What sets MAKING A SCENE apart from other novels is its ability to intertwine art with life. Constance Wu beautifully explores the complexities of human relationships and emotions through the lens of the characters' experiences in the world of theater. It's a testament to her deep understanding of the human psyche and the power of art to heal, inspire, and transform.The audiobook's engaging nature keeps you hooked from start to finish. You'll find yourself drawn into the lives of the characters, eagerly anticipating what happens next. Constance Wu's delivery adds an extra layer of immersion, making it feel like you're right there alongside the characters, experiencing their joys and sorrows. If you're looking for a book that will touch your heart, challenge your emotions, and stay with you long after the final chapter, this is it. It's a beautiful testament to the transformative power of art and the enduring human spirit.

We can only find unflinching beauty in vulnerability.

How did the book make me feel/think?

Yippee—a memoir written by a celebrity. This most certainly will be dreary. Why Constanze? Why?

Fresh Off the Boat was delightful, essential, and ground-breaking.

Crazy Rich Asians, thumbs way up!

Constanze, you’re a star!!! Why?

Flip the page. You are a star, but you are ordinary. I’m relating to you. I understand what traumatic events and life pressure are like—the insecurity, the questioning of sanity, the brushing aside of one’s ghosts to fit in. To live in denial to protect the future. I know what it is like to take devastating truths, sweep them aside, and then convince yourself the biggest deals in life are nothing to lose sleep over.

Why do we do it?

To try desperately to remain unscathed.

It’s impossible.
Constanze Wu’s; "Making a Scene" flips from ordinary to extraordinary because of the unflinching beauty Constanze shares, only found in vulnerability.

The last chapter left my heart pounding.

As a man, I could never comprehend the unbearable weight of being a rising Asian Star in a misogynistic world controlled by Caucasian males (duh). The burden must be crushing. After reading your story, I must thank you for sharing and letting the rest of us know that being a star doesn’t mean you are not human.

WRITTEN: 27 August 2022

This was hard to follow and made me like Constance a lot less. We get random inserts about her relationships with men, her pet bunny, and love for acting. She describes herself as melodramatic and I could see that with how petulant and self-centered her actions were. The part I enjoyed the most was hearing about her upbringing and learning how supportive her mother was when she showed an interest in acting. Sadly this ended up being tacked on to the end and wasn't discussed long enough for my liking.

Not knowing much about Constance Wu other than staring in Fresh off the boat and Crazy Ruch Asians it was interesting to read her story.


Thank you, Simon &Schuster Canada and netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

From baking bread, working on Fresh Off the Boat, loving her rabbit, exploring houses, experiencing love, and a summer living with Buddhist monks, we learn of some of Constance’s pivotal moments that shaped her. I liked reading about her upbringing and the empowerment her mom instilled in her. Reading about her pursuing acting from a young age, playing various roles, and coming to life on stage truly captured the drive and passion Constance has for her craft.

I don’t follow Constance, so I was excited to know more! I'm not sure if this was just me, but I feel like this book is much better on audio. Constance's storytelling is very conversational and personable (imagine her texting you). At times, the writing felt formulaic with its airness / seriousness / lesson learning (etc), but you can see how she’s grown. Though I would’ve liked to know more about Constance’s role in Crazy Rich Asians and her life as a mother, it was still interesting to learn about other aspects of her life. If you do pick this up, I highly recommend trying the audio!!

Thank you, Simon and Schuster CA and NetGalley for my arc!

Making a Scene is the new memoir written by Constance Wu, the actress best known for her roles in the TV sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat” and the movie “Crazy Rich Asians”. This memoir recounts stories from her childhood, young adulthood, and tells her side of the news story that changed her career.
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​I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of FOTB when it came out. I didn’t find it particularly funny, and Wu’s ‘tiger mom’ character wasn’t relatable to me since I didn’t grow up in a household with this type of figure. So I was very neutral about Wu, didn’t really have much of an opinion of her, but I respected her role and the role of the show in allowing for greater Asian representation on American television.
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​But I did enjoy reading this memoir. I found that some of my childhood experiences were similar to hers where my parents respected whatever it was that I wanted to do, I also worked odd jobs as a teenager, and I didn’t follow the trajectory of the “model minority,” typical Asian. Her series of essays disrupted this idea of the “model minority” in many ways and that was what I appreciated most, since these types of stories aren’t often shared.
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​She speaks about how, as one of the few successful Asian female actresses in Hollywood, there is a pressure to be perfect because you are representing an entire community, to not screw things up or make mistakes because if you do, you are letting down that community. And how unfair it is to put that expectation on someone. She is very open about her ongoing family struggles and mental health challenges, and how she is working through them.
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​Her memoir is raw and honest, and showed a vulnerability to Wu that I hadn’t seen before from watching her previous interviews, movies and shows. Whether or not you’re a fan of Wu, I think this is a lovely memoir that reminds us that it’s ok to make mistakes, and that we need to be kind and understanding to ourselves.

I first knew of @constancewu from Fresh Off the Boat, and then later (one of my faves) Crazy Rich Asians. Her new book of essays are open and vulnerable, reflecting on a myriad of moments throughout her childhood and adult life, her past relationships, jobs and experiences that gives the readers an insight into who she is - including addressing the circumstances around FOTB.

Given that we’re about the same age, I related a lot to some of the stories especially having BIG FEELINGS from her childhood 😅 In that respect, it was nostalgically familiar but also a bit hard to read because it forced me to confront my own cringey moments from my youth 🫣. However, in a way, it also resulted in me to try and finally let go rather than continue to dwell on my own decades-old embarrassing moments or hanging on to long-gone former friendships that had run its course many years ago. This book let me realize that I’m definitely not alone at having done or said some dumb or insensitive things in the past but that we can learn from it, move on and, for everyone in general, to not be too quick to judge before knowing the context or character of someone.

My only thing to note is that the essays are not in chronological order so you’ll be reading about college years, to childhood, to dealing with harassment, to early years. Not necessarily a bad thing but may just take a moment to reset the frame of reference as you get to each new chapter.

I haven’t picked up a non-fiction in a long time but when I saw Constance Wu’s memoir? I knew I gotta get my hands on it! The memoir is composed of heartfelt essays, funny at times but brutally honest always. I like her on Fresh Off The Boat and Crazy Rich Asians, but reading her book made me love her all the more! She’s not only a good actress; but she’s also a great writer! Love getting to know her childhood and pre-famous days. It feels really good seeing Asians as lead characters nowadays in mainstream tv and film, and Constance Wu is one of the pioneers that paved the way for others. Do pick this book up or grab the audiobook if you can! Truly worth reading!💕

Thanks @simonschusterca @netgalley for my gifted ARC.

I sat down with the intention of only reading the first few pages of Constance Wu's "Making a Scene. A few hours later I had read the entire book. Told in a series of essays, Wu exhibits the bravery necessary to share the stories closet to her heart, both happy and sad. As someone who did not know much about her outside of her popular film and television roles, it was an honour to get to know the woman behind the scenes. I do not often rate memoirs, as I feel it is odd to grade someone's telling of their life story, however I can not help but give this book a 5/5. I highly recommend to all as I feel there will be at least one thing in it that everyone can relate to.

Despite watching all seasons of Fresh Off the Boat and Crazy Rich Asians and absolutely loving Constance Wu in both roles, I actually knew very little about her as a person. But she brought such depth and joy to her roles that I wanted to get to know her better and was thrilled when I saw that she had written a book.
Constance shares a lot of herself, the good and the bad, and gives readers a great window into what it is like for many people as they work toward a career in acting. Constance worked hard in her journey to the roles that brought her fame and I think what she shares here will be inspiring to many people in the arts. Constance is very honest and gives readers more than she would even need to.
This is an autobiography that is written in the form of essays. I didn't exactly take to this method as I found that some essays were much stronger than others because of this. But while I found that a bit challenging, it wasn't too much that it took away from the book completely. I really enjoyed this book and I think that even people who haven't seen Constance in any of her acting roles would still really enjoy the insights and stories she has.

Constance Wu’s Making a Scene is a series of stories and anecdotes told by the actor about her life in essay and script form. Wu is remarkably candid in her retelling of her life events including falling in love numerous times, pursuing her career in acting, her childhood as the daughter of immigrants, her family and relationship with her parents and her experiences with people, both good and bad.
Perhaps the most intriguing essay in this book is the one where Wu speaks her truth regarding her time on Fresh Off The Boat and the backlash she received for a handful of emotional tweets — something I didn’t know about previous to reading her book.
I truly enjoyed each and every story in Making a Scene. My favourites being the one where she is accused of plagiarism for simply being a girl of colour because how can an Asian girl write so well? Unfathomable! I felt incredibly seen reading this as someone very close to me has been accused of this just for being incredibly intelligent too. I also loved Wu’s honesty in writing about her parents.

This book felt like I was talking to a friend. Wu bares her soul as if all of her readers are her friends, without judgment or fear.

Read this if you like non-fiction, essay style books and celebrity memoirs. Read this if you simply like reading!

I became a fan of Wu after the release of Crazy Rich Asians. I've always wanted to watch FOTB but never got around to it. I don't keep up with pop culture news, so I never knew about the controversy behind her tweets. So reading this memoir, I didn't realize how much Wu had to endure as an Asian American woman in Hollywood and the pressures she felt to represent the community until this memoir.

The chapters read like short essays, none of them are in chronological order or necessarily tied to each other -- but we get glimpses into different aspects of her life -- family, friends, relationships and acting career. I admire her honesty and vulnerability in speaking about her mental health and the sexual harassment and assaults she had gone through. Her emotions and the need to suppress them were valid and I found that many victims would find that relatable. I think this goes to show that no matter how much fame or success we see a celebrity receive, we never really know the whole picture and what goes on behind the scenes.

I approached this memoir with an open-mind, not particularly being a fan of Constance Wu and aware of some bad press she received over the years (most notably upon the renewal of Fresh Off the Boat). Unfortunately, her collection of essays is underwhelming and rather vapid - unlike her colleagues who provided glowing reviews for her memoir, such as Mindy Kaling and Amy Schumer, her stories are, at times, enjoyable, but not really notable nor endearing.

I loved every bit of this!! It's weird to say you like to read non-fiction books about celebrities because they say "why do you care, they're famous", but to see where they came from, how they were brought up and how they got to where they are now interests me. When I got approved for this ARC, I was very excited because I loved her in FOTB and Crazy Rich Asians. I know a lot of people look up to her as one of the 'first Asian-American' persons on television/movies with a lead role.

The raw emotion Constance gave from her childhood till now is beautifully written and you can tell she put her whole heart in it. She describes all the heartaches she went through, the hardships she faced, the challenges she went through pertaining her struggles with her career. She really 'made a scene' with all that she describes in her book. I loved the way the book was written like it was a play, with set directions and play format. Her very descriptive way of telling her readers on how a relationship she was in came and gone, really pulls at your heart strings. One quote that got me was "Once someone touches your heart, they can't untouch it". You will laugh so hard on some parts of the book like her teacher having a jar on her desk that was labeled 'ashes of bad students', feel for her family's hardship, cry with her and her relationships and triumph with her with all her winnings.

Although, I knocked off a star off my rating as the story did become a little repetitive. Nonetheless, Constance' story is one to read and one that will leave you with a lot of emotions.

TW: thoughts of suicide, mental health, rape

the novel will be released october 2022 !

thank you netgalley, simon & schuster canada and constance wu for the gifted ARC