of a parent in late high school/early college due to cancer and us having very <i>interesting</i> fathers. Selfishly, I wanted to see how someone else (and someone else's family) handled all that grief. Strangely enough, reading this made me feel more connected to people. It’s a very beautiful book with lovely writing, especially in the second half.
<i>Seeing Ghosts</i> is a memoir, but it’s also a tribute to Kat Chow’s mother, who died of cancer when the author was in her senior year of high school. It’s a very poignant look at the way grief affects different people, and it shows the--I’m quoting the Goodreads summary here, as it captures it perfectly--”strength of sisterhood and the complicated duty of looking after parents, even after death.”
This is the first memoir I’ve read where an author included actual photos of themself with their family. At first I very much loved the added intimacy, but after a few pictures I kind of felt like it became too personal. I know it was Kat Chow’s decision to share them, but it’s almost like I wanted to look away or stop reading (similar to the way that I don’t like to make eye contact for long in some intimate social situations ... yes I'm autistic).
Immediately, Kat Chow’s style grabbed me. The short chapters were fairly disjointed and made following the story hard sometimes, but her humor and writing kept me glued to the pages late into the night. There’s a dark humor that underlies her style that’s so very appropriate for what she was talking about, and it’s something that, for some reason, touched me because it reminded me of her mother (and her mother’s hilarious and uncomfortable morbid comments). Or, at least, the mother Kat Chow writes about. Or maybe I’m just getting ahead of myself. This is the best memoir I’ve read yet, and it resonated with me a lot. And like the ghosts inside it, the memoir has still stuck with me and haunted my thoughts since I finished it in early October. I expect it will for a good while yet.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for what she writes next!
<i>Seeing Ghosts</i> is a memoir, but it’s also a tribute to Kat Chow’s mother, who died of cancer when the author was in her senior year of high school. It’s a very poignant look at the way grief affects different people, and it shows the--I’m quoting the Goodreads summary here, as it captures it perfectly--”strength of sisterhood and the complicated duty of looking after parents, even after death.”
This is the first memoir I’ve read where an author included actual photos of themself with their family. At first I very much loved the added intimacy, but after a few pictures I kind of felt like it became too personal. I know it was Kat Chow’s decision to share them, but it’s almost like I wanted to look away or stop reading (similar to the way that I don’t like to make eye contact for long in some intimate social situations ... yes I'm autistic).
Immediately, Kat Chow’s style grabbed me. The short chapters were fairly disjointed and made following the story hard sometimes, but her humor and writing kept me glued to the pages late into the night. There’s a dark humor that underlies her style that’s so very appropriate for what she was talking about, and it’s something that, for some reason, touched me because it reminded me of her mother (and her mother’s hilarious and uncomfortable morbid comments). Or, at least, the mother Kat Chow writes about. Or maybe I’m just getting ahead of myself. This is the best memoir I’ve read yet, and it resonated with me a lot. And like the ghosts inside it, the memoir has still stuck with me and haunted my thoughts since I finished it in early October. I expect it will for a good while yet.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for what she writes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Rape
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Child death, Death, Grief, and Animal death
Moderate: Racism
odrib's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Cancer
Moderate: Police brutality, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility
caseys_chapters's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
4.25
I’ve read some outstanding memoirs lately and Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow just joined that list. Thank you @grandcentralpub for the gifted copy!
Seeing Ghosts is centered around the author’s experience losing her mother to cancer at a young age. She also explores several generations of her family’s history in China, The United States, and Cuba and the complicated family dynamics that shaped her.
In many ways this is a ghost story. She describes the lingering emotions tied to grief, generational trauma, and learning about loved ones after their death. It was such an affecting way to frame her experience.
It took a few chapters to get into the flow because the narrative bounces around in time through short vignettes. But once I was in the groove, I was captivated by Kat Chow’s storytelling!
I loved that the book also included family photos. The writing is vivid, but the photos were a beautiful and intimate addition that made me feel even closer to her story.
Seeing Ghosts is centered around the author’s experience losing her mother to cancer at a young age. She also explores several generations of her family’s history in China, The United States, and Cuba and the complicated family dynamics that shaped her.
In many ways this is a ghost story. She describes the lingering emotions tied to grief, generational trauma, and learning about loved ones after their death. It was such an affecting way to frame her experience.
It took a few chapters to get into the flow because the narrative bounces around in time through short vignettes. But once I was in the groove, I was captivated by Kat Chow’s storytelling!
I loved that the book also included family photos. The writing is vivid, but the photos were a beautiful and intimate addition that made me feel even closer to her story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Cancer
Moderate: Racism
ekmook's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Racism
biblio_jordyn's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
“What is grief, if not the act of survival.”
“This is what it means to lose someone, understanding how, after all these years, memories shift and shape us. How we cannot exorcise someone as much as we try; we must learn the ways in which we preserve parts of them in ourselves.”
This book was a heartbreaking and raw memoir about grief and loss. The loss of a parent. The loss of culture. The loss of language and connection through it. The loss of family. And by the end, it’s a story about somehow piecing things back together even if it takes years and years.
It’s a story of immigration.
It’s a story of family.
This book tackles race and the divide within races and the discrimination they face.
It speaks on depression and the generational differences.
The idea of success, survival, and poverty. Particularly, how poverty effects peoples ability to go to the doctor and peoples relationship with them and distrust.
It speaks on the idea of the “right” way of immigration, which is constantly a battle in the US.
I loved this memoir. It was heavy, but purposeful and I definitely would recommend it for those who can handle the triggers.
“This is what it means to lose someone, understanding how, after all these years, memories shift and shape us. How we cannot exorcise someone as much as we try; we must learn the ways in which we preserve parts of them in ourselves.”
This book was a heartbreaking and raw memoir about grief and loss. The loss of a parent. The loss of culture. The loss of language and connection through it. The loss of family. And by the end, it’s a story about somehow piecing things back together even if it takes years and years.
It’s a story of immigration.
It’s a story of family.
This book tackles race and the divide within races and the discrimination they face.
It speaks on depression and the generational differences.
The idea of success, survival, and poverty. Particularly, how poverty effects peoples ability to go to the doctor and peoples relationship with them and distrust.
It speaks on the idea of the “right” way of immigration, which is constantly a battle in the US.
I loved this memoir. It was heavy, but purposeful and I definitely would recommend it for those who can handle the triggers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Cancer, Grief, Racism, and Mental illness
aliciaclarereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Racism, and Sexism