hotmessmamareads 's review for:

Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang

3.0

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I opted to read this book after hearing about the TV show, Fresh Off the Boat. I checked out the show, thought it was funny, and saw that it was based on this memoir by a celebrity chef. I bought the book instantly because I was curious to read about how another Asian American grew up here. There are a lot of things that rang true for me as an Asian American (or Pacific Islander if you want to get technical), but also just things I felt I could relate to in this book. There was a lot of it that I couldn't (the violence, the fighting back, Eddie's OG dad, and a good chunk of the hip hop culture he adopts), so while I found the book entertaining overall, I sometimes got lost in the slang he used. On the whole, I don't know if I followed him all throughout the memoir, but I feel like I got the gist of how he grew up and learned to embrace who he is--even if it meant finding a different way to embrace his history and his culture. Overall, a quick/easy read that provides more depth than the show and encourages Asian Americans to be proud of who they are, where they came from, and to connect with their roots.