Scan barcode
jayisreading's review
4.5
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.)
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Suicide
kailey_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
moonbebe722's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Racism, and Police brutality
bookishcori's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
caseythereader's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
ekmook's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent
paperknotbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death
biblio_jordyn's review against another edition
5.0
“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.
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent
gagne's review against another edition
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Terminal illness and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Xenophobia, and Medical content
soobooksalot's review against another edition
3.75
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for my gifted review copy of Seeing Ghosts!
This is author/journalist Kat Chow's experience with losing her mother to cancer at a young age, when she was still in high school. We see Kat's upbringing as the child of Chinese immigrants, learn of her traditions and family fabric.
It's fascinating to look inside someone else's life, even one so outwardly different from our own, and still see our similarities. Though it is also difficult to review a book of another person's experiences.
This is an emotional read, raw and honest storytelling tempered by layers of memory and prose. It's not only about Kat losing her mother, it's about reframing how to live in a space without that person and with those who remain, here specifically her father and two sisters. It's also about discovery of who came before and the impacts and parallels.
Acknowledging the realities of death, the pain of grieving, the journey one undergoes by absorbing the experiences, can be cathartic for some. Triggering for others, so be aware what the book is about before pursuing.
Recommended.
For release on Aug. 24.
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, and Death of parent