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sonyareadsstuff 's review for:
All You Can Ever Know
by Nicole Chung
In her memoir, Nicole Chung often comes back to this idea: to think of adoption not in terms of right/wrong, good/bad, but rather to understand its full complexity and nuance. I think this is exactly what Chung so powerfully shows us, with her thoughtfulness and candor, about growing up adopted by white parents, her journey of motherhood, and searching for her birth family — it’s deeply, deeply complicated and there are so many questions about what it means to be a parent, what it means to be a (transracial) family, and what it means to find belonging.
Without spoiling the book because this is so worth the read, the way that Chung’s relationship with one of her daughters, Abby, and Chung’s own growth after her reunion with some of her birth family come together and intertwine at the end of book was really moving.
Chung shares some stuff about growing up as an Asian girl in a basically all-white neighborhood and loving books yet realizing all the protagonists were white — in addition to many small details about her become aware of her “Asianness.” This really resonated with me, and I think will have an impact on many of us who might not feel like we belong.
Chung’s writing is incredibly personal. She really shows her readers what she’s thinking about, troubled by, and reflecting on. I think this is one of the greatest gifts we get as a reader: to be taken along someone else’s profoundly personal journey.
Without spoiling the book because this is so worth the read, the way that Chung’s relationship with one of her daughters, Abby, and Chung’s own growth after her reunion with some of her birth family come together and intertwine at the end of book was really moving.
Chung shares some stuff about growing up as an Asian girl in a basically all-white neighborhood and loving books yet realizing all the protagonists were white — in addition to many small details about her become aware of her “Asianness.” This really resonated with me, and I think will have an impact on many of us who might not feel like we belong.
Chung’s writing is incredibly personal. She really shows her readers what she’s thinking about, troubled by, and reflecting on. I think this is one of the greatest gifts we get as a reader: to be taken along someone else’s profoundly personal journey.