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4.46 AVERAGE
4.46 AVERAGE
This book is so so heavy right up until the end. I was hoping it would give me answers, some type of road map towards how to navigate my own complex relationship with my mother and my queerness and my sense of duty to both. Instead I was given the truth that I can’t figure out how to hold—choosing yourself is hard, much of the time, even when it’s worth it. I was especially touched by Putsata’s relationship to exploring queerness in Seattle, and felt so many of the same emotions. Reading about her experiences in Wildrose, our lesbian bar, reminded me so much of how I felt when I first stepped foot in there and was fully immersed in a sapphic space for the first time. I also felt so connected to her experience living in two different cultures and grappling with that, despite them being so different from my own. Overall I thought this memoir was beautiful and heartbreaking and the confirmation I needed that I am doing the right thing by honoring my identity despite the culture I was born into.
emotional
hopeful
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sad
challenging
dark
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medium-paced
Ma and Me is a memoir about a Cambodian refugee who is torn apart between her gay identity and her filial piety to her mother, who went through mountains to provide a future on their table. It started with her mother detailing their lives before, during, and after the escape from Cambodia—we also witnessed how she sacrificed her dreams to settle down with her husband and how she continued to make sacrifices as they went to America. She took care of the children day and night, but the author will always hold her dear for specific reasons. However, the author continues to fail to live up to the expectations of her mother, and instead of giving in, she followed her own ways—refusing to be unhappy in a sham of a marriage—while her mother felt that she was a failure at parenting. A mother who's too traditional when it comes to following her country's culture and a daughter who's too liberal—they are meant to clash.
challenging
emotional
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inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
It’s a beautiful story of the entwinement of mother and daughter. Its a sad but powerful story of identity, generational trauma, and the cultural dance of immigration and assimilation.
challenging
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slow-paced
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"To be born a daughter, is to be born in debt"
Hardest line I've heard all year.
Such a heartfelt and agonizing tale as old as time! As someone hyper attached to my mother I relate so hard! Makes me grateful that my Ma (which is what I also call her) was very accepting when I came out, but also made me think of a universe of where she didn't. Would I have had the strength to forge my own path or would I back down and live the life she paved for me?
Hardest line I've heard all year.
Such a heartfelt and agonizing tale as old as time! As someone hyper attached to my mother I relate so hard! Makes me grateful that my Ma (which is what I also call her) was very accepting when I came out, but also made me think of a universe of where she didn't. Would I have had the strength to forge my own path or would I back down and live the life she paved for me?
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
this is one of the most beautifully written books i’ve ever read. wow. i am such a huge fan of reang’s writing style and appreciated the way this memoir highlighted the many interpersonal familial relationship. wow is really the only word i can think of to describe it. i will certainly be familiarizing myself with cambodian history, too. beautiful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced