Others have described this book as brave and beautiful, and while I strive to offer something original in my reviews - I cannot think of two words that better describe Qian Julie Wang's memoir. This is a story that will stay with me for a long, long time and one that I will be pressing into the hands of all my American friends and family.

On a powerful and deeply moving personal account of experiences living as an undocumented immigrant child. August has been a really good reading month for me, with each book giving me so many things to reflect on, and this book was no exception. As a 3rd generation overseas Chinese, I’ve always been curious about others' experiences, so I'm always naturally drawn to books like this. To read about what Qian Julie Wang has experienced during her childhood, what it's like living an invisible life, going through perpetual threat of deportation, was not an easy read for me.⁣
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Within the book, Wang poignantly writes about not only her own experiences, which include her inability to speak English at first and battles with loneliness at school, but also her observations of her parents' struggles, who used to be professors in China and had to bounce from job to job in America in order to survive, which eventually affected their relationships and her mum's health. While it's heartbreaking for me to read about deep childhood traumas from her own perspective, I do think that's the charm of the book. For example, just look at this lyrical passage. ⁣
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“I ascended to adulthood at cruising altitude. The takeoff was bumpy, and my braided pigtails, each with its own silk red ribbon, bobbed around the sides of my seven-year-old face. In my lap sat my favourite doll, ladylike in her frilly dress. Her eyes, with their long lashes, flicked open and closed with the turbulence. Her legs were snapped into my seat belt, so I knew she was safe.”⁣
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Ultimately, it's a story of hope and courage, of perseverance and strength. It's out in the UK on 7th September. Please do read it.

Beautiful Country is a candid memoir of growing up in New York as an undocumented immigrant.

Qian relives her childhood of uncertainty, fear and hunger with clear eyes, and it makes for an immersive read. In stark, dignified prose, she describes the poverty, racism, the child labour in sweatshops and her faltering first friendships with real immediacy and self-awareness. It's a story of trauma but also of survival, heartbreaking and hopeful in equal measures.

An important document of immigrant experience, Beautiful Country is a brave and beautiful memoir.

It was interesting and sad to read about how Qian's life started, it was a tough childhood. I cannot imagine what was like to be an immigrant at that age in a completely different country to your own. Glad that she managed to do what she really wanted. The retelling of her story was a bit too much sometimes, a lot of detail about her parents that I didn't find necessary. Nevertheless, it was hard to put it down, I really was immersed in the story. Personally, I totally related when she talks about not being able to afford clothes, food or books, there was a lot of struggle in my childhood too. I recommend this one.

Beautiful Country left me in tears. It's a heartbreaking, powerful, and ultimately hopeful memoir. The hardships Qian Julie Wang went through as such a young child living as an undocumented immigrant in the United States can be painful to read, but it's something many Americans need to hear. The author's clear voice and astonishing self-awareness keep you turning the pages, even as she unearths trauma after trauma. If you have any doubt that immigrants make our countries more beautiful, please read this book. If you already know that, my request remains: please read this book

Thanks to Netgalley, Qian Julie Wang and the publishers for this beautiful memoir. I am still full of tears and need to reread the last bit to let it fully sink in.

I can't articulate how much I love this book. The irony of its title, Beautiful Country, is haunting and ghosts every single page. I'm torn between Wang and her family's hope in the American Dream, and the hopelessness that faces undocumented immigrants like her family. What emerges in this memoir is filled with such thoughtful nuance, as Wang navigates childhood and adolescence with the longing for home, for belonging, with racism and injustice, governmental hypocrisy and the failings of a country that is meant to embody hope amd new beginnings.

I have never felt so seen in a piece of literature before. The way she writes through the pain of growing up in a foreign country, the discrimination and the injustice -- it's beautiful and it's painful and it just comes to life on the page.

I don't know what else to say or how to express myself besides a giant keyboard smash of emotion. I was genuinely crying through the acknowledgements page, equal parts uplifted and grateful for having witnessed such a book!! Thank you again to the author for having the courage and the heart to share her story with all of us.

"Some days, Confucius had large clumps of pigeon poop on his shoulders, and sometimes he even had a pigeon standing proudly atop his head. The statue threw my life into relief. It was a shitty day even for Confucius. Who was I to complain?"

The memoir offers a beautifully written, raw account of 'dark' (illegal migration) overflowing with honest recollections and insights into a process hidden to so many. Julie (Qian qian) offers a first hand account of her experience leaving mainland China to enter the US and become part of the 'no income' working class, facing a unique - but not uncommon list of barriers.

Julie challenged mainstream perspectives that "most of your parents are uneducated. They can only work in sweatshops." with the more unsettling reality seen all over western countries today, of highly educated individuals with skillsets that they aren't allowed to transfer over, reducing them to meagre opportunities and high risk low-reward circumstances.

She covers the vulnerability of being thrown into wholly new environments, the disappointing lack of support often delivered from those trusted to take care of us and the all too uncommon fetishisation of Chinese women. The book is short but packs a real punch, with a wide array of Chinese culture and references throughout. I also greatly enjoyed the narration style - writing as her younger self, but with the self-awareness and understanding afforded by hindsight. It's rare to read a memoir of such difficult circumstances that doesn't rely on tired tropes, but the book delivered. I also enjoyed the play on the English translation of America from China - 'beautiful country' - which was repeatedly referenced and set the tone for the reader to read between the lines throughout the story.

There's almost too much I can say. I highlighted whole paragraphs and went from laughing in one paragraph to crying in the next. My only true disappointment, was that the book ended where it did, as I desperately wanted to know what happened next. If you're reading this, I eagerly await memoir 2.0.

Strongly recommend, 5/5

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Stunning, one of the best books I've read this year. It's fast paced and beautifully written, somehow managing to elegantly interweave trauma, family relationships, and the power of finding yourself again later in your life.

I was very much looking forward to this memoir; it wasn't a story I'd heard before so wanted to hear her view.

I felt at times that the level of detail got in the way of her telling her family story. I thought it worked best when she moved away from the more mundane details. I loved the parts about her cat! The pace was rather strange for me as I wanted more at the end; her story isn't over so I would have preferred more detail of her life in Canada.

That said, I was mesmerised by this and got through it in three sittings. And I loved the lengthy acknowledgements at the end!

Beautiful Country is a very interesting memoir about a young girl moving from China to America as her family pursue the American Dream. I think I found it particularly interesting because her journey takes place around the same time as I was growing up and when her family were unable to afford to feed themselves, Qian envied the children at school with Tamagotchi's. I think most books I have read about immigrant experiences have been set much longer ago and I haven't connected with as well as I did with this one. It can be a difficult read at times but fascinating and so worth it.

A touching and beautiful look at the experience of the American Dream and an especially relevant read in the wake of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States. I preferred the back half of the book to the front - child narration can be a challenge for me - but it was an overall enjoyable memoir and a strong showing from Wang.