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caseythereader's review
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
odrib's review
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Police brutality, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility
martachbc's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Death of parent
readingwithcats's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
berleyreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
caseys_chapters's review
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
4.25
I’ve read some outstanding memoirs lately and Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow just joined that list. Thank you @grandcentralpub for the gifted copy!
Seeing Ghosts is centered around the author’s experience losing her mother to cancer at a young age. She also explores several generations of her family’s history in China, The United States, and Cuba and the complicated family dynamics that shaped her.
In many ways this is a ghost story. She describes the lingering emotions tied to grief, generational trauma, and learning about loved ones after their death. It was such an affecting way to frame her experience.
It took a few chapters to get into the flow because the narrative bounces around in time through short vignettes. But once I was in the groove, I was captivated by Kat Chow’s storytelling!
I loved that the book also included family photos. The writing is vivid, but the photos were a beautiful and intimate addition that made me feel even closer to her story.
Seeing Ghosts is centered around the author’s experience losing her mother to cancer at a young age. She also explores several generations of her family’s history in China, The United States, and Cuba and the complicated family dynamics that shaped her.
In many ways this is a ghost story. She describes the lingering emotions tied to grief, generational trauma, and learning about loved ones after their death. It was such an affecting way to frame her experience.
It took a few chapters to get into the flow because the narrative bounces around in time through short vignettes. But once I was in the groove, I was captivated by Kat Chow’s storytelling!
I loved that the book also included family photos. The writing is vivid, but the photos were a beautiful and intimate addition that made me feel even closer to her story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
ekmook's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent
inkedinpages's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Chow's memoir, Seeing Ghosts, tells her experience with grief and loss throughout her childhood and into her adult life. Starting with the loss of her mother at a young age, Chow sees the world through the lens of grieving. In her memoir, she writes about the impact of loss on relationships and highlights the differences in how people experience it.
My thoughts:
I must admit, this one took a little longer than I usually like to grab my attention. But, once it did, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Chow writes in such a brilliant way; alternating between letters to her mother, her own thoughts, conversations with her father. Because of this writing style, I felt like I was reckoning with the losses I have experienced in my personal life right along side her. The differences in the family dynamics as they attempted to process was so fascinating. Dad set about doing, and in doing that he appeared to be avoiding a lot of the time. Kat set about feeling, and doing that, it appeared she would never heal from the loss. Her sister set about caretaking, and in doing so appeared to be more controlled in her grief.
I am huge fan of the memoir genre. This is a memoir that not only tells the story of the author but also forces the reader to think about their own experiences right alongside of the writer. This is a story that I will be thinking about for months and years to follow.
My thoughts:
I must admit, this one took a little longer than I usually like to grab my attention. But, once it did, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Chow writes in such a brilliant way; alternating between letters to her mother, her own thoughts, conversations with her father. Because of this writing style, I felt like I was reckoning with the losses I have experienced in my personal life right along side her. The differences in the family dynamics as they attempted to process was so fascinating. Dad set about doing, and in doing that he appeared to be avoiding a lot of the time. Kat set about feeling, and doing that, it appeared she would never heal from the loss. Her sister set about caretaking, and in doing so appeared to be more controlled in her grief.
I am huge fan of the memoir genre. This is a memoir that not only tells the story of the author but also forces the reader to think about their own experiences right alongside of the writer. This is a story that I will be thinking about for months and years to follow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Grief, and Death of parent
paperknotbooks's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I will turn to this book when in grief over a loss. 🖤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death
biblio_jordyn's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
“What is grief, if not the act of survival.”
“This is what it means to lose someone, understanding how, after all these years, memories shift and shape us. How we cannot exorcise someone as much as we try; we must learn the ways in which we preserve parts of them in ourselves.”
This book was a heartbreaking and raw memoir about grief and loss. The loss of a parent. The loss of culture. The loss of language and connection through it. The loss of family. And by the end, it’s a story about somehow piecing things back together even if it takes years and years.
It’s a story of immigration.
It’s a story of family.
This book tackles race and the divide within races and the discrimination they face.
It speaks on depression and the generational differences.
The idea of success, survival, and poverty. Particularly, how poverty effects peoples ability to go to the doctor and peoples relationship with them and distrust.
It speaks on the idea of the “right” way of immigration, which is constantly a battle in the US.
I loved this memoir. It was heavy, but purposeful and I definitely would recommend it for those who can handle the triggers.
“This is what it means to lose someone, understanding how, after all these years, memories shift and shape us. How we cannot exorcise someone as much as we try; we must learn the ways in which we preserve parts of them in ourselves.”
This book was a heartbreaking and raw memoir about grief and loss. The loss of a parent. The loss of culture. The loss of language and connection through it. The loss of family. And by the end, it’s a story about somehow piecing things back together even if it takes years and years.
It’s a story of immigration.
It’s a story of family.
This book tackles race and the divide within races and the discrimination they face.
It speaks on depression and the generational differences.
The idea of success, survival, and poverty. Particularly, how poverty effects peoples ability to go to the doctor and peoples relationship with them and distrust.
It speaks on the idea of the “right” way of immigration, which is constantly a battle in the US.
I loved this memoir. It was heavy, but purposeful and I definitely would recommend it for those who can handle the triggers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent