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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
inspiring
reflective
This was such a great read - I love Chung's writing style - both personal and informative. I was impressed by her ability to fold many different viewpoints into her story and be compassionate yet honest with all her relations.
A quiet story, rather slowly paced but very thought provoking. It made me think a lot about the nature of adoption in general and particularly trans-racial adoption.
it’s difficult to rate a memoir because who can say what was good or bad about someone’s own lived experiences? their life, their story, their family? what i will say is that it is Chung’s story, and her family’s, was a wonderful thing to have read, and i thank her for giving it to us. it takes courage to write about such a deeply personal topic. this explores issues about transracial adoption that i would have had no idea about, no one i know personally enough to have given me every detail of their life. i deeply appreciate reading about someone else’s life, who has lived outside of my own experiences, and i believe more people should be exposed to lived experiences such as these.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I appreciated this memoir, written from the perspective of one adoptee as she struggles with her identity, feelings of abandonment and being disconnected from her family and culture, and her journey to motherhood.
There were quite a few parts that left me confused about Nicole Chung’s feelings toward her parents (the ones who adopted and raised her), but I think that accurately reflects her own confusion.
Overall, it accomplished what I hoped for when I picked it up, which was letting me see and experience someone else’s perspective, and - without giving away too much - there were many sweet stories along the way that made her journey of discovery feel like it was worth the pain and heartache of the hard questions she was asking.
There were quite a few parts that left me confused about Nicole Chung’s feelings toward her parents (the ones who adopted and raised her), but I think that accurately reflects her own confusion.
Overall, it accomplished what I hoped for when I picked it up, which was letting me see and experience someone else’s perspective, and - without giving away too much - there were many sweet stories along the way that made her journey of discovery feel like it was worth the pain and heartache of the hard questions she was asking.
3.5 knocked up to 4 stars. The latter half of the book, once she reaches out to her birth parents/family, was wonderful. I really related to her relationship with her sister, but the first half about her adoptive parents was not as emotionally compelling for me.
A really moving story and one that makes you look a little deeper into adoption. I’ve followed Nicole’s writing on and off for years, it’s nice to get such an intimate peek into her personal life.
really beautiful but also sooo controlled. reads like a really tight and polished personal essay.
I recognise that every adoption story is different, but this memoir seemed so unique to me (or maybe novel would be a better word?) since it features the story of an adoptee reuniting with her Korean birth family. Thoughtful and nuanced, I appreciated her perspective and how she slowly unfolds the narrative.