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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Beautifully written memoir - hard to read how unforgiving this "beautiful country" can be for immigrants.
emotional
reflective
sad
I don’t usually rate memoirs but this was amazing. I loved her writing style and I feel like her story really helped me better understand the hardships and struggles of immigrants in America. Overall amazing book and would love to read a book if she writes another one about her life.
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Certainly a challenging story of Qian Julie Wang's experience growing up as an undocumented Chinese immigrant in New York City, and her navigating barriers of poverty and healthcare. The story is solely focused on her childhood from ages ~7-11, and it went into specific details that I felt were unnecessary and slowed down the pacing. My favorite was the last 2 chapters and I wanted to hear more of her experience as she got older and dealt with the demons from her childhood.
Because the story is so focused on these ~5 years of her life in the US, the memoir came off as her processing childhood trauma. It's pretty bleak throughout with little redemption or coming of age, except it is slightly mentioned by the very end. This story almost feels too personal for the general public to read (and purchase), and I'm not sure what the takeaways are other than awareness and empathy for one account of the undocumented immigrant experience.
I listened on audio read by the author, and the narration was helpful for the pronunciation of Chinese phrases, but the tone lacked the emotion that would have enhanced the story.
Because the story is so focused on these ~5 years of her life in the US, the memoir came off as her processing childhood trauma. It's pretty bleak throughout with little redemption or coming of age, except it is slightly mentioned by the very end. This story almost feels too personal for the general public to read (and purchase), and I'm not sure what the takeaways are other than awareness and empathy for one account of the undocumented immigrant experience.
I listened on audio read by the author, and the narration was helpful for the pronunciation of Chinese phrases, but the tone lacked the emotion that would have enhanced the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Deportation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Beautiful and devastating. The author of this memoir stunningly tells the story of her early life as an undocumented immigrant in New York through the lens of her childhood self. Only made more captivating by the audiobook which is narrated by the author. Easiest 5 star rating I have ever given.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
In this memoir, Wang shares her experiences of being a young undocumented immigrant child in America. Wang moves from China to NY and talks about her experiences from age 7 to 6th grade. Learning new language, customs, navigating school and a hard and hungry home life were big changes for Wang and many other immigrants. TV and books became her first friends and I think that rings true for many immigrant kids. I learned to speak English from watching Sesame Street myself! I think living in the shadows and the fear of being found out by authorities is clearly described through Wang's experiences and it made me think of all the children who don't have a say in coming to America but have to live with the consequences of their parents' actions. This was good in audio format as well as in print, recommend either.