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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Racism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Stalking, Bullying, and Physical abuse
Minor: Infidelity and Cancer
xeniba's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I felt this was beautifully written, though difficult to read at times because of the trauma the author experienced. I’m grateful to the author for being so transparent and sharing her story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma, Child abuse, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
keeganrb's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
grimviolins's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Racial slurs, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion and Physical abuse
ellieintherye's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I had to stop reading for 24 hours after finishing this because I wasn't ready to jump into anything new. To do that (like I normally do) would have felt almost obscene — I had to give this memoir the hangover it deserves.
The whole memoir takes place during a 5-year period of time in Wang's life (age 7-12ish) when her folks were trying to make it in America as Chinese immigrants. She suffered numerous consequences of poverty, parental stress and inter-generational trauma. There's no huge "event"; there's no trauma-porn (although, holy shit, this is definitely a traumatic period of her life). It's written as a matter of fact, and you can hear the childhood precociousness in her voice as she writes from her childhood perspective.
Wang is a beautiful writer. Her imagery is perfect at all times, painting pictures of a world that I know nothing about. Yet, somehow, I see it. I understand it, I smell it, I hear it. Truly remarkable. I'd like to say this is the best-written memoir I've ever read. Not only is the story captivating, but seriously, her writing is just that good.
So many memoirs these days really need a SHOCK FACTOR, which makes the whole "I've written a memoir" thing worthwhile. This doesn't rely on that. Instead, this is a slow-ish burn about all the decidedly unbeautiful things about Mei Guo, aka Beautiful Country, aka, America, but all the small, life-saving pleasures too: a Tomagatchi, a kitten, a bite of greasy pizza, a Hello Kitty pencil. It's carefully constructed, perfectly paced, and edited to include just the right amount of information to back up her astute observations of immigrant life in the American mid-90s.
Not only do I highly, highly recommend reading this, I recommend it on audiobook especially. Wang includes many, many Mandarin words and definitions, which adds another layer of beauty to the story.
The whole memoir takes place during a 5-year period of time in Wang's life (age 7-12ish) when her folks were trying to make it in America as Chinese immigrants. She suffered numerous consequences of poverty, parental stress and inter-generational trauma. There's no huge "event"; there's no trauma-porn (although, holy shit, this is definitely a traumatic period of her life). It's written as a matter of fact, and you can hear the childhood precociousness in her voice as she writes from her childhood perspective.
Wang is a beautiful writer. Her imagery is perfect at all times, painting pictures of a world that I know nothing about. Yet, somehow, I see it. I understand it, I smell it, I hear it. Truly remarkable. I'd like to say this is the best-written memoir I've ever read. Not only is the story captivating, but seriously, her writing is just that good.
So many memoirs these days really need a SHOCK FACTOR, which makes the whole "I've written a memoir" thing worthwhile. This doesn't rely on that. Instead, this is a slow-ish burn about all the decidedly unbeautiful things about Mei Guo, aka Beautiful Country, aka, America, but all the small, life-saving pleasures too: a Tomagatchi, a kitten, a bite of greasy pizza, a Hello Kitty pencil. It's carefully constructed, perfectly paced, and edited to include just the right amount of information to back up her astute observations of immigrant life in the American mid-90s.
Not only do I highly, highly recommend reading this, I recommend it on audiobook especially. Wang includes many, many Mandarin words and definitions, which adds another layer of beauty to the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
brdoyle08's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Animal cruelty
thebookwormkatie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Thank you to @netgalley and @doubleday books for an advanced readers copy of this memoir.
Part of me wanted to hold off on reviewing this simply because I’m still digesting it, but the other half of me decided I will probably continue to think about it for a while.
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang pulls the reader into the life of seven-year-old Qian, an undocumented child living in New York City. I think what made this memoir powerful was reading about her life through the eyes of a child; seeing how America appeared to Qian, how her parents interacted with one another, how impactful their words and actions were on Qian, and especially Qian’s experience in school. The educator in me was heartbroken at many of the experiences Qian had in school. The human in me was heartbroken at many of Qian’s experiences in life.
I really enjoy reading memoirs because I love having a glimpse into other people’s lives and experiences. This memoir was no different. I found myself longing to read more about Qian’s life at the end of the book. It was heartbreaking, educating, and extremely vulnerable. I would recommend this memoir not only if you like memoirs, but simply to allow yourself the opportunity to learn from someone else’s perspective and experience.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, and Vomit
Minor: Physical abuse
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