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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Xenophobia
I was first introduced to Qian Julie Wang through her beautiful NYT OpEd about the safety, connection, and fear of the NYC subways (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/opinion/subway-new-york-city.html?smid=url-share).
This, too, is beautifully written. Wang’s memoir of living as an undocumented child in NYC is full of pain, trauma, loss, and resilience. A powerful story for anyone who wants to understand the fears of people who come to the the “land of the free” for a better life and are faced with a harsh, punitive system with barriers and fears everywhere. I’m also reflecting on how invisible our society makes people who are undocumented - especially those from Asian countries or from the Pacific Islands.
This, too, is beautifully written. Wang’s memoir of living as an undocumented child in NYC is full of pain, trauma, loss, and resilience. A powerful story for anyone who wants to understand the fears of people who come to the the “land of the free” for a better life and are faced with a harsh, punitive system with barriers and fears everywhere. I’m also reflecting on how invisible our society makes people who are undocumented - especially those from Asian countries or from the Pacific Islands.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Listened to the audiobook, which was very immersive Bc it was read by the author. Being able to speak the authors native language made for another level of understanding that I haven’t experienced before with audiobooks
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.4 I think this would've been an easy 5 stars if I read it faster but I lost some of the flow from reading it so slowly.
So beautiful and scary, written amazing. Truly gives you an entirely new perspective on living in the U.S
So beautiful and scary, written amazing. Truly gives you an entirely new perspective on living in the U.S
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I’m not one to read memoirs much but this will stick with me for a long time, especially given the current climate. Ms. Wang tells her beautiful & painful story of how she & her parents came to New York. A reminder that most immigrant. families, regardless of where they immigrate, are just looking for a better life. They’re not coming to steal jobs (4 cents for every label affixed to the neckline of a shirt? Who’s being displaced from that lofty position? But I digress) or anything nefarious for that matter; they’re coming for hope because there was none before. Difficult to read at times but beautiful all the same.
A beautiful book about an undocumented Chinese immigrant, and the struggles of being a poor child in a new country. One small complaint -as other reviewers point out, the ending is abrupt and inconsistent with the rest of the book. It feels as though Wang was told to wrap things up and so she did halfway through the story.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Such a great read, reminds me of The Glass Castle. It's crazy that just two decades ago even with living in the information age how much the family was suffering and how the wounds from childhood ripple throughout a lifetime.