ashlightgrayson's reviews
755 reviews

This was such a compelling walk through Constance Wu's experiences in Hollywood as a first generation child of Chinese immigrants as well as a woman. I am first generation myself and there were many moments that I could relate to. There is one quote in particular that hit me hard that she wrote in page 84 as follows:

Specifically, the line where she says "I had to protect them". I have had this sentiment before with my parents. Like Wu's parents, they are intelligent, hardworking, and have all of my respect. Unfortunately, when you are perceived as an immigrant that does not speak English well in the United States all of that respect is no longer merited in some people's eyes. It is unfair, but it is accurate and often puts us, their children, in a position where we have to grow up too fast. We have to take on the role of caregiver in order to protect them from being humiliated for factors out of their control. 

Wu speaks extensively on her relationships with men throughout the book, both in a professional and romantic capacity. Her narratives around some of her romantic relationships are vaguer than others. It is definitely not the focus of the book. However, it does give insight to what she learned about herself in the context of those relationships. Additionally, she shares details about both her more positive experiences with them men in her life and the more #MeToo adjacent ones. It is unfortunate that sexual abuse towards women is so commonplace, but it not surprising. Her experience on Fresh Off the Boat especially was disturbing to read, but I'm glad she had the space here to tell it.

The narrative of her experiences is relatable and feels authentic, like listening to a friend talk to you about their life. The writing is easily digestible but holds emotional depth and impact. I personally am not an avid follower of Constance Wu, but still found her story compelling and would recommend this memoir if you are looking for a good one to pick up.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the Royal Knights exam arc. We are introduced to a new character, Mereleona, who seems incredibly interesting. I'm hoping we get o know here more in the upcoming arc. The next arc will be focused on attacking the base for the Eye of the Midnight Sun. I'm looking forward to seeing some infiltration and sneaking going on. Maybe we'll get some odd pairings for characters working together again.

It was such a pleasure reading through this book. I am queer, mixed, and black just as the main character, Michael, is. I was able to relate to him in many ways. The poetry in the story had a nice rhythm to it as you read. I personally recommend reading it aloud sometimes so that you can really appreciate it. 

Michael has a lot of internal dialogue that feels genuinely teenaged in nature. He was still very likeable throughout the story and I found his internal monologue endearing. It really made me sympathetic towards him whenever Michael got into not so ideal situations or made mistakes. His parents are incredibly supportive of him. It was refreshing to see their attitudes help Michael embrace both sides of his multi-ethnic culture.

Daisy, Michael's long time childhood friend, serves as a foil for Michael. Michael attempts to embrace his blackness and queerness and grows more comfortable with his identity as the book progresses. In contrast, Daisy becomes more openly queerphobic and anti-black. She goes out of her way to avoid parts of her black identity. She is more white passing than Michael and she at times weaponizes this and uses her privilege in ways that are harmful. Additionally, as her character continues to develop, she says more outright racist or homophobic things. Daisy is not the only person that enters Michael's life that reflects forms of queerphobia or ignorance when it comes to race. Each of these encounters and interactions allow Michael to grow and become more secure in his identity. 

Everything comes wonderfully full circle by the end of the book and was incredibly satisfying for me. I found the story satisfying, uplifting, and hopeful. I am looking forward to more works written by this author. I definitely do recommend this coming-of-age story for teenagers, but especially queer teenagers. However, even as a queer adult, it made me happy that there are queer stories out there like this.

I'm not particularly familiar with the lore of Halo, but I think this story gave interesting insight into the world. It was a short story that encompasses enough to garner my interest into the world. The consequences and collateral damage of the war are palpable even with the limited context given. I would be interested in picking up more graphic novels to get to know this world better after reading this.

The Royal Knights Exam continues to be interesting. We're getting to see how everyone uses their powers an strengths differently. Additionally, we get an interesting exploration of the complicated sibling relationship between contestants. Asta as always, stands up for his teammates and for anyone he sees treated unfairly. A lot of the action scenes are cool to read and I appreciate the effort put into making everyone's use of their powers so different. We get a peak into Zora's backstory, and honestly I'm looking forward to see how his relationship with the Black Bulls develops after the exam.

Welcome to the Chunin Exams, but Black Clover edition. There is a reasonably high number of new characters that are introduced in quick succession, so it's a bit difficult to keep up with everyone. It is entertaining to watch the team battles play out, though. I like that people that usually wouldn't be paired together are having to figure out how to work together. Yuno and Noelle was one of the most interesting parirings. It's reminscent of the Tenkaichi Budokai tournaments from Dragonball/Dragonball Z for me. Very nostalgic and fun. I'm looking forward to see how it concludes.

There is a lot of jumping around in this volume. It feels like a series of rescue missions, all taking place in different settings (and even time periods), sometimes simultaneously. The subplots and interactions between the characters were the most interesting part for me. The team is able to rescue Nightcrawler. Jean and Storm end up going into his mind to try and understand what he experienced that left him so broken. Sapna and Ilyana find common ground with their connection to Limbo. Ilyana serves as a sort of mentor for her with an interesting surprise at the end of this part of the story. With such a difficult series of circumstances it's no wonder Storm is having difficulty helming the ship. Based on the ending I'm looking forward to the upcoming story arc. We shall see where it goes.

DNF. The romance was more focused on lust than anything else and was too fast pace for me to really get to know or like the characters.

This wasn't exactly what I expected. It is an anthology of Latin American poems pertaining to protest and resistance. It helped add some new poets to my list of poetry TBR, which was nice. The poems are mostly in Spanish, but some of them are also in Portuguese, Quechua, Mayan, etc. All of the poems have the English translation side by side with the original language it was written in. A lot of the messaging is very interwined with Latin American history and social issues. I feel like it would be a great study material for students in a university course who want an introduction to some Latin American history/poetry.. The poets are from various countries of origin which helps enrich the historical context of the poems. A lot of them are still pertinent to social issues to day, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. However, I do not see myself revisiting it, so I think I'll be donating this one so that someone else has the chance to experience it.

This book had surprising found family vibes that I wasn't expecting. The romance is the main focus, but we get to see the two male lead's friends and family spend a reasonable amount of time being emotionally supportive to both of them respectively. Nora's relationship with Alex is especially refreshing. Nora used to date Alex, but now they are strictly friends. It's not very often that you see depictions in media of men/women being friends platonically. Exes getting along amicably after a breakup are also rare in general. It was just very nice to see them be such good friends and emotionally supportive of each other. 

There is also a good amount of representation in this modern alternative universe. Nora is sexually fluid. Alex is a person of color since his father is Latin@. It was just a conglomeration of some very nice happy representation. (The queers deserve nice happy romcoms too). This romance is an exploration of sexuality and the experience of coming out when you are a public figure. It's a rivals to friends to lovers story as well. There are just a lot of tropes in the story that are written very well. The best way I can describe this reading experience is that it's the gay romantic comedy that I didn't know I needed.

Alex and Henry, the main love interests, perceive themselves at the beginning of the story (especially Alex), as being very different from one another. The irony in this is that their experiences being in the public eye mirror each other. The story never takes itself too seriously but does have moments that are critical of major social issues. This includes things like grooming, power dynamics in age gap relationships, being outed, homophobia, etc. The themes are touched upon enough to be satisfying, but not so deeply that it makes the story dark and somber. This was an incredibly cheerful read and I'm looking forward to watching the film on Prime video. It's sure to be a good time just like the book was.