A review by mrsajfh
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

3.0

I know that this book is polarizing. I read "Hillbilly Elegy" first, and then realized that Amy Chua was JD Vance's "mentor," which left a little bit of a negative impression on me (loved the story of Hillbilly Elegy, just didn't love the author himself...), which then framed a lot of my thinking about Amy Chua. I think this book probably took a lot of courage to write and probably (maybe?) therapeutic for her... definitely not my style of parenting; however, I do see some rays of light with regards to the value that her children can take away from it. From another perspective... Her own kids have shared that they would raise their own children similarly, but with a little more leniency. Here's the thing - kids can't always articulate their feelings, and we know that memories fade over time, but the emotional footprint remains. So while I see the value of instilling hard work and pride, I feel confident there's a balance to be had, and maybe somewhere between "western parenting" and "Chinese parenting" we can find some kind of harmony. ALSO - Would love to know more about her husband and his whole thought process. I feel like he had more to say, but right now I just wanted to tell him to grow a spine!