artofkcf 's review for:

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

4.0

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I enjoyed this memoir, though I think I would have enjoyed reading it vs. listening to it. For some reason, the author's narration was not super compelling to me, though there were several parts of the story that inspired empathy. This book provides a stark reality of what it means to live in the shadows as an undocumented immigrant, that this undocumented life is a cloud surrounding a Chinese family unit of mom, dad, and daughter brings a unique element. You do want to root for Qian, the daughter of this family whose life is unstable due to poverty, stress, domestic violence, xenaphobia... it is both a love letter and apocalyptic tale largely set in New York City.