A really great book by a really great comedian and actress! When I saw this book was available for AR, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! I love Ali Wong in her stand-up as well as her various roles in television and movies, and this book reads just like she is there writing it for me! I loved the stories and messages she leaves behind for her daughters (and readers!) and how personal, touching, and funny the whole thing was! Definitely a recommend!

*4.5 stars*
I have to be honest comedian books are usually a hit or a miss and lately, there have been a lot of misses. I can happily say Dear Girls is a big hit! Ali Wong is a great writer and her voice shined through the book. Dear Girls is a series of letters to her daughters. I would like to pickup the Audible version as well, because actually hearing her deliver it would be even better. Yes, it was raunchy and inappropriate quite often, but also absolutely hilarious! To my surprise, there was also a lot of really good heartfelt advice to her girls. I laughed a lot, almost lost my lunch (the part about the snake…) and even shed a tear with how protective and sweet she is about her girls. The parts about motherhood were so incredibly spot on! The only thing I didn’t like was that the ending was so abrupt and I would have loved to have her give an afterword. Instead, her husband did and it was about his life, and I don’t think it really added much value to the story. All of that being said, I have to say this is still one of the most impressive comedian memoirs I’ve read and I would highly recommend it.

* ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I received a free E-ARC of this book from Netgalley.

I've watched Ali Wong on 'American Housewife' lots of times and thought she was funny. I haven't watched any of her comedy specials, but I thought this book was very funny and touching at the same time. In this sorta-memoir/letter to her 2 daughters, she talks about growing up, meeting her husband, and being a stand-up comic. This book made me laugh out loud quite a few times.

"Ali Wong’s heartfelt and hilarious letters to her daughters (the two she put to work while they were still in utero) cover everything they need to know in life, like the unpleasant details of dating, how to be a working mom in a male-dominated profession, and how she trapped their dad.

In her hit Netflix comedy special Baby Cobra, an eight-month pregnant Ali Wong resonated so strongly that she even became a popular Halloween costume. Wong told the world her remarkably unfiltered thoughts on marriage, sex, Asian culture, working women, and why you never see new mom comics on stage but you sure see plenty of new dads.

The sharp insights and humor are even more personal in this completely original collection. She shares the wisdom she’s learned from a life in comedy and reveals stories from her life off stage, including the brutal single life in New York (i.e. the inevitable confrontation with erectile dysfunction), reconnecting with her roots (and drinking snake blood) in Vietnam, tales of being a wild child growing up in San Francisco, and parenting war stories. Though addressed to her daughters, Ali Wong’s letters are absurdly funny, surprisingly moving, and enlightening (and gross) for all."

Hopefully all those ignorant of Ali Wong's genius have come on board since Always Be My Maybe and will have their love of her confirmed by this book, which she is sadly not touring for! Two stops!?! What about the Midwest!?!

First of all I love Ali Wong. This book did not disappoint. I have a different perspective of Ali now and it has made me love her even more. While reading this I laughed and I cried. I loved how the book was written. I highly suggest picking up this book!

This book is so Ali Wong. Her voice comes through loud and clear. She has the best dry wit and it sounds just like her through all chapters. I really like how she just tells it like it is. I would definitely recommend this book to friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.
After reading a disappointing memoir of one of my faves, this was such a breath of fresh air. I loved that Ali Wong wrote this book as a letter to her two daughters, Mari and Nikki. I have a daughter and the idea of doing that did really touch my heart. I love that she told her story with humor, but honesty as well and it didn’t feel like anything was sugar coated. Seeing her perspective of growing up in San Francisco and being in comedy as a minority and a woman was so interesting. This book was laugh out loud funny and also so heartfelt. I read it in a day and enjoyed every minute of it. Also the afterward written from her husband’s perspective was the perfect cherry on top.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

By this point, everyone knows Ali Wong is hilarious. But I loved how heartfelt this book was. Truly a love letter to her husband and daughters, I enjoyed her sincerity and the deep appreciation she has for her family and culture.

In the prologue, she confesses that she was fearful to publish a book for fear of being seen as dumb or unintelligent. Her fears were completely unfounded. Her writing flowed effortlessly and I flew through the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ali Wong and Random House for this ARC.

What's not to love about Ali Wong? She's smart, hilarious and fricken REAL. I loved how this book was written as letters to her two daughters, and I especially loved the sweet, sweet afterword written by her husband. This book is hilarious, and so entertaining. It reminds me of the Doris character she plays on the TV show "American Housewife".

Love love love Ali Wong! I hope she comes out with another book, because you know she has more stories to write!

I'm always wary of books written by stand-up comics, as I would say 90 to 95% of the ones I've read since the 90s have been dreadfully boring. Most struggle to bring out the same voice and humor as they do on stage.

I have to say I am surprised at how well Ali Wong does this in the book. She brings the same unfiltered humor here almost perfectly. Don't expect her stand-up routine pacing for the book (which is the trap many fall in to when writing), but instead you find more detailed stories delivered. It's a book in which everything is written for her girls to read when they get older, but it works just as well for the reader.

The biggest drawback to my reading experience, was after awhile some of the usually funny descriptions she gives felt a bit overdone. This is most likely from me trying to read the entire book in one sitting, which unlike her stand-up, takes a bit longer than the normal 45 minutes to an hour. So I definitely recommend spacing this book out over a few sessions to not suffer from burnout.

Overall Ali Wong nails a book that many comics before her have failed. You'll learn about some things she never touched upon in her stand-up, and get an even better idea of how she was shaped as a person, and how it created her brand of comedy.

If you're a fan of Ali Wong this book is a must read!! It felt like one of her stand-ups but in book form. HILARIOUS!!! I loved her candidness about her life. She laid it all out and by the end I definitely felt like I actually knew her.

Ali Wong is a force. Her comedic voice is sharp and yet endearing. This collection of letters to her daughters is an anthem for women from all walks of life. It's a book full of anecdotes that will be most appropriate once her daughters are 21+. The good news is that readers don't have to wait to dive into Wong's world.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

What a hoot! More importantly, what a hoot with a heart. Ali Wong is what she is -and she's as open and funny in print as she is on the screen (or in person). Written as letters to her daughters which are not to be read until they are 21, this covers the coast in terms of her childhood, her early years as a comedian, and becoming their mom. The last chapter, a letter from her husband, is more sincere and thus less successful, I think than Ali's portions, which can delve into the TMI but also skewer the small things. It's not that he isn't a good guy, it's just that the tone is different. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. Try this one for a good laugh. If you haven't seen Wong before, you'll definitely look for her after reading it!

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If any of you have enjoyed Ali Wong's stand-up, I'm sure you'll also enjoy this book. Brutal honesty, expose-all humor, and some heart mixed in with all the entrapment stuff that women are into. :)

Of course, there's always a twist.

This book is set up as a series of letters to her young daughters, but its kinda a gimmick. One that works, fortunately, by giving us a familiar outlet for her comedy. Some of the sets translate the same way from Baby Cobra or Hard Knock Wife and there's new material here, too, but maybe not as much as some folks might expect. It's about as different from those two specials as the two specials are from each other.

Is it a good way to get to know her as a comic? Would it be more fun to read this before watching her specials?

I wouldn't know. I got this book on Netgalley and THEN watched the specials. By then I was already a fan so this is all bonus, baby.

Have fun!

Note: I received this book as an ARC in exchange for a review.

I wanted to like this book. I like Ali Wong and I "get" her sense of humor. For me, something fell flat with how Ali's humor translated to print. Jokes felt tiresome and -- more often than not -- punch-down culturey.

Maybe it's because I just finished Lindy West's "Shrill" (which deconstructs the harm of punch-down comedy), but I noticed how often Ali uses homelessness and mental illness as the butt of a joke. It's...a lot.

Ali is a smart comedian. Her punch-up comedy is next level. I wish that she spent more time targeting, I dunno, the patriarchy and dumbass dudes with Bernie Bro stickers on their Volkswagen who neg new mothers in the parking lot of the botanical garden than going with, "One time I had sex with a guy with split personality disorder. He could've murdered me. LOL!"

As a pro, I really, really enjoyed the anecdotes about Ali's family. Ali says she never inherited her mother's "Vietnamese bluntness", but Ali bares all when talking about her family: the good, the bad, and the ugly. The letters featuring Ali's family aren't necessarily the super fun, big ups part of the book, but they were my favorite and the most thoughtfully written.

All in all, a quick and lite read. (3.0/5.0)

Dear Girls from Ali Wong is a collection of letters to her daughters. This is full of stories about her early days of standup, growing up as a half-Chinese, half-Vietnamese girl in San Francisco, as well as stories of her relationship with their father. There's also stories of blood stew, public hair and the awkwardness of being too big to shop in the markets of Vietnam. In other words, it's Ali Wong.

Like her comedy, there are no limits to Ali's honesty. She's very open about her miscarriages, her "bad girl" phases, and her love for both daughters and her husband.

As a half-Vietnamese woman, it's refreshing to read about someone similar to myself. That both Ali and I didn't understand how hard our mothers struggled until later, that we didn't grow up with the overly affectionate. That we both miss our dads, that we both wanted to be older and grew up with siblings much older than us.

Ali Wong is more than the 'pregnant Asian comedian.' She's a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a woman who is doing things her way on her own terms. These letters to her daughters are letters to us all.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2957159674

I have a weak spot for books by comedians, and this one did not disappoint!

Ali Wong's stand-up is both hilarious, and unique in the content, and her book is no different. She talks about everything from growing up Asian, trying to break out of familial expectations, dating around in your 20s, relationships, compromise, staying your most authentic self, pregnancy, motherhood, death of a parent. She covers so much in so little pages. I would have absolutely loved to listen to this on audio, but her sense of humor came through in writing really well.

<blockquote>"You have suffered enough" That became my mantra for motherhood from there on out.</blockquote>

There are so many excerpts and quotes I couldn't help but highlight -- this is probably my most marked up book on Kindle! Ali Wong is hilarious and real. I loved getting to read more details about her life, and it helped provide some background/behind the scenes information for some of her stand-up jokes.

I also really enjoyed the afterword by her husband, Justin. He is such a constant presence in her life as her partner, and it was really wonderful to read something from him. I can't imagine what it's like to be in a relationship and have a family with someone of celebrity status, and I liked getting to see some of Mr. and Mrs. Wong's life from his perspective.

Thanks again to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ali Wong for this ARC!

Dear Girls is stand- up comedian Ali Wong's first book. It is frequently (and sometimes unnecessarily) crass, but if you're familiar with Ali's comedy style then this shouldn't surprise you. She strikes a good balance between endearing, funny, and dirty. She is unapologtically honest.
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The book is broken down into letters, each of which is a seperate lesson or piece of wisdom that she hopes to impart to her daughters, covering various aspects of life from dating to finding good restaurants and everything in between. Ali Wong is brave, willing to share virtually everything in this book. From the things that saddened her, scared her, challenged her, brought her unparalled joy, embarrassed her, and made her feel shame; it's all in there. Some things that I'm sure most wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with their daughters. Or they that would, but at least not in print.

This book covers so much: her childhood, dating horror stories, travels, and finding her way in the comedy world. But above everything else, this book is about family. Every story she tells is leading to the bigger picture of how her family came to be. How experiences made her stonger, hardships changed her. How she met her husband, eventually realized he was the man for her and would one day be the father of her children. That the family life and Asian heritage that both she and her husband were raised with lead them to being the two people that would balance each other and shape them into the parents they would become. The charasmatic whirlwind of a comedian that is Ali balanced by her compassionate, hippie husband. Tying both their life experiences together and leading them to the beautiful family this book is about.

I adored the final letter, written by her husband to their daughters. I really enjoyed being able to read both points of view on their beginnings (both in life and in their realtionship). It really helped to tie together the entire book.
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I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sharing an eARC of Dear Girls by Ali Wong with me for reviewing purposes. This is my honest review.

Ugh Ali Wong is such a palate cleanser, especially after all of these whiny-ass ‘comedians’ have been moaning about how they’re, like, not allowed to be *funny* anymore!! Won’t someone think of the white men?!???!!!!!?,?! In the words of SNL’s least-employed former cast member, “Ali Wong is making it so Asian chicks are funnier than white chicks.” Good on him, taking a break from calling Asian people c****s to compliment her in a way that insults other women.

But I agree with that conservative diversity hire’s overall sentiment. Ali is funny as hell. Everything reads in her voice, from the stories about childbirth to the antics of her study abroad trip to Vietnam, she is unapologetically herself. There’s also a lot of vulnerability on display that her fans may not get to see very often. In the very beginning of her book she discloses that she’s afraid of being outed as “a fucking idiot”. Obviously nobody with an encyclopedic level of knowledge about various Asian cuisine could be stupid, but I appreciated the candor she gave when talking about her hopes and fears, in addition to the usual sexcapade stories.

Since she’s primarily a stand-up, I feel like the audiobook version would be even better. There’s nothing that quite measures up to an author reciting their own words to their audience. While most of her stories were inherently funny, there wasn’t an abundance of quote-unquote ‘jokes’. I think it will work better delivered by Wong herself.

Some of the best material wasn’t necessarily funny at all. Her experiences with Asian American culture and as a struggling comedian/writer were insightful and heartfelt. The only part I really went yikes at was when she brought up male virginity. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize gender stereotypes that stigmatize men instead of women, but it felt like when everyone collectively lost their shit over ‘The Virgin Bachelor’. Like come on....we’re better than this.

The book was framed as letters by Ali to her two young daughters. I don’t think these are the actual letters she would write them if she wasn’t also using them as a book, but there’s still plenty of guidance to be gleaned on the whole. The Afterword by her husband, Justin Hakuta, was especially sweet and a great note for it to end on. I hope Ali keeps working as a writer, and I plan to watch her next stand-up special whenever it is. Even if she rudely refuses to get pregnant for it.

Ali Wong can seriously do no wrong.


If you haven’t watched her two Netflix comedy specials, then I’m sorry you’ve been living under a rock. Now go watch them both and come back. Done? Good. Let’s continue.


The best part about the book is I can hear her voice in my head, reading this to me. Seriously. Her voice in my head. Now some might think this might be creepy but I’m going to assure you that it’s brilliant. Her hilarious and heartwarming stories show off her depth and comedy as an artist. She will be giving you her best line in one sentence and the next will make you want to hug someone. I love her chapters on pregnancy, because – same girl. What no one wants to talk about or tell you and she just DOES IT.

Yes, Ali, I have suffered enough.

And she doesn’t stop there. She talks about being a stand up comic, about her family and being a student and living abroad. By the time you’re done, you feel like you’ve just read some seriously raw diary entries and you equally want to be her best friend and send her to a therapist.

That’s what makes Ali Wong so special. Her comedy is not abstract and general. Her comedy is raw and unfiltered personal dilemmas, intimate knowledge and realizations that only someone who has been through and lived and come out the other side can comment on.

I love love love this book. There is so much honesty and humor and realness. I laughed out loud, sitting alone at lunch, looking like a maniac. And I didn’t for once feel sorry about it.