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A review by jraia
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
fast-paced
1.5
I enjoyed Ali Wong’s Netflix specials but I really did not enjoy this book. I have no problem with crude/vulgar humor, but the majority of this book is just extreme vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity. There are a few nuggets of nice advice/sentiments, but it’s very hard to find them amidst the chaos of this book.
Wong speaks with frustration about judgement she has received, but 80% of this book is just her slinging very hateful judgements of everyone and everything, which come off even more rage-filled in the audiobook because of how she reads it. Everyone else is terrible and her way/opinion is always the best (big “not like other girls” energy in a lot of places); she is the best for eating the snake heart and fuck you if you don’t want to eat it too.
It’s also disturbing how casually she speaks about her and a male comedian exposing parts of their genitals during shows. This isn’t quirky and funny. It’s indecent exposure, and is, in fact, a crime.
Wong also talks a lot about how hard it was to be a stay at home parent. At no point does she mention the nanny they had who helped take care of their children. I find it off-putting that the nanny is completely omitted to make the narrative more relatable, and is only mentioned once in a throwaway line in the afterword, written by Wong’s husband.
I did not find this book funny. I found it very difficult to get through listening to endless tirades of judgement. You can be honest and have opinions without being an asshole, but Wong has clearly not figured that out. This is meant to be letters to her daughters, but I hope they never read it. I would hate to read this from my mother. Not because I’m uninterested in her thoughts on eating ass (though that’s true), but because I’d be so disappointed to hear this level of hate and judgement from my mom.
Wong speaks with frustration about judgement she has received, but 80% of this book is just her slinging very hateful judgements of everyone and everything, which come off even more rage-filled in the audiobook because of how she reads it. Everyone else is terrible and her way/opinion is always the best (big “not like other girls” energy in a lot of places); she is the best for eating the snake heart and fuck you if you don’t want to eat it too.
It’s also disturbing how casually she speaks about her and a male comedian exposing parts of their genitals during shows. This isn’t quirky and funny. It’s indecent exposure, and is, in fact, a crime.
Wong also talks a lot about how hard it was to be a stay at home parent. At no point does she mention the nanny they had who helped take care of their children. I find it off-putting that the nanny is completely omitted to make the narrative more relatable, and is only mentioned once in a throwaway line in the afterword, written by Wong’s husband.
I did not find this book funny. I found it very difficult to get through listening to endless tirades of judgement. You can be honest and have opinions without being an asshole, but Wong has clearly not figured that out. This is meant to be letters to her daughters, but I hope they never read it. I would hate to read this from my mother. Not because I’m uninterested in her thoughts on eating ass (though that’s true), but because I’d be so disappointed to hear this level of hate and judgement from my mom.