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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
The ending was so abrupt but the writing feels like fiction more than non-fiction that’s why the high rating.
Based 9n the blurb I was expecting this to be more about the authors development. We get some of that, but mostly this just reads like a frazzled rebuttal that she's not confident enough to direct to her parents and bio mom directly.
She was clearly manipulated and her identity neglected, but as a memoir from a thoughtful writer I expected to see more cohesion and substance in the story, not just "most of the people around me made me feel bad in ways I couldn't articulate but finally I made some Black friends who I love but also won't listen to when they try to help me see how poorly I'm being treated and changes I should make then I married a white man and have a Black son the end"
It was an interesting read, but I have to hide it's been done better by someone else
She was clearly manipulated and her identity neglected, but as a memoir from a thoughtful writer I expected to see more cohesion and substance in the story, not just "most of the people around me made me feel bad in ways I couldn't articulate but finally I made some Black friends who I love but also won't listen to when they try to help me see how poorly I'm being treated and changes I should make then I married a white man and have a Black son the end"
It was an interesting read, but I have to hide it's been done better by someone else
It was tough to read about how she "realized" she was black....and I think there are a lot of children who grew up in similar circumstances. The unabashedly way her parents ultimately treated her as a pet or a project....and how I feel they thought she should be grateful that they chose her to raise instead of owning and accepting that she may have felt different than their intent....yall didn't do her a favor. What yall really did was a huge disservice to who she was as a black child in America AND who she would become as a black woman in America. This book made so many emotions erupt out of me.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Wow. This memoir is so raw, so revealing of the microaggressions and traumas the author experienced throughout her life in predominantly white spaces, including her adoptive family and her birth mother. I read it in a day... Couldn't put it down.
I'm glad I read this for the author's direct and vivid descriptions of the ways her white family and friends (and white society) failed her as a child and young adult. Her story is illuminating. But I also found the writing uneven in places, with distracting details and a somewhat inconsistent tone.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Completely changed my opinion on transracial adoption from "can be fine or not, depends on the situation" to "not great, even under the best circumstances." I think I read this in two days. Very engaging read, but sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent
I would add a subtitle: surviving an incredibly dysfunctional upbringing. if you want to understand why some people need to cutoff their parents to survive and thrive - this is a prime example. her parents are incredibly self-absorbed (adoptive and birth mother) and this book could be used in counseling courses.
A lot to think about — particularly about Black children raised in white communities in the US with white parents.
A lot to think about — particularly about Black children raised in white communities in the US with white parents.