Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

21 reviews

shortstackz's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

3.5

This is a tough read for anyone who has experienced childhood food insecurity. Qian has a very lyrical writing style, leaving the reader to infer a lot about the inner lives of her parents throughout the story. It centers around the years where they were undocumented in the US, and I wish she delved more into the aftermath and unpacking of it. The lart chapter is a sprint through her adulthood, I would have liked to see how her life in Canada further contrasted against her Chinese and American lives. Particularly as she focused on her mother's journey throughout the memoir. It's easy to forget the political context of their move, especially when you see the glaring mysogyny of the father. A tough family dynamic between all involved, and a family struggling to find safe haven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Medical content

danahuff's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I reviewed this book on my blog.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Excrement, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Racism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Stalking, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Cancer

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

it always feels so odd to me, in some way, to talk about and rate memoirs because its somebodys life that youre, in essence, putting a number value on, so rather than try and do that ill just say that i loved the way Qian spoke about her life in the most intimate way that somebody can do; giving us the bad times, the good times, the scary times, and the times that maybe didnt paint her in the best light.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Deportation, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Violence, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, Chronic illness, Grief, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Excrement

mildlypretentiousreader's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

“Our family was closest in the face of pain.”

“Why were we expected to speak English while praising Americans for even the crumbiest dribble of Chinese?” 

Qian Julie Wang’s Beautiful Country details her life as an undocumented immigrant in New York City. As a young child, Qian and her mother reunite with her father in “Mei Guo,” the Chinese word for America meaning “Beautiful Country.” Mei Guo turns out to be anything but beautiful. 

Told through the lenses of a child, we peek into the fearful and harrowing life of an undocumented Chinese immigrant family. The Wang family is forced to live 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Body shaming, Classism, Deportation, Racial slurs, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Hate crime, Infidelity, and Stalking

a_sleepy_berry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

The story itself was beautiful and it was very easy to draw parallels to my own life as someone who also immigrated to the United States from a non-English speaking country. However, the pacing was kind of too slow for me and the writing style made it harder to read. Overall, if you love reading memoirs, I would highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, War, Xenophobia, Bullying, Abandonment, Racism, and Racial slurs

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I really don't know if I would have been able to manage this memoire without listening to the Audiobook, deftly narrated by the author. Being self-narrated it dodged a lot of messy casting issues such as having a reader who could not pronounce Chinese. I'm thankful for that.

Beautiful Country is a direct translation of the Chinese term for USA  美国 - Mĕiguó . Whenever I hear " Mĕiguó " spoken, I picture the characters in my mind. A year working at a Chinese Newspaper will do that to a nerdy lass who likes languages. I have always been struck by how ironic the name is. The memoire written is an awakening from a childhood where the author needs to protect herself over and again, from the perils of being an "illegal" migrant. When any false word could get you deported, you learn to say what people want to hear. 

From sweat shops, and bigoted teachers, buying the cheapest food possible, and making do with forgaed treasures, this is a candid story of poverty, Racism, and survival. I found the descriptions reminded me of many things that have been part of my life, and drew stark contrast between some of my own experiences as a White New Zealander ( Pākeha ) living in a country with social security. 

I expect that some of this recounting may be affronting to those who are unaware of the type of life that oppressed people can easily fall into. The story is that of someone who has survived, but doesn't really feel as saccharine as a lot of inspiration stories can be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Sexism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Deportation, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Abortion, and Gun violence

savvylit's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Beautiful Country is a damning description of the emotional damage experienced by undocumented families in the United States. From the moment they arrive, Qian and her parents' lives are constantly dictated by the fear of being discovered as illegal. Excruciating medical concerns are ignored until it's nearly too late. Her mother, who was a professor of Computer Science in China, is forced to take exploitative and horrific jobs just to survive. Qian attends public elementary school and feels pressure to constantly portray herself as a born-American -- even early on when she can barely speak English. Her parents buckle under the stress and fear, becoming emotionally abusive and depressed.

As a whole, Beautiful Country deftly unveils the powerful myth of the American Dream. Though Wang does eventually become a powerful lawyer, it is in spite of America -- not because of it. This memoir is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the challenges of living as an undocumented child in the U.S.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, Classism, Bullying, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Domestic abuse

newtons's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Medical content, Mental illness, Abandonment, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Domestic abuse

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Blood, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Bullying, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion