A review by beckyyreadss
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is the nineteenth book I've read on this list. I thought I was going to struggle with this book being a non-fiction book, but my heart was hurting for this family throughout this book. 

This book is the story of the three daughters of China and it’s their family history that spans a century. Jung Chang recounts of three generations of women in her own family, the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself. She reveals the epic history of China’s twentieth century. It is breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions. This story is heartbreaking and empowering.  

Usually I struggle with non-fictions book, I find them slow, boring and can never pay attention to what is going on that it feels like a drag. This book is heartbreaking and discusses heavy topics and is brutal with some of the descriptions, it was a book I managed to get through and I think this was due to the writing and how Jung had a way of getting her grandmothers and mother’s story across. It was heartbreaking and throughout the book I just wanted to hug these ladies. Even though I hate this generation, it made me thankful on where I was born.  

I wouldn’t say this book had any weaknesses, but I think that the length of the chapters sometimes made it a struggle to finish them and obviously some of the dark subjects, I was cringing a bit. I was glad that we got an ending, even though Jung Chang is still alive and well, so I don’t know if there is another book hopefully with the next generation with her children. But I'm hoping that they have all had a healthy and happy life.   
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