I am a huge fan of memoirs and this one definitely had the emotional impact I look for in a good memoir.

The author was raw, courageous, and brutally honest. I loved the way she incorporated so much about the Vietnamese culture.

The writing was done beautifully and I found Lieu to be such a talented story teller. Her journey through grief felt very relatable.

4 stars.*

I downloaded this one and promptly forgot about it. I'm so glad I found it!

The Manicurist's Daughter is a memoir of a woman seeking answers years after her mother, a Vietnamese immigrant who built a successful nail salon business, dies of complications during plastic surgery.

It is a story of familial love, seeking mother-love, self-awareness, and roots.

I loved Susan Lieu's voice and her honesty and willigness to dig into the really difficult parts of her family history are remarkable.

One of my favorite memoir of 2024.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I wish I had been able to listen to this one versus reading (although the cover art is absolutely fantastic). It felt like Susan was telling you her story over coffee, which is exactly how a memoir should feel. I love that she spared no detail of family dynamics and drama.

The manicurist’s daughter by Susan Lieu was a complicated book for me. While I usually enjoy memoirs, I found myself disliking Susan in the beginning while still feeling compelled to read her memoir. Perhaps we grew up with the same type of family but had different responses and her response was so unlike mine that I couldn’t help but share some of the same sentiments as her siblings and relatives. I think Cậu Chín summed it up really well when he said that she was stubborn and created some of her own problems. At times, she did come off as whiny and as a dog with a bone that she just wouldn’t let go of. I’m happy I decided to finish this book even though I wanted to put it down so many times. I’m happy to see that Susan found a balance, not only with her family but with herself. She found peace. Her story reminds me that everyone copes with their problems differently and that just because someone’s grief/coping doesn’t look like yours, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Everyone needs the time and freedom to deal with their problems, but also love and support, (and sometimes a reality check).

This was such an emotional roller coaster! Besides being incredibly well written, the story was moving and told in an engaging way.

This is my first book by this author which I enjoyed reading. I look forward to seeing what is next for them. I enjoyed the writing style as well as their attention to detail that made the characters pop and the story come to life. I found this book to be well written and hard to put down. A story of grief, trauma and how we see ourselves. A story that is emotional and just trying to find your place in this world. It will open your mind to different cultures and how you view it. I enjoyed how the characters are relateable, connectable and a determination like no other. They kept the story engaging and had me turning pages fast. I enjoyed watching their growth throughout the story. This is an easy and entertaining story that you don't want to miss. A fast paced story that is not soon forgotten. I really enjoyed reading this book. I highly recommend this book.

I felt that premise of this book was incredibly important, unattainable beauty standards that women face and the pressures of community. However, despite understanding the importance of the premise, I found myself struggling to stay invested in the story. This may be a me problem as many others seem to have connected with this book.

Thank you Celadon Books for the opportunity to review this arc.

Didn’t ever click for me which is too and because it seemed totally up my alley. I tried so many times but alas. Thank you for the copy to review!

This was such a good read. It took me on an emotional roller coaster. I was intrigued by every aspect of the book: the title, the cover art and the synopsis. Beautiful and vulnerable.

This was just as good as Crying in H Mart. I don't know what it is about Asian memoirs for me, but I just love them. I love learning how their family units operate. It's so full of love, even if you can't always see it. They are just different from American/white families. I love how much they love food and how it translates into how much they love their family. Susan really writes well, and you really feel for her as she's trying to figure out who her mother was. And through all of that, who Susan is. I loved the way she laid out the book into the sections of the different words "Ma" can translate from Vietnamese. I had never heard of Susan before this or of her live shows. I think memoirs like this one, are great. You get to learn about other cultures and family dynamics. It teaches you empathy and opens your mind to other people and cultures. It also teaches you Vietnamese words and food. Such a good book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon books for the e-arc of this book. I had no idea going into this that this story was a memoir, I realized while reading other reviews that it was indeed non-fiction.

As someone who lost a mother this was a beautiful, yet heartbreaking story that I didn't want to put down.

If y'all know me, you know I love the heavy, sad stories and this one just gripped me from the beginning. I whole-heartedly loved this story so much.

I almost decided to not read this book because I am not huge on memoirs, but I am glad I picked it up! Lieu did a great job of weaving her story together. I cannot personally relate to the loss of a mother, but I did feel it from her story. She endured a lot of tragedy and I appreciate her honesty and willingness to share. Grief is a long (if never-ending) process and I think that was conveyed well in the book.

Overall I would recommend this book. Even if you do not read a lot of non-fiction I believe this is a good story to start with. Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of this work. All opinions expressed are that of my own!

Thank you to Celadon Books for the gifted copy to review.

This heartfelt memoir where Susan Lieu focuses on how her mother, who died from a botched tummy tuck, affected her life tremendously, even though she did not really know much about her, and was not allowed to talk about her death or what happened is one that I will not forget anytime soon. She spends twenty years trying to figure out who her mother was, why no one will talk about her mother’s life in Vietnam, what happened during her surgery, or why she even wanted the surgery in the first place. While doing so, Susan also tries to connect the dots to her life and how this has impacted her, and while it may seem obvious that it has, she learns just how much as she goes on this journey and I am so glad she shared it with us.

I listened to this via audio and I was captivated from the beginning by this story. It is not one you hear every day, it is incredibly heartbreaking, and I admire Susan’s tenacity in not giving up when she hits wall after wall of people not wanting to talk about anything. Not only is this a memoir of loss, grief, and identity, but it is also a focus on the ideal of beauty and how it always seems to come with a cost.

4.5/5

This was another beautiful & gut-wrenching memoir of a daughter mourning her mother, but on a much deeper level than what I’ve read in previous memoirs.

The parts being broken down by the different ways “ma” is wrote & spoke in Vietnamese was very unique & helped the story flow. The way Lieu took us through her life’s journey was well done & I could vividly picture myself at her family’s table, at the nail salons, & in general everywhere she went. I truly felt like she was siting in front of me recounting every memory & experience. You can sense how healing not only the deep dive into her mother & family was, but also writing this memoir was for Lieu.

The family dynamic was hard to read at times but really painted a picture of immigrant families Being in an area with a high Hmong population the story of the parents immigrating & making a life for themselves as salon owners really stood out to me as that’s a common profession for Hmong families here who also bring their young children to the salons on weekends (one time one of the children took a Polaroid of me & it’s hanging on my fridge haha). It definitely makes you respect everyone in your community even more.

I really enjoyed the food descriptions & it made me so so so hungry! I love how food is a major aspect of so many cultures & the center of so many memories.



While it’s hard to “rate” memories, what didn’t make this a 5/5 for me was the writing was inconsistent - some parts just felt a little undeveloped compared to others & at times I felt like the story was repeating itself. The flashbacks were definitely needed for the story, but sometimes felt a bit disjointed.

Everyone has heard mention of the American Dream, and that is exactly what Susan’s family was hoping to achieve when they became refugees during the Vietnam War. Led by the Lieu matriarch they open two nail salons, salons that become very successful thanks to Susan’s mother’s desire for success and perceived perfection. Unfortunately this need for perfection leads to the untimely death of Susan’s mother when Susan was 11, all due to a tummy tuck gone wrong, leaving the family without their North Star and unsure of what they should do next. For the next 20 years Susan is left not only questioning the events that led to her mother’s death, but forces her to examine her own definition of perfection and whether or not it is really worth it.

The Manicurist’s Daughter was not at all what I expected it to be. I thought I was going to read a book that was more about the search for justice, but there is so much more to this story than that. Lieu examines her thoughts, concepts and definitions of perfection, the American Dream, and justice, and she does all of this with total honesty. I also enjoyed the glimpses of Vietnamese culture throughout, as well as seeing the ways in which different groups respond to and process grief. Overall I feel that this is a well written, deep memoir.

THE MANICURIST’S DAUGHTER

This memoir was written with such raw, vulnerable and deep emotion. An 11yo Susan tragically loses her Mom and her life no longer makes sense. In a family dynamic where it’s forbidden to talk openly about your grief, we get to see how she navigates through life. Trying to find answers to questions about her mother’s death begins a journey of self discovery, of the mother she never knew and quite possibly the beginning of healing for her family.

Thank you Celadon and NetGalley for the complimentary e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

#evesbookishreads #bookstagram #bookreviewerforfun #reading #books #igreads #igbooks #booklover #instabooks #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookstagramfeature #themanicuristdaughter #susanlieu #celadonbooks #netgalley

Thank you very much @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Manicurist’s Daughter by Susan Lieu. This is a memoir, and follows Susan’s life. Her mother came from Vietnam and developed a very successful nail salon business, only to die early from complications from a botched plastic surgery situation. She struggles to understand why her mother even had plastic surgery, and why the doctor was never held responsible. She also struggles to learn about who her mother was, and what her life had been like. And she struggles with the rocky relationship she had with her mother before she died. It’s a pretty sad story. It tells a lot about the immigrant experience. #themanicuristsdaughter #susanlieu #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #memoir #immigrantexperience #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday

3.5 stars

Thank you to Celadon Book and NetGalley for this eARC!

The first thing I want to say is that when I rate and review a memoir, I’m really focused mainly on the technical aspect, such as the writing style, etc. I never want to make an author feel like their experiences are being rated or discussed in a way that diminishes their story, and that can make reviewing them difficult sometimes.

That being said, I did enjoy this one for the most part. Let’s start with the main issue I had:

I found the storyline to be meandering and a bit confusing at times. An idea/situation would be introduced, then we’d move on, come back to it, move on, go back to a different one, and so on and so forth. It did make it feel a little disconnected and repetitive at times. Because of this, I was struggling to get through this and ended up listening on audio to finish the book.

I really think audio is the way to consume this story - it’s narrated by the author and she delivers the story well. It was much more engaging and I also liked getting to hear the proper Vietnamese pronunciations, both with words and names, rather than struggling to figure them out in my head.

Now let’s talk about what worked for me:

I really loved the story of Susan connecting with her father and how through this journey of understanding her deceased mother, she was also able to find understanding with her father and heal their bond and relationship. You also see growth in all of her family members because of her persistence in learning about her mother and I thought that aspect of this memoir was really great.

Susan seemed to learn a lot about herself as well while trying to learn about her mother and I loved the moment towards the end when she finally directly confronts a family member for making comments about her body. I found what she said to be very simple yet powerful and it very much needed to be said. It was a full circle moment tying us back to the main reason behind her mother’s death (beauty standards) and connecting it directly to Susan herself.

I also loved the stories she tells about visiting Vietnam and her family’s journey from Vietnam to America - they were and are incredibly strong and brave people.

Overall, I do think this is an important story with a lot of things that need to be discussed widely and openly, I just didn’t think it was written perfectly. Regardless, I still recommend this, especially on audio!

I was given the opportunity to review this book per NetGalley (thank you again, and also this is my own personal review and opinion) and this book left me in the feels. I truly felt this authors pain when describing the hurt and suffering she endured for a long time. To the mending and healing that came with so much self acceptance. I do truly believe this was beautifully written and I recommend this book. #TheManicuristsDaughter #NetGalley

THE MANICURIST’S DAUGHTER bu SUSAN LIEU

This is a memoir of a daughter Vietnam refugees and I find reading about Asian cultures especially refugees is very interesting. it is the only way that I can try to understand their trials and tribulations.

Her mother died from surgery when she is very young .

It is a very personal and sometimes heart wrenching book and it helped me understand the Vietnamese culture better. It is a very interesting read.