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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
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medium-paced
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disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
Youngmi Mayer's memoir is incredibly and equally knee-slapper funny and concerning. She pulls no punches and displays a lot of bravery and moxie in what she divulges.
Youngmi Mayer's memoir is incredibly and equally knee-slapper funny and concerning. She pulls no punches and displays a lot of bravery and moxie in what she divulges.
Her voice comes through strongly and distinctly in her prose, and I was so impressed by her writing. She ruminates on her childhood in Korea, the model minority myth, her sexuality, her parents’ neglect and abuse, addiction, pre- and post-colonial/war attitudes & culture in Korea, the downfall of her marriage & business, religion, mortality, motherhood, and so much more. Her jokes can be evocative, vulgar, and cheeky, but she still finds ways to showcase genuine tenderness and vulnerability too. She contains multitudes!
I appreciated that in the beginning, she mentioned that even though her story may not be "unique" or "one of a kind," it's still worth sharing and I fully co-sign that. I'm so glad she shared part of her story with us, as I felt an array of emotions reading this. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I dropped my jaw open lol.
Youngmi's writing style flows well, the messages come full circle (even if she claims that the memoir goes in circles), and she remains true to her unimpressed, deadpan, goofy, brutally honest self.
If the audiobook is accessible to you, I highly recommend that format.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
Moderate: War
Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion
adventurous
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I was only vaguely aware of Youngmi Mayer from tiktok before picking up the audiobook of this blunt and honest memoir, read by the author. I think experiencing it as an audiobook greatly enhanced my experience- the sections in which the author's voice shook with emotion when describing, in particular, the hardships her family experienced during the Japanese occupation of Korea, meant the memories hit much harder than they might have if I was reading in print. Overall I was very impressed by Mayer's insights on her multi-cultural mixed-race childhood, how her parents' traumas impacted their ability to be present for their kids, and how that damage played out in her teens and early twenties. This book tackles a lot of heavy subjects including colonial violence, bullying, fat-shaming, eating disorders, drug use, suicide, and depression. The tone, which is almost aggressively matter-of-fact, with flashes of piercing insight and occasional jokes, kept me riveted. I do wish a late chapter on a brief queer relationship had been more thoughtful; that was one section that felt kind of half-baked and unnecessarily gender-binary. But overall I'd still recommend this memoir, especially for those looking for critical takes on the fault lines of both Korean and American culture.
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced