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ginnyandtonic's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Right off the bat, loved that the author acknowledged the mistakes she made in talking to her trans brother when starting this project. That drew me in from the beginning — this is going to be an honest memoir. And I adored the honesty across the board in this story. Jessi didn’t necessarily try to make herself likable, was honest about her mistakes throughout her relationships, and that was compelling. All her family members and their specific “coming out” stories were also deeply compelling. What keeps this from being five stars for me is the pacing, some unclear timelines, and also how I feel like the last several chapters of the book just kind of sloped down. But overall, I recommend this book, especially in understanding the nuances of queer families.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Mental illness, Grief, Homophobia, Death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Miscarriage, Self harm, Biphobia, Medical content, Rape, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia
spinesinaline's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada for an ARC to review. I appreciated the discussion of trauma here and that this family could find some individual healing but with the amount of traumatic content I really needed some content warnings. CWs for self-harm (described on page), serial murders, sexual assault, homophobia, transphobia, depression, infidelity, gun violence, cancer, miscarriage, discussion of deadnaming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Homophobia, Cancer, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Deadnaming, Infidelity, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Infertility
Minor: Miscarriage and Gun violence
siobhanward's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The premise was interesting and I enjoyed how Hempel spoke about her time writing this and working with her family to do so. I'm glad she spoke to her family directly and even discussed her learnings from those conversations (e.g. referring to her brother as Evan throughout the book, rather than deadnaming him). I wish more time had been devoted to Hempel's mother as her story was the most disconnected from the others and it felt like it had a short mention at the start and then basically nothing else that was really relevant.
Overall, this was a fun read, I enjoyed how reflective Hempel was, although sometimes it felt like she wasn't focused on the right things.
Overall, this was a fun read, I enjoyed how reflective Hempel was, although sometimes it felt like she wasn't focused on the right things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Homophobia
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, and Death
kelly_e's review
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Title: The Family Outing
Author: Jessi Hempel
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.0
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Interesting • Vulnerable • Encouraging
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Jessi Hempel was raised in a middle-class American family, yet the truth was far from perfect.
Her father was constantly away from home, while her stay-at-home mother became increasingly lonely and erratic. Growing up, Jessi and her two siblings struggled to make sense of their family, their world, their changing bodies, and the emotional turmoil each was experiencing.
By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer. Yet coming out was just the beginning, starting a chain reaction of other personal revelations and reckonings that caused each of them to question their place in the world in new and ultimately liberating ways.
💭 T H O U G H T S
What a poignant, well-written memoir about queer identities, transformation, and a family coming to terms with who they are individually, as well as collectively. The narrative offers a variety of experiences, as each member of the family moves towards living their authentic lives.
Hempel writes with vulnerability and honesty about her family's dysfunction and complexities. Sharing her family's experiences, we see how they each grew on their own, culminating in growth and acceptance as a whole as well.
However, it must be said that the accounts are told solely from the author's lens. Yes, the family was interviewed as part of the writing process, but it is Jessi that did the writing. And because of this, each person's story felt like a quick summary rather than the emotional deep dive I desired. I simply wanted more depth.
And I know it may seem contradictory to ask for more depth, while also saying it felt too long, but both a true. Additionally, because the stories aren't told in chronological order, it felt a little scrambled at times.
Mixing heaviness and pain with joy and love, The Family Outing unearths the damage of long-held secrets, the liberating nature of living as our authentic selves, and the healing power of telling our stories.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• memoir lovers
• readers searching for coming-out or queer family stories
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"All change is abrupt, even the change that happens slowly over time. There's always a singular moment that defines it: It's the flip of a switch, the wrong turn, the letter opened, the instant of knowing. Afterward, you search back to see who you were in the seconds before the change. You try to experience the feeling of life you have just left. But it's as impossible as trying to conjure the feeling of snow in summer."
Author: Jessi Hempel
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.0
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Interesting • Vulnerable • Encouraging
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Jessi Hempel was raised in a middle-class American family, yet the truth was far from perfect.
Her father was constantly away from home, while her stay-at-home mother became increasingly lonely and erratic. Growing up, Jessi and her two siblings struggled to make sense of their family, their world, their changing bodies, and the emotional turmoil each was experiencing.
By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer. Yet coming out was just the beginning, starting a chain reaction of other personal revelations and reckonings that caused each of them to question their place in the world in new and ultimately liberating ways.
💭 T H O U G H T S
What a poignant, well-written memoir about queer identities, transformation, and a family coming to terms with who they are individually, as well as collectively. The narrative offers a variety of experiences, as each member of the family moves towards living their authentic lives.
Hempel writes with vulnerability and honesty about her family's dysfunction and complexities. Sharing her family's experiences, we see how they each grew on their own, culminating in growth and acceptance as a whole as well.
However, it must be said that the accounts are told solely from the author's lens. Yes, the family was interviewed as part of the writing process, but it is Jessi that did the writing. And because of this, each person's story felt like a quick summary rather than the emotional deep dive I desired. I simply wanted more depth.
And I know it may seem contradictory to ask for more depth, while also saying it felt too long, but both a true. Additionally, because the stories aren't told in chronological order, it felt a little scrambled at times.
Mixing heaviness and pain with joy and love, The Family Outing unearths the damage of long-held secrets, the liberating nature of living as our authentic selves, and the healing power of telling our stories.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• memoir lovers
• readers searching for coming-out or queer family stories
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"All change is abrupt, even the change that happens slowly over time. There's always a singular moment that defines it: It's the flip of a switch, the wrong turn, the letter opened, the instant of knowing. Afterward, you search back to see who you were in the seconds before the change. You try to experience the feeling of life you have just left. But it's as impossible as trying to conjure the feeling of snow in summer."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Cancer and Death
Minor: Grief
PTSD, depression
More...