Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Beautiful Country

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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mildlypretentiousreader's review against another edition

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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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jobaji's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

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erebus53's review against another edition

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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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vaniavela's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Beautiful Country: A Memoir is an eye-opening debut that hooks you from the first few sentences.

My heart broke a couple of times reading it, finding her family's resilience and determination admirable. The author shares her experiences as an illegal immigrant, unafraid to show all the emotions she constantly felt growing up.

Wang writes this memoir from the perspective of her seven-year-old self, full of innocence and high expectations about the world. This is a really well-written and engaging book.

I admire how Qian Julie Wang writes, sharing an intimate part of herself with the rest of the world.

CW: racism and xenophobia (violence and slurs), asian fetishization, poverty and food insecurity, domestic violence, verbal abuse, body shaming, suicide attempt, trauma, animal abuse, pedophilic stalker, anxiety, psychological abuse/gaslighting, sexual harassment, mental illness, neglect.

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newtons's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

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megkwheeler's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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charlottie93's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book is heartbreaking in a beautiful way, it starts with Qians life in China before her Ba Ba leaves to go to the USA, eventually her and her Ma Ma also get to go to the USA and are reunited with her Ba Ba.

This is a memoir of Qians life as an undocumented person in the USA, the family has little money and has to adjust to a life in a country that's unfamiliar and where they don't speak the language.

While some parts of the book were alien to me (moving to a new country for example) other parts really brought back memories of my childhood (only having 1 pair of shoes for the school year, worrying about class trips because money was tight / non-existent).

Honestly I couldn't put this book down, it should be a must read for everyone so that people can truly appreciate the sacrifices people go to in order to have a better life.

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