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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Cursing, Dysphoria, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Alcohol, and Hate crime
Minor: Racial slurs, Bullying, Sexual content, and Antisemitism
chrisljm's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Hsu's lyrical writing and how nostalgic his prose was. The memoir was sprinkled with setting specific details that left me wistful of a time period where I didn't even exist yet. He recollects growing up as a second generation Asian American Californian youth in the 90s, interlacing the ways that shaped his identity, along with the clothes, music, and the cultural and political events especially during his college years. He also details the unlikely friendship he develops with Ken, and the grief and guilt he feels after Ken's murder. The memoir is vivid, atmospheric, and so insightful. You're transported to moments in Hsu's life where he is very emotionally honest in the way he shows us the person he was during his teens and early 20s.
Reading this leaves me reflecting on my own friendships and the inkling of fear I have of death, not for my own but for the people around me, and if I'll ever be able to remember them with the clarity Hsu seems to of Ken. I think the worst part of mortality, besides loss, is how fleeting memory is and the way details will be forgotten and how all we can ask is Can you stay with me a little longer?
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Cursing, Hate crime, Violence, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Sexual assault, and War
kitausu's review
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Child death, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Cursing
caseythereader's review against another edition
4.0
- STAY TRUE is a meandering memoir, a book that truly captures the roaming of the mind that happens in college friendships as you are trying to figure out yourself and your relationship to the world.
- The blending of pop culture and philosophy in this book is wonderful, prompting deep consideration of how we choose to present ourselves and interact with others.
- The last portion of this book, after Ken’s death, is really hard. I think Hsu nailed that feeling of being unmoored after a loss, and it’s painful and beautiful to follow him as he tries to make sense of it all.
Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Confinement, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual violence