Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian, actress, writer and producer. She is so incredibly funny that I knew as soon as I saw it on Net Galley, I just had to read this book. Baby Cobra is one of the funniest stand-up specials I've ever seen (It's like Eddie Murphy's Raw levels of funny - I laugh cried more than once. And sometimes just cried cuz the entire notion of pregnancy/childbirth horrifies me that much). This book is more than just incredibly funny, though (although it definitely is laugh out loud funny). It is also sweet, and honest, and occasionally brutal. In short, it's all the things that Wong's fans love about her.

Written as a series of letters to her two young daughters, Dear Girls covers the way their parents met (as well as their grandparents), how to succeed in your chosen career, why to not go into stand-up comedy, and other useful life advice. She covers a surprisingly wide range of topics like what it was like why people who diss on Asian food are dumb (for real), but also how annoying it is to have to be someone's "dim sum mentor" (I've never been in that position, but I can only imagine it's super annoying). She talks about the perils of dating in general, but particularly in a major city when you're working insane hours and are fully committed to comedy, and also the general perils/potential personal safety issues of being a travelling comedienne in general.

Dear Girls is a wonderfully intimate look at the life and history of someone who I respect immensely, so I was into it from the start. Once I "cracked" it open (as much as one can crack an e-book), I couldn't put it down again. It's sweet, hilarious, touching and insightful, but also occasionally freak-nasty. I loved it.

Five out of five arbitrary items of rating. On 10/15, GO BUY.

Pick up this book. Just pick it up. I read it all in one sitting and loved every moment of it. I am a huge fan of Ali Wong and this book made me physically laugh out loud. My boyfriend kept asking me what was so funny. But, she also managed to keep it tender and beautiful, not just raunchy. The letter at the end from her husband made me tear up. I am so grateful that NetGalley gave me the opportunity to read this book today. Go buy it on October 15th when it comes out!

Ali Wong delivers exactly the memoir you would expect from her--raunchy, unapologetic, hilarious--with unexpected heart. Framed as a series of letters to her two young daughters, the book is filled with the same brand of overtly sexual, bodily-fluids-filled comedy of her two TV specials, with jokes that had me bursting out into belly laughs every few minutes like an absolute maniac. As usual, she tackles race, gender, sexuality, and other social issues with keen and piercing insight, but she also touches on softer topics like her affection for her brother and for her mother's Vietnamese culture. Her love for her husband and daughters is at the foundation of all her storytelling and jokes, and at times the text is touching and even moving, which were not emotional experiences I necessarily expected out of a memoir that also makes jokes about anal beads, erectile dysfunction, and laughing so hard you wet yourself. Ali Wong maintains her icon status with one of the best celebrity memoirs I've read (and I'm a big fan of the genre). Do yourself a favor and read this.

Dear Girls by Ali Wong is a super funny memoir! I’ve actually never seen any of her comedy before but I thought this book would be a good book and I was right!
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It was really nice to learn more about her upbringing and personal life. Throughout the book I could tell how honest and unfiltered it was since she talks so candidly about her own body and sexuality. Some parts were laugh out loud funny and some other parts were definitely shocking.
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It was a nice through line for the book to be written to her two daughters (hence the title Dear Girls) since they would read this book in the future. My favourite part is the chart clearly explaining both the good signs and bad signs of choosing an Asian restaurant.

Sometimes you pick up a book and just expect laughs, but are surprised and delighted by the meaning behind everything. That is what this book is. I laughed until I teared up, as I totally expected too, but, what surprised me was how heartfelt this book is. Just everything, even the gross moments. A book I definitely want to read again, just in case I missed something the first go round.

I’ve watched Ali Wong’s comedy specials, Baby Cobra and Hard Knock Wife, and I love whenever she’s on American Housewife. In the third season of American Housewife, Wong has had even more screen time then just during second breakfast, and I was so happy. I laughed so hard during her comedy specials and often chuckle when she’s in American Housewife, so I was really disappointed that her book was not more funny to me.

I think for me to enjoy her humor I need to see her performing it. Her facial expressions, her tone of voice, and how she gestures wildly towards her private parts really adds to the comedy. In the book she mentions numerous times how she would bend over and moon the audience. You just don’t get the same visuals reading a book as you do watching the performance.

And the end chapter by her husband really left a bad taste in my mouth, which is a horrible last impression for a book. He goes on about how much he is doing for their children and sacrificing for Wong to be able to do her job. Even typing this, I’m shaking my head in annoyance.

Now with all that negative feedback, if you like Ali Wong, I still think you should read the book. Maybe you’ll find it funnier than I did, and learning about her life and the struggles she had to go through to make it, was very interesting.

I love Wong's stand up and wanted to see what she got up to in the literary world. Her book did not disappoint and was a great extension of her comedy.
Written as letters to her daughters, Wong discusses everything from dating to being a woman in comedy, to how she juggles touring and being a wife and a mother. It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud when I read, but I did multiple times at this book. Plus, I could tell how much she wanted her daughters to learn the lessons of her past. I think they will be so proud of their mother, when they get old enough to read their book.

Ali Wong is hilarious, so I was so excited to read this book. Much like her stand up, there's lots of raunch, but also lots of sweetness in how she speaks to her daughters. Lots of fun stories, lots of honesty, a fun read. My review is based on the main text.

What I did not enjoy is the afterword by her husband. I found him to be quite self-centered and the chapter was about himself, not a tribute to his wife. This would have knocked off a star in my review, but since it wasn't written by the author, I won't hold it against her.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest and fair review.

Fans of Ali Wong will find a lot to like in this book. Her trademark humor comes through in each chapter.

If you've seen her stand-up then you'll be prepared for Ali Wong's letters to her daughters. She's crass and dirty and brutally honest. And very, very funny. She's definitely not for everyone-it's not a book I'd just suggest during a general RA convo but for those who like her style, they'll love this. She focuses a lot on her pregnancies and the early years of her daughters (who are still very young) so there's definitely a parenting lean to it all which may make some readers lose interest but overall there's something for everyone if you like gross jokes and biting sarcasm.

Told in the style of several letters to her daughters (for them to read when they are older), Dear Girls is a funny and honest look at Ali Wong's life. If my mom had left me a collection of these letters, I don't know if I'd be able to make my way through them all, but since I'm not Ali's daughter, I found them humorous.

The book reads like a collection of personal essays, ranging from how Ali met her husband, to the wild things she did in her youth, her experience studying abroad, and her relationship with her mother. She also discusses her career in comedy, but the book has a much stronger focus on her family and growing up.

I'm not a huge fan of celebrity memoirs, but Ali Wong's did make me laugh out loud and almost cry too, at times. It is heartfelt, funny, and will even have you thinking.

I haven't known of Ali Wong for very long, but from what I have seen and heard of her I have really enjoyed so I was excited to see that she had written a book. This book is hilarious, intimate, and slightly offensive, but in a way that makes you really connect with the author. The book is written as a series of letters to her daughters, to be read when they are at least 21 and covers topics such as her stand-up career, love, marriage, and pregnancy. She is very open in her words and doesn't hold anything back, but it is this intimacy that makes it such a fun and connecting read.

I was expecting to enjoy this book, but not expecting to fall in love with it as much as I did.

Ali Wong's first book is formatted in letters she's writing to her two daughters. Each chapter gives her daughters advice and ties in her own experiences.

As a fan of Ali Wong's stand-up, I was expecting this to be a laugh-out-loud memoir and it definitely had its funny moments and memorable one liners, but I was not disappointed in the direction Ali Wong went with this book,

In one of the chapters in particular, she addresses some difficult family relationships and shares how her parents' cultures influenced her and how those influences changed from when she was young until now. She shares how traveling opened her up to new experiences.

This book was very good and very funny. Even laughed out loud a few times. I wish it had focused more on being a mother as I thought those were the best parts by far. It skips around a lot so some parts were a little confusing to keep up with the timeline of her life.

Ali Wong's letters to her daughters are a mixture of past sexual exploits, life advice, and cautionary tales - a collection both hilarious and heartfelt. Covering everything from which Asian-ethnic restaurants to eat at, to what they should do in life (hint: not improvisation) Wong's letters also do a great job of speaking to every woman reading.

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A great, funny, heartfelt read. As an Asian American woman I really identified with what she said. I especially loved the epilogue from her husband.

Amazing work by Ali Wong!
This book is pretty hilarious, laugh out loud funny not to be read in front of strangers that will look at you as if you are mad, when a fit o laughter comes out.
Remarkable and honest, this is a book dedicated to her daughters or when they are all grown up, and would like to know a deeper side of her mother.
Definitely recommend it!

A twist on the humor memoir, Wong writes each chapter as an advice letter to her two young girls in the raunchy, sarcastic humor Wong does so well (but hopes her daughters won't read it until they're at least 21 years old because of this). The last chapter was a surprise as the letter is written by her husband, as he describes his own journey before meeting Wong and how that shaped his current life as a celebrity's partner. Must read for comedy fans! Interested in listening the audio when it comes out as well.

I laughed and cried while reading this book. That doesn't happen that often for me when reading, and I just loved it. For fans of Ali Wong, and also for those who don't know her, I highly recommend Dear Girls. She's a really gifted writer and comedian, so no surprise this book was amazing!