Reviews

Why Didn't You Tell Me? by Carmen Rita Wong

jwinchell's review

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4.0

I have no idea how I found this book, but I really got into Carmen’s story of growing up with 3 tumultuous parents, the only brown girl in all white New Hampshire. She constantly had to hustle. And what her mother kept secret from her all along is totally astounding. Lupe reminds me a little of Michelle Zauner’s mom in Crying in H Mart, just with much less love.

lshoer's review

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3.0

A little too "jump forward jump back" for me. Maybe I just don't like memoirs? But interesting questions about family, personal identity, and cultural history.

mjkness760's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

nyssamc's review

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slow-paced

3.0

susies_reading's review

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3.0

I wanted to read this after hearing several compelling interviews with Wong leading up to the release of this memoir. I was hooked with the title and description, but ultimately this just didn’t deliver. Wong had an interesting life beyond the mysteries of her father, and the father story is obviously pretty fascinating - she just didn’t tell either in a way that kept me eagerly coming back for more. I’m bummed that I can’t shout the praises of this one

xereads's review

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2.0

I don’t want to dwell too much on the subject since this is a memoir and for take sake of spoiling it. But I had a hard time remaining entertained and picking up my phone to finish listening to it. I think there was a lot of space fillers especially when it was kind of clear what the “secret” was. I think if the structure of the events were different this could’ve hit the mark better for me.

luckyniko's review

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4.0

it was so raw. it felt like carmen was really sitting in the rotation spilling her guts for all of us to see. it wasn't pretty and unnecessarily motivational. it was what she experienced and how she felt and how she has also been blessed.

the cover drew me in but she kept me until the end.

its hard to see all that our parents have been to, and want to empathize, but also realize that what they did was so fucked up!

elizabethsreads's review

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5.0

An engaging memoir exploring how one's sense of self is shaped and the intersections of racial, cultural, and genetic identity, racism, sexism, dysfunctional family, and mental health.

poeticsinglemama's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

vanillafire's review

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0