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Review // They Wish They Were Us

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Hi! I’m Sarah / @thehireader. Welcome to my space for book reviews, recommendations, and bookish discussions.

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Featured – Reviews

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Happy #PubDay to HEARTBREAKERS & FAKERS by @camloo

Happy #PubDay to HEARTBREAKERS & FAKERS by @camloond! 💕✨ Thank you so much to @penguinteen for the gifted copy. ⁣
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I was OBSESSED with @camloond’s first book, THE BEST LAID PLANS. Ugh, it was rom-com perfection. I’ve been waiting for her follow up since finishing THE BEST LAID PLANS last year and so I’m over the moon that it’s out there in the world and finally here! I cannot wait to dive in.⁣
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[image description: a hardcover of Heartbreakers & Fakers stacked on top of a hardcover of The Best Laid Plans on a white quilt]

(#gifted) MINOR FEELINGS by Cathy Park Hong⁣ ⁣

(#gifted) MINOR FEELINGS by Cathy Park Hong⁣
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☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆⁣
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I’ve written and rewritten this review multiple times at this point. Even now, I struggle with what to say. I am hesitant to explain how much this book meant to me and what it made me feel lest I center the narrative around myself, a white-passing Asian, someone who has objectively experienced so much less racial trauma and oppression than others. And this is something that Park Hong herself writes about—the insidiousness of this idea that Asians have it “good.” I experience imposter syndrome on a daily basis; I don’t feel “Asian enough” to be part of the conversation, but being Chinese is half of who I am. It took me weeks to gather the courage to use Asian bookstagrammer hashtags. I’m still unsure about it; I worry that I’m too white passing, I wonder if I need to justify my existence and the space I take up, whether I need to put in all caps “I promise I’m Chinese!!!” or “Asian American” in my bio. ⁣
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As you can tell, my thoughts are all a jumbled mess and I don’t know how to articulate my feelings about this book. But I will say this: MINOR FEELINGS should be required reading. It is political and radical and compelling, but more than that, it is deeply personal and insightful. Park Hong has such a piercing sense of observation and a way with words, that this was simultaneously one of the hardest and easiest books for me to read. I cannot recommend this book enough.⁣
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Thank you @randomhouse for the gifted copy. Truly, thank you. I needed this.⁣
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[image description: Sarah holding up a copy of Minor Feelings in front of a Seattle street, with a blue sky and trees in the background]

Happy #ShelfieSunday! I finally alphabetized my sh

Happy #ShelfieSunday! I finally alphabetized my shelves because while I loved how they looked before, I couldn’t handle the disorganized chaos. How do y’all organize your shelves? By author, genre, color, etc.? ⁣
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[image description: bookshelves with colorful spines and a pothos plant on top]

Some pretty spines for your Wednesday ☺️✨⁣

Some pretty spines for your Wednesday ☺️✨⁣
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[image description: stack of books with spines facing out in a zig-zag. Books from top to bottom: Felix Ever After, Fates and Furies, Jo & Laurie, The Vanishing Half, Woven in Moonlight, From Scratch, Such a Fun Age, Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, The Female Persuasion, Miracle Creek]

Wishing I could be reading ARIADNE on my rooftop r

Wishing I could be reading ARIADNE on my rooftop right now instead of working 🌿🌾✨⁣
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[image description: Ariadne lying on a side table between two deck chairs on a rooftop deck]

Thank you @randomhouse for sending me gifted copie

Thank you @randomhouse for sending me gifted copies of MINOR FEELINGS and IF I HAD YOUR FACE for #AAPIHeritageMonth! These two have been at the top of my TBR since their respective releases.⁣
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I’ve been particularly anxious to read MINOR FEELINGS. I’m always drawn to books and stories that explore Asian American identity and identity politics (I don’t need therapy to know that it’s because I’ve always struggled with my own lol) so I plan on diving into MINOR FEELINGS first, but I hope to have time to read both books this month. ⁣
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[image description: Sarah holding Minor Feelings and If I Had Your Face in front of some purple flowers and greenery]

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