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emotional
reflective
medium-paced
This is a really great memoir. Maybe not for you if you dislike an abundance of philosophical thoughts woven into someone’s life, but I thought it was really interesting and enjoyable.
emotional
reflective
sad
cried! hsu writes so poignantly about the nuances of friendship and identity, and the challenge of trying to finding the latter during your teens and early 20s. the tact/grace (relative to how other people would write about a loved one’s killers) shown in his descriptions of the perpetrators really stood out to me, as well as the way he enveloped other crimes into the narrative. hsu somehow manages to center the victim and his family/friends, while not admonishing the perpetrators (allowing the reader to deal with their feelings about the crime) and weaving a narrative about violence in a collective sense. it’s not something that i think many could’ve done as tactfully or successfully. the years poured into this are apparent. for such a short book, it packs a punch. no space is wasted in this. great, affective read.
Stay True is a beautifully written memoir that explores friendship and loss with both heart and humor. Despite the very real tragedy central to the book, the author's word choices and turns of phrase made it an entertaining read (I was constantly looking up what words meant and marveling at Hsu's use of them). The storytelling felt intimate and effortless -- a real late '90s period piece.
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I will admit it’s hard for me to read a memoir. The writing is pretentious, which takes away from the emotion for me, but the story is meaningful and heartbreaking.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
print
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
it was mostly enjoyable, but a lot of the thoughts felt disjointed and it wasn’t always clear what the point of it all is. overall the story is solid and i enjoyed how relatable it was as a fellow cal alum
This is not what I expected.
Honestly, I had to stop and then ask myself what I actually expected and I guess I just didn’t think I would connect with this memoir as much as I did.
Even though we’re a generation apart, i felt like I was reliving my own college years and experiencing the feeling we have at that age of being limitless. I also grew up in the Bay Area as the daughter of Asian immigrant, so the resonance was very real for me.
Honestly, I had to stop and then ask myself what I actually expected and I guess I just didn’t think I would connect with this memoir as much as I did.
Even though we’re a generation apart, i felt like I was reliving my own college years and experiencing the feeling we have at that age of being limitless. I also grew up in the Bay Area as the daughter of Asian immigrant, so the resonance was very real for me.
For an emotional book, much of it was strangely detached