Kinda Korean is a mesmerising memoir that is deeply upsetting, insightful, and is an incredible exploration, or more appropriately, a revelation of cultural identity, family relationships, racism and misogyny. Sung writes her memoir in a way that pulls at your heart strings, whilst dampening the pain with humour.
Sung shares her experience of the discrimination and racism she experienced as an Asian American of immigrant parents from Korea, with a ‘tiger mum’ who expected her to be ‘the perfect, obedient Korean daughter’, and who felt ‘too Asian in my American community, yet too American living in my own house’.
As Sung navigates her own existence through her youth, she is honest in her naivety when it comes to steering her own experiences of alcoholism and as a victim of assault, and has incredible insight into the stereotyping and fetishising of herself and other Asian women, ‘I could never distinguish when white men were interested in me just for sex, to fulfil some exotic sexual fantasy or if they were genuinely interested in getting to know me better’, and ‘we Asian women were expendable because we are not people; we are objects for white men’s sexual objectification and desires’.
Sung has paced her memoir wonderfully as she goes through her schooling years, enters the Airforce and retrains to be a teacher, with chapter headings that really encapsulate the topic with an almost rhythmic transition from one chapter to another. Sung has written an immensely important piece of non-fiction which is not only a must-read for every Asian-American who is seeking to figure out their identity, but for everyone, regardless of race and gender, as we are all witnesses to the topics Sung highlights, directly or indirectly.
BOOK DETAILS
Released: 25 February 2025
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pages: 308
Rating: (4 stars)
Genres: Memoir
I am so grateful to have received the opportunity to read this riveting advanced copy from She Writes Press (via NetGalley).
Trigger Warnings:
Suicide | Addiction | Sexual Assault | Racism | Discrimination
