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emeryyy's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
i’d like to preface this by saying that my rating is not of the story itself, because
1) it’s not something i usually read, and
2) i dislike rating something so brutally honest, vulnerable, and personal.
instead, it’s of how the story was written and told
i don’t usually read memoirs. not because i don’t like them; i just generally prefer other books. but this synopsis - immigrant family, medical malpractice, impossible beauty standards - caught my attention. it’s a very moving story that addresses fatphobia, the targeting of immigrants and people of color in the medical field, intergenerational trauma and healing, and so much more. the author describes the impact her mother’s death had not just on her but her entire family. she details all the questions she was left with - questions her family wouldn’t, or couldn’t, answer. i appreciated the way the memoir was broken down into six parts, for the six tones in Vietnamese: ma (ghost), mả (tomb), mà (but), má (mother), mạ (newborn rice seedling), and mã (horse)
thank you to BookishFirst and Celadon Books for the arc!
1) it’s not something i usually read, and
2) i dislike rating something so brutally honest, vulnerable, and personal.
instead, it’s of how the story was written and told
i don’t usually read memoirs. not because i don’t like them; i just generally prefer other books. but this synopsis - immigrant family, medical malpractice, impossible beauty standards - caught my attention. it’s a very moving story that addresses fatphobia, the targeting of immigrants and people of color in the medical field, intergenerational trauma and healing, and so much more. the author describes the impact her mother’s death had not just on her but her entire family. she details all the questions she was left with - questions her family wouldn’t, or couldn’t, answer. i appreciated the way the memoir was broken down into six parts, for the six tones in Vietnamese: ma (ghost), mả (tomb), mà (but), má (mother), mạ (newborn rice seedling), and mã (horse)
thank you to BookishFirst and Celadon Books for the arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
m_a_j's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Vomit
katiemcgregor's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I’m not a memoir reader — as in I can’t remember the last time I read one (or if I ever have). But I’m realizing this may be a facet of my reading tastes that I’ve never afforded a fair chance.
Lieu is a natural story teller. So natural that I had to look it up several times to confirm that this is, in fact, her debut book. Now I’m afraid that she’s set a standard so high that the next memoir I pick up will be disappointing by comparison.
The scenes Lieu crafts are vivid and we move through them in such a snappy and efficient way that there’s always something to think about. She does a phenomenal job of fleshing out events, emotions, and interactions and giving them space to exist without dwelling on them to the detriment of pacing.
Lieu is a person so extremely different from myself which, I think, made The Manicurist’s Daughter all the more interesting to read. I would very much recommend this to those who already love memoirs and those wanting to get into them.
Lieu is a natural story teller. So natural that I had to look it up several times to confirm that this is, in fact, her debut book. Now I’m afraid that she’s set a standard so high that the next memoir I pick up will be disappointing by comparison.
The scenes Lieu crafts are vivid and we move through them in such a snappy and efficient way that there’s always something to think about. She does a phenomenal job of fleshing out events, emotions, and interactions and giving them space to exist without dwelling on them to the detriment of pacing.
Lieu is a person so extremely different from myself which, I think, made The Manicurist’s Daughter all the more interesting to read. I would very much recommend this to those who already love memoirs and those wanting to get into them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, and Body shaming
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Pregnancy
bibliomich's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Out of respect for authors' personal stories, I prefer not to provide star ratings for memoirs.
Susan Lieu is the self-proclaimed keeper of her family's story--the one who has tasked herself with preserving the memories of her siblings, her father, and in particular, her mother who passed away during cosmetic surgery due to medical malpractice when Susan was only 11 years old. The telling of this story proves to be a lofty task, as Susan runs into many roadblocks along the way, including reluctant family members who would prefer not to talk about any of it, in addition to facing her own trauma.
While there were many elements of this story that I found to be incredibly compelling, overall I found the memoir to be uneven, specifically when it came to pacing and tone. There were times when the author would spend whole paragraphs detailing a single meal, but then she would blow right past an event that seemed to me (as a reader) like it would hold much more significance. Of course, who am I to judge what an author finds significant in her own story?
Much of the story was heavy. It felt as though this book was a form of therapy for Susan, as she worked through the loss of her mother, as well as toxicity within her family. Susan also tried to inject moments of humor into her story. Many of these fell flat for me, either seeming overly cynical or dismissive. I would have loved to see Susan explore some of her themes a little more deeply: the generational body shaming within her family that haunted her well into adulthood (and may have contributed to her mother's decision to have surgery), her parents' early struggles as Vietnamese refugees and the impact this had on the way they raised her and her siblings, or her decision to use performance art as a way to heal. These were some of the strongest points in the book that were ultimately overshadowed by vignettes that felt less connected to her story.
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced listener copy.
Susan Lieu is the self-proclaimed keeper of her family's story--the one who has tasked herself with preserving the memories of her siblings, her father, and in particular, her mother who passed away during cosmetic surgery due to medical malpractice when Susan was only 11 years old. The telling of this story proves to be a lofty task, as Susan runs into many roadblocks along the way, including reluctant family members who would prefer not to talk about any of it, in addition to facing her own trauma.
While there were many elements of this story that I found to be incredibly compelling, overall I found the memoir to be uneven, specifically when it came to pacing and tone. There were times when the author would spend whole paragraphs detailing a single meal, but then she would blow right past an event that seemed to me (as a reader) like it would hold much more significance. Of course, who am I to judge what an author finds significant in her own story?
Much of the story was heavy. It felt as though this book was a form of therapy for Susan, as she worked through the loss of her mother, as well as toxicity within her family. Susan also tried to inject moments of humor into her story. Many of these fell flat for me, either seeming overly cynical or dismissive. I would have loved to see Susan explore some of her themes a little more deeply: the generational body shaming within her family that haunted her well into adulthood (and may have contributed to her mother's decision to have surgery), her parents' early struggles as Vietnamese refugees and the impact this had on the way they raised her and her siblings, or her decision to use performance art as a way to heal. These were some of the strongest points in the book that were ultimately overshadowed by vignettes that felt less connected to her story.
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced listener copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: War and Panic attacks/disorders
caseythereader's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Thanks to Celadon Books for the free copy of this book.
- If you’re a lover of memoirs exploring intergenerational trauma, THE MANICURIST’S DAUGHTER is one you can’t miss.
- Lieu’s to-the-point writing brings all her pain to the surface as we follow her trying both to figure out who she is an who her family members are as well.
- As Lieu’s understanding of and empathy for her family members’ individual grief processes grows, we begin to see a portrait of a family doing its best to hold on to each other even as they’ve experienced the worst the world has to offer.
- If you’re a lover of memoirs exploring intergenerational trauma, THE MANICURIST’S DAUGHTER is one you can’t miss.
- Lieu’s to-the-point writing brings all her pain to the surface as we follow her trying both to figure out who she is an who her family members are as well.
- As Lieu’s understanding of and empathy for her family members’ individual grief processes grows, we begin to see a portrait of a family doing its best to hold on to each other even as they’ve experienced the worst the world has to offer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Body shaming, Death, Pregnancy, Racism, War, and Grief
Minor: Suicide and Alcohol
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