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thebookishbroccolini's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
5.0
sujata's review
5.0
Wish this existed when i was younger
I so wish this collection had existed when I was growing up or even in my 20s. Excellent stories and memoirs by a wide range of south Asian writers. Highly recommend.
I so wish this collection had existed when I was growing up or even in my 20s. Excellent stories and memoirs by a wide range of south Asian writers. Highly recommend.
kayjay34's review
5.0
A refreshing read from Desi women of all walks of life. A series of stories from women of South Asia, dealing with homosexuality, mental health, abuse, etc. A wonderful compilation, one that I couldn't put down.
impied's review
3.0
A solid collection, though rather unrelentingly sad. I would have preferred some funnier stories. As it generally goes with collections of personal essays, some of them really resonated and others were uninteresting to me. I'm really glad this anthology exists- it's nice to hear voices that so clearly reflect my own experiences.
kim_ammons's review
5.0
Fantastic anthology, equal parts heartwrenching, funny, and illuminating. So glad I read this.
vinithepooh's review
2.0
This anthology just really didn't resonate with me for some reason. I just couldn't find an author whose writing really grabbed me. That said, this is a group of writers whose voices aren't typically heard, and so I'm glad that I gave this book a chance.
fatemareads's review
4.0
Covered a wide range of topics: love, marriage, family, sexuality, body image, career choices, social activism and activist identities.
iygatac_reads's review
5.0
This was an amazing anthology of personal stories (on "obedience and rebellion"). There's just something so wonderful about feeling seen and heard; this is something everyone who ever hears me talk about this book will get tired of hearing, because it's what I've said every time I've said anything about this book to anyone. All of the stories struck me, they were heartbreaking, sometimes funny, poignant, healing. Some that I felt particularly close to really resonated with me. I feel like I really need to think about this, go back and visit each story, and even then I wouldn't be ready to write everything I've felt and am feeling if I was given a week to write it all down. I've marked this book with little post-its. I want to buy this book for other people. I want you to read it! If you're thinking of reading this, get your hands on a copy, read it!
I feel like this anthology gave a fairly multifaceted view of our lives as South Asian American daughters. There are so many ways to be, there are so many ways our parents are. This book doesn't put us or our parents into boxes, it's honest and brave in how lays-it-all-out-there it is. Thank you to all the contributors, honestly. This is such an important book and I know it must have taken a lot to write each of the pieces.
Don't skip the foreword or introduction, either. They are both also great and amazing and you need to read them. The book also has a 'contributor biographies' section at the back which is great for learning a little bit more about the contributors and other things they have done!
Oh, something else I liked about this book was the variety of ages of the women contributing. It's always nice to hear from women older than me, who survived teenagerhood and their twenties before me. It's nice to know there were those who came before you, who understand, who have MADE IT, WHO ARE EXISTING.
Of course, being an anthology of personal stories, some of these resonate more with me than others. BUT, all of them moved me. And I feel like there are some stories that will grow in importance to me as I move through my life and enter different stages. I feel like there are stories in here that would be so helpful to point out to people, if you know the stories and if you know what someone is going through and what they need. As I said, being seen and heard. Knowing people have come before you.
I want to keep this book in my backpack-purse-thing all the time. I want to tell my friends all about it. I want to offer it to my mother for her reading (scary! a blog post about my feelings on this all on its own!).
I LOVE THIS BOOK
I feel like this anthology gave a fairly multifaceted view of our lives as South Asian American daughters. There are so many ways to be, there are so many ways our parents are. This book doesn't put us or our parents into boxes, it's honest and brave in how lays-it-all-out-there it is. Thank you to all the contributors, honestly. This is such an important book and I know it must have taken a lot to write each of the pieces.
Don't skip the foreword or introduction, either. They are both also great and amazing and you need to read them. The book also has a 'contributor biographies' section at the back which is great for learning a little bit more about the contributors and other things they have done!
Oh, something else I liked about this book was the variety of ages of the women contributing. It's always nice to hear from women older than me, who survived teenagerhood and their twenties before me. It's nice to know there were those who came before you, who understand, who have MADE IT, WHO ARE EXISTING.
Of course, being an anthology of personal stories, some of these resonate more with me than others. BUT, all of them moved me. And I feel like there are some stories that will grow in importance to me as I move through my life and enter different stages. I feel like there are stories in here that would be so helpful to point out to people, if you know the stories and if you know what someone is going through and what they need. As I said, being seen and heard. Knowing people have come before you.
I want to keep this book in my backpack-purse-thing all the time. I want to tell my friends all about it. I want to offer it to my mother for her reading (scary! a blog post about my feelings on this all on its own!).
I LOVE THIS BOOK
maharanis's review
5.0
A really great, touching collection that truly hits home for me as an Indian girl born/raised in North America.
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