Reviews - Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl

91 reviews for:

Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl

Devastating memoir of bad mental health diagnosis, resilience, complicated family love, finding one's vocation. Sometimes I didn't like her and began to question the veracity of her narration... but in the end I mostly trusted her. I liked her childhood perspective the most.

a_fischer's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

mia_mekhi's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

rubyseemorebooks's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional funny medium-paced

purplemuskogee's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

I found this memoir really interesting to follow and really moving. I think part of the joy was knowing nothing about the author, Hyeseung Song, so not knowing what she would end up doing, as her parents urge her to go to Harvard and pursue a law degree. She goes through what growing up Korean in Texas meant for her, and her family - her father who dreams of success and wealth, and comes up with a new business idea every few weeks; her mum who pushes her academically and seems to live vicariously through Hyeseung. She gets into Princeton, then Harvard, but her mental health is poor and she describes long periods of being unable to get out of bed, supported by her husband, not sharing much with her parents, not knowing what to do with her studies and her life.
I found it well-written and really engaging, although at times I find her ellipses made it confusing: she will tell a story, and only at the end reveal something else had happened before - she did that several times and although I found it easy to follow, I wondered why this was used so often and what it brought to her narrative.
I won't share what she ends up doing and the path she chooses because I think that was a nice thing to discover along with the author.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

Content Warnings

i_love_lee_jin's review against another edition

4.0

4.5(?) I bought this book because from the flap it said there was a lot of discussion on Asian American issues, particularly around mental health and identity. I bought it more so to learn, but I ended up relating to it more than I would’ve imagined. Firstly, the author is from Houston, where I was born and visit often. The way she describes it is pretty much how I would describe it, and when reading it I remembered getting the same feelings I always have when I’m there. Second, how she describes mental health episodes…. Hits close to home you could say. I’d say so much more but I’d end up spoiling it. It’s a memoir about growing up Asian American in a primarily white town, trying to constantly meet expectations, but I think it’s much more than that. Song tells the reader about some of the not-so-fun parts of being human, and she does it so so SO beautifully. I didn’t cry (I have never cried at a book, movie, or show- my claim to fame), but dammit if I didn’t think about it.

I’ll address two criticisms from some other reviews: “it ended too abruptly.” Yeah, it’s a memoir. She’s still alive. Her life has gone on. Quite literally, her story isn’t done. What did you think would happen?

“I think I’ll forget about it soon.” I honestly think you just didn’t relate to it like I did, because some of the stuff described above will stick with me for a while.

Are you interested in Asian American issues? Mental health? The sad parts of life delivered in an honest way? Houston? All of the above at the same time? Then you’d love this.