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kharcourt's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Medical trauma, Violence, and Terminal illness
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...