lizlikesfrogs's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
mochikoreads's review against another edition
4.0
moving memoir and cultural commentary, at once heartbreaking and surging with love for a place, moments in time, and the unique hong-konger identity
amiddya's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
4.5
A brilliantly vivid, atmospheric portrait of life in HK and incredibly diverse in its tackling of both relatable (what home means, mental illness, complexities of family relationships, honest reflections on past regrets) and informative (realities of HK real estate market, international versus local schools, public healthcare system, history of protests, indie music scene) topics.
sugasbeanie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
jlim's review against another edition
5.0
My mistake had been to believe this was something I could logically plan for. But our land does not belong to us, and neither do our futures.
thejoshdenk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
kcjulia's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders
fonkun's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not from Hong Kong, but I felt this book deeply. Like Cheung, I went to an international school before my parents switched me out to a local school.
“This is what most of my university is like: being vaguely international, identifying with being a third culture kid because I feel closer to “Western” culture than I do to Hong Kong’s. My international school education had distanced me from the city, and I failed to learn about the city’s political and colonial history during my local school years; my university years followed this natural trajectory.”
I’ve always found it hard to describe my struggle with who I am. All I can say is this memoir helped me process what I’ve been feeling for most of my life and I’m so happy I picked it up. Since Cheung uses personal narrative to document Hong Kong from 1997 to 2020, her memoir offers a peep hole into Hong Kong history and politics – I found this memoir unique and I’d recommend this memoir to Hong Kongers, anyone curious about Hong Kong, and anyone who, like me, is figuring out their identity, specifically where “home” is.
Thank you Random House for the gifted copy!
“This is what most of my university is like: being vaguely international, identifying with being a third culture kid because I feel closer to “Western” culture than I do to Hong Kong’s. My international school education had distanced me from the city, and I failed to learn about the city’s political and colonial history during my local school years; my university years followed this natural trajectory.”
I’ve always found it hard to describe my struggle with who I am. All I can say is this memoir helped me process what I’ve been feeling for most of my life and I’m so happy I picked it up. Since Cheung uses personal narrative to document Hong Kong from 1997 to 2020, her memoir offers a peep hole into Hong Kong history and politics – I found this memoir unique and I’d recommend this memoir to Hong Kongers, anyone curious about Hong Kong, and anyone who, like me, is figuring out their identity, specifically where “home” is.
Thank you Random House for the gifted copy!