Rating: 
Summary: Blood is thicker than water
Review: Jane's book is a delight, and something to be read by both adoptees and a-parents. Her writing is clever and intelligent, and never dips into maudlin self-pity, even when tragic events unfurl. Most importantly, the events help her create a place for herself and find some peace within.As an adoptee, this book is a treasure that I will cherish forever. Thanks, Jane.
Rating: 
Summary: Like it, but...
Review: The question I kept asking myself while I was reading this book (I am neither Korean nor an adoptee) was whether I would recommend it to friends who were either Korean, adopted or both. I think the final answer is no, although I did like the book and would recommend it in general....The writing is brilliant, even if, as another reviewer puts it, a little heavy-handed at times, and Trenka leaves few emotions unexamined. The best word I could think to describe the book was "raw", and that is why I would not recommend it to people with an emotional stake in their adoption. The book is intensely personal, yet on occasion it makes more universal conclusions about adoption, conclusions I wouldn't want to presume to make for other peoples' experiences....Finally, although Trenka's exploration of her emotions is thoughtful, at times she comes across as smug, in that "I know better" tone that disappears with broader experience....On the whole, though, I did like the book and recommend it, with the warning that if you are uncomfortable being really close to someone else's most personal emotions, this may not be the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary exploration of adopted subjectivity!
Review: This book is nothing short of revolutionary. A critical addition to the growing representations within adoption and Asian American discourses. Most books about adoption are by white adoptive parents, who of course have their own agenda and interests. Jane Jeong Trenka's questioning of the status quo--the master narrative about adoption, race, and kinship--is extremely important if we are to place adoption in the largest human context possible and get away from a simple-minded "Love Makes a Family" neoliberal capitalist under-theorized multiculturalism. And the writing is gorgeous and inventive. Her musical training shines through in the rhythm, pacing, and lyricism of every chapter. A must-read!
Rating: 
Summary: pretty good
Review: this book was pretty good, but on the second read, it did seem rather cliche in parts. maybe trenka could take her book to another level.
Rating:
Summary: There is nothing as wasteful as self-pity
Review: While some parts of the book were affecting, the underlying tension in the book is whether the narrator can rise above her self-pity to find empathy and an emboldened view of tragedy. The answer is no. The *book* is tightly controlled, not messy, but because of the obvious mis-steps in the author's search for identity (as another reviewer says, she uses Chinese characters, as if orientalism is orientalism is orientalism - a steroetypic device that Trenka oddly uses in place of a real sense of self) and a lack of any real work in developing a healthier psychology, the *story* feels unfinished, messy, a work in progress. I have the feeling she is a difficult person to exist with, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Political action based on self-pity is no action at all. But what has sadly come out of the book's relative popularity is Trenka rewriting of history. I came across a blog post where Trenka asserts that her book was written to exorcise political ghosts (not her words), reveal Colonization and White Hegemony. All to the good. But not true. A memoir is a book written to soothe a damaged psyche. It was and still is and this book is no exception.
Because the writing is pretty good, aside from a couple of wince moments where metaphors are just too expected, I give it 3 stars.
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