this book was poetic feast!!! it was serving up identity, race, and family through the lens of food. each poem brims with flavor—both literal and metaphorical—bringing together the warmth of home-cooked meals, the sting of cultural problems and the feeling of belonging.

the way it was written was so sharp & honest. the author using ingredients like ginger scallion fish and Sichuan peppercorns to explore the complexities of being an immigrant daughter made this book a 5 star read to me. food isn’t just nourishment here—it’s history, expectation, and sometimes, a battleground. colonialism, language loss, and family tension simmer beneath the surface, creating a rich and layered reading experience for EVERYBODY. also, what makes this collection so compelling is how seamlessly the author blends the personal and political. her poems capture the bittersweet realities of assimilation, the weight of generational pressures, and the quiet grief of losing pieces of one’s heritage. yet, through it all, there’s resilience, tenderness, and a deep love for the flavors that shape us.

Familial Hungers is a must-read—bold, intimate, and full of heart. this poetry lingers like the aftertaste of a long-forgotten dish, bringing both comfort and revelation. such an amazing one-sit read. i cannot pick a favorite.

thank you so much Christine Wu & Literary Press Group of Canada for my copy! i will embrace this book with all my ❤️

Thank you to the Literary Press Group of Canada, Brick Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Truly one of my favorite poetry books I’ve ever read. Each poem was poignant and fit into the larger collection seamlessly. I especially loved “Before You Ask” (I want to write my own similar response poem as a journal exercise), “How to Speak Home,” “The Grocery Store Calls Them Cuties,” and “Why I Stopped Coming Home For the Holidays.” The structure, cadence, and overall composition of the poems are extremely thought-provoking and will be with me for a long time. Looking at familial and generational trauma through the lens of food is brilliant. The cover of this book is also stunning!

Highly, highly recommend

Thank you to NetGalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review.

Familial Hungers is a very personal poetry collection. I really love the exploration of culture and loss of culture through food. The way that Wu discusses hunger, nostalgia, and longing feels so visceral.

Admittedly, I struggled to decide on a rating for this collection (as I often do with poetry and short story collections) since there were some poems in here that were so incredibly powerful, and others that I didn’t connect with at all. With that being said, there weren’t any poems that I disliked, so 3.75 rounded up to 4 seems fair to me.

I will be thinking about this for the rest of my day. Christine Wu blends her personal stories with traditional dishes we all know and love. It packs a beautiful punch, tangy with the everlasting struggle of being raised in a culture outside your own. I saw myself in this book— from the dishes, the feelings, just- wow!!! I’m floored.

Reading this poem collection felt like the moment your fight with your mother and it's still stinging, but she's already set a bowl of noodles wordlessly in front of you as the apology.

The struggles with identity in this book will resonate with a lot of Asian-Americans like myself. There's a very specific kind of hurt, shame, and pride that comes with that territory that is so difficult to put into words. Christine Wu has managed to articulate these experiences and feelings so well - over and over again in this collection.

I absolutely devoured this in one sitting.