Paula Nguyen > Recent Status Updates

the beginning and middle of the book was immensely boring; 2/3 in I was just thinking when is this gonna be over; at first I also thought the characters were kind of flat and badly developed but I think they were just written like that because of their “trauma”; either way all of the main characters were boring; definitely not even close to the perfection of little fires everywhere

I sense some bad shiz bout to happen 👀

I guess the plot is getting a little more interesting but damn Peter and Kate are so dry

I want more escalation 😡

slow start; already kinda ship Peter and Kate

uh wow 😳 that was kind of surreal; formatting was unexpected but kind of cool; much to be learned from this one I kind of see why it won so many awards; at first I was annoyed by the writing but then it grew on me; I should have read it slower but I think generally I got the impact; the way the rules passed down the family doe

were these actually essays ?? not sure about that broski; anyway exploring identity is always a good part of a memoir; I really liked the passages about overcoming his internalized homophobia and honesty the lengths he went to be super masculine were kind of surprising but also sad; not the sedaris dupe I was looking for either but he definitely got some ✨ flavor ✨

borderline purple prose but I’m okay with it; this shiz reminds me of Romeo and Juliet idk how to feel about that; was I not reading carefully enough because the ending kind of confused me; smh im such a disappointment; anyway this was nice but not a favorite

still very confused and sleepy 😴

took a while to get into but the twist was kind of good; I feel like I should have seen it coming but I’m dumb so I just didn’t; not sure if the last 50 pages makes up for the dry beginning I gotta think about it; the writing was very meh i think I’m gonna avoid liane moriarity books in the future bc her style is kind of ... lackluster; maybe 3.5/5 stars? yeah

the guide that I was looking for; kind of a comprehensive overview focused on how to talk to racist people and addressing really big topics and questions people commonly have (ahem republicans); wasn’t expecting that chapter on the model minority myth that was kind of good; very nice read with lots of highlights and important discussions - 4/5

slow start :/ issok so far

some of the stories were kind of funny but not on Sedaris level unfortunately; the author is kind of crazy and I def tuned out a little I think I actually listened to 95% of the audiobook yikes; kind of glad it’s done the farm stories for a littleee old

I found myself getting really annoyed at the whiter twin for leaving her sister for her sad fake life but it seems like an allegory to the way black people felt around white people and that if they were given the chance to just be white they would probably take it instead of taking all the discrimination with being black? anyway literary fiction ftw - no choice but to stan

the contrast between the twins kids was kind of cool after I realized they were reflections of the other sister; literary fiction seems kinda hit or miss for me and this one was def muy bueno; the writing was my “style” in a way and the plot was really well paced in my opinion although slow and maybe even boring to some but 🤩 wow a masterpiece