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A review by bookdragon217
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
"I am tired. I am so very tired of running and hiding, but I have done it for so long, I don't know how to stop. I don't know how to do anything else. It is all I am: defining myself against illegality while stitching it into my veins."
Beautiful Country is a riveting account about what it costs to chase the American Dream and how it destroys the very fabric that holds family together. My heart was breaking as I read it and it gave me a new perspective of the Chinese immigrant experience. Wang's writing is beautiful and her emotions pour out from the pages. Her voice is authentic and one that will continue to haunt me and demand to be heard. This memoir is timely and necessary and will surely give you some issues to examine and contemplate further.
Wang's use of the title as a theme throughout the novel was brilliant. It draws me to ask myself what makes this country so beautiful. How can a "beautiful country":
💔 strip you of your basic humanity?
💔 push into the shadows of invisibility for survival?
💔 erase your identity in an attempt to "better" your future?
💔 diminish your accomplishments and force you to start over?
💔 bring you to a constant state of anxiety?
💔 literally starve you and your children yet ask so much of you?
💔 make empty promises and sell you false dreams?
💔 keep you isolated and make you feel unsafe at every turn?
💔 make you ache for what you left behind?
💔 embed fear into every crevice of your being?
💔 become your worst nightmare?
I still think about little Qian Qian and all that she had to suppress and overcome. Her daily life was a fight to be heard, to be seen and to survive. This "beautiful country" aimed to break her spirit but she never lost her ability to dream for better. I hope that she has found nourishment not only for her body but for her heart and soul as well.
Thanks to @doubledaybooks for the gifted copy. This one is out 9/7/2021.
#BeautifulCountry #QianJulieWang #doubledaybooks #AsianMemoir #ChineseBooks #BookReviews #books #AsianLit #bookphoto #BooksandArt #BooksandMurals #bookstagram #bookish #ownvoices #nonfiction #diversereads #Asian #bookdragon #bookfeature #gifted #Asianauthor #memoir #newrelease
Beautiful Country is a riveting account about what it costs to chase the American Dream and how it destroys the very fabric that holds family together. My heart was breaking as I read it and it gave me a new perspective of the Chinese immigrant experience. Wang's writing is beautiful and her emotions pour out from the pages. Her voice is authentic and one that will continue to haunt me and demand to be heard. This memoir is timely and necessary and will surely give you some issues to examine and contemplate further.
Wang's use of the title as a theme throughout the novel was brilliant. It draws me to ask myself what makes this country so beautiful. How can a "beautiful country":
💔 strip you of your basic humanity?
💔 push into the shadows of invisibility for survival?
💔 erase your identity in an attempt to "better" your future?
💔 diminish your accomplishments and force you to start over?
💔 bring you to a constant state of anxiety?
💔 literally starve you and your children yet ask so much of you?
💔 make empty promises and sell you false dreams?
💔 keep you isolated and make you feel unsafe at every turn?
💔 make you ache for what you left behind?
💔 embed fear into every crevice of your being?
💔 become your worst nightmare?
I still think about little Qian Qian and all that she had to suppress and overcome. Her daily life was a fight to be heard, to be seen and to survive. This "beautiful country" aimed to break her spirit but she never lost her ability to dream for better. I hope that she has found nourishment not only for her body but for her heart and soul as well.
Thanks to @doubledaybooks for the gifted copy. This one is out 9/7/2021.
#BeautifulCountry #QianJulieWang #doubledaybooks #AsianMemoir #ChineseBooks #BookReviews #books #AsianLit #bookphoto #BooksandArt #BooksandMurals #bookstagram #bookish #ownvoices #nonfiction #diversereads #Asian #bookdragon #bookfeature #gifted #Asianauthor #memoir #newrelease
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse