Member Reviews
GREAT BOOK! Funny, heartfelt and informative for non-Asians. Ali shares her youth, her experiences, her relationships, and her funny and poignant lessons for her daughters.
An enjoyable read that provides a unique way to tell your story and teach some valuable lessons to your children and your reader.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!
I love Ali Wong's standup comedy so that plus the hilarious cover made it a no-brainer for me to request. I was not disappointed -- I really enjoyed getting to know the author. She's genuine and shares stories about her relationship with her husband, parents, work, and success in earnest.
One reason I like to read and recommend memoirs by comedians is that they tell their stories in a funny way, Everyone has horrible stories and sad stories, but Ali Wong, Amy Schumer, Amy Pohler, etc all do a great job of turning it around. It's their job! This can be really inspirational to people looking for an uplifting read.
Also, people don't necessarily have to be big readers to enjoy books by comedians. If they've seen the special, they want to read the book!
Thank you again! I will recommend this to people looking for a funny read and comedy fans.
I never heard of Ali Wong befor reading this book. From chapter one I was sold. I immensely appreciated her honesty bout failing at comedy before she broke through. I enjoyed listening to how she handle being a minority woman in comedy. Because of her, I've decided a majority of white people should just stop talking. My favorite chapters are Mr. Wong and the chapter about wedding planning... To sum it up, just do city hall, which is my intention anyway. Ali discussed the differences between her mother's generation living in America and her generation living in America beautifully. She discusses the tough relationship she had with her parents because of their generational differences which I related with because I also have a difficult relationship with my mom. I now see that it has alot to do with the different times we came of age. All in all, I think Ali's stories were funny as hell, captivating, and honest,which is what I appreciate most from a memoir of any kind. Favorite thing was that this book is for her two daughters. I have diaries that Ive dedicated to my daughter so I appreciate Ali's approach as a mom. I wish it was a longer book and I'm crossing my fingers for more.
As raunchy, real, and hilarious as her stand up, Dear Girls brings Ali Wong’s brand of humor to the personal essay. Readers get a more intimate glimpse into her life than she has previously offered in her other work, revealing sometimes painful, usually funny, always heartfelt anecdotes from her time growing up, falling in love, and having her children. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy Chelsea Handler and Amy Schumer.
NOTE: I received a free Advanced Readers Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I went into reading this book having heard of the comedian Ali Wong but not having seen any of her material. This book definitely makes me want to watch her stand up specials - though I hope they won't be too repetitive of everything included in the book. This book is seemingly comprised of letters to her two daughters but truthfully, it reads like a straight-up memoir, tracing her life from childhood through adolescence, college, adulthood, dating, work and eventually marriage and parenthood. If you like memoirs - which I do - this is a good one and I recommend it because while not always laugh-out-loud funny as you might expect from a comedian, Wong is always candid, open and does not shy away from sharing intimate moments from her life.
Hi, my name is Brenna and I am an Ali Wong addict.
Before getting this as an ARC from Netgalley (thank you!!!), I had already seen her Netflix specials and also her movie Always Be My Maybe (if you haven't seen this movie on Netflix, run--don't walk--to watch it). I am obsessed with her eyewear and her ability to redefine what it means to a female comedian. Ugh. I could go on, but let's get to the book, shall we?
Dear Girls, as the name would suggest, is a how-t0 book written to her two daughters to reference as they fall in love, go to college, make careers, and/or start families of their own. She does this by giving her daughters (and readers) the tea on her hilarious journey through each one of these milestones.
There were moments in this book where I woke up my husband from laughing so hard I was basically shaking the entire bed and other moments when I was touched by her struggle to find her place in the U.S. as an Asian-American. Without spoiling anything, one of my favorite parts of this book is when she tells her daughters about studying abroad in Vietnam (where her mother is from). Forewarning: it will make your wanderlust unbearable.
Maybe the only reason I knocked this down to 4 stars is because I personally can't relate to it in some areas. Just like her stand-up, a lot of her humor surrounds having children, and how children have impacted her life. While I am married, I am not a parent, nor do I plan to be for a loooooong time (my husband is in residency and medical school debt is real, ya'll), so I couldn't relate to a lot of this book. I still loved reading it, though, so don't let your absence of children or marriage dissuade you from picking up this great read.
I was very excited to receive an advanced copy of Ali Wong's book. I love all of her comedy specials and the movies she has done. The book did not disappoint. The book was hilarious from start to finish. I was worried it would be a bit toned down as she is writing letters to her daughters; well it was actually the opposite. She is as crass and vulgar as ever which added authenticity to the book. A great read to keep things light hearted and upbeat in this doom and gloom world we seem to be living in these days. You will be laughing out loud with everyone around you wondering what's going on.
I love Ali Wong and I loved this book! I would never be able to spill everything I’ve done to my child, props to her! This is hilarious and I would recommend picking it up!
This book is entertaining throughout. Interesting, thought provoking, and cleverly told as a series of letters to her daughters, Wong explores and investigates her childhood, heritage, romantic history, professional journey, and how she met her husband. It is charming, honest, and there's not a single chapter I could read aloud to my parents of my kids, but I mean that in the best way. Wong is a great comedian and this book is a lot of fun.
At first this book started off super raunchy and crude... totally like Ali's comedy. But then it turned into a great book on how to survive motherhood, young adulthood and Hollywood. She talks about growing up in her family, about her heritage and upbringing and how it affected her and how to deal with being an Asian American in Hollywood and comedy. Funny and endearing all in one. Not recommended for those who are easily offended.
Ali Wong’s Dear Girls is everything I would expect from her and more. It is hilarious and raunchy with just enough heart to balance it out. If you like her stand up, you will love this.
Great fun! Easy tom read and kept me smiling throughout. This is exactly what I was looking for in this book. Highly recommended!
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was not prepared for the author's raunchy writing style. There were parts of the book that made me squirm and I felt uncomfortable at times. I think this book would be better received by someone that was familiar with her comedic style.
I loved Ali Wong before... and I love her EVEN MORE now that I've read this book. So funny and entertaining, and yet so real. This has to be one of my favorite books I've read this year, would recommend this to anyone and everyone!
I love Ali Wong’s standup specials, so I was super excited to read her book. As a mother of two young girls, the premise of the book, letters to her daughters, really appealed to me. One carefully chronicles Ali’s miscarriage, another about her time studying abroad. All are stories I want my girls to hear someday. Stories about perseverance, building other woman up instead of breaking them down and real stories about dating. Not nonsense. It made me laugh and want to listen to it as an audiobook and be her friend.
Brilliant as well as funny. Wong is empathetic. Her willingness to be vulnerable is a great way of opening up conversations on difficult topics. As is Humor, of course!!
3.25 stars rounded town to 3.*
Dear Girls is a memoir of comedian Ali Wong. It is written in s series of letters to her very young daughters, advising them on how to go about choices and challenges in life. She is funny and irreverent. She is frank and unapologetic. She is vulgar and proud.
And I like her for all of it.
It's not fantastic writing, but it is entertaining and made me respect her journey.
*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.
While this is a series of letters written to her daughters, the content warning at the begining of the book is definitely not to be ignored. Ali Wong approaches topics like motherhood, race, and love with a blunt honesty that is refreshing and very reminiscent of her stand up specials.
Dear Girls is a hilariously honest and relatable memoir written by comedian Ali Wong. I admit this was actually my first bit of Ali Wong exposure, but it damn well won't be my last! Highly recommended to anyone looking for a laugh out loud, female-brand of humor memoir.
If you like Ali Wong then you will like this book! It felt like reading the background for one of her comedy specials. Instead of just hearing the joke, you hear the history of the story the led to the joke. Ali’s writing style is exactly how you would picture her speaking to you. This would honestly be a great audio book if read by Ali.