Rating: 
Summary: The real tragedy doesn't lie within the book...
Review: Initially, when I began to read this book,the author's story held my attention. But somewhere along the way she lost it, and my sympathy as well. I thought that what bothered me most was how one sided her story is, how she only acknowledges her own struggles within her Chinese family. Why doesn't she acknowledge that the complexity of her family dynamics affected not only her but her siblings... did they not suffer as well? How are all of her motives and actions pure, while her brothers and sisters were pawns to Niang, her stepmother? If knowing her father cared for her was discovered by her inclusion in his will, is the money then so important? These are just a few issues that take away from the story, and make it shallow. Dr. Mah continues to be that misunderstood, unloved child in her retelling of her life history, and a child's perspective lacks depth. While I empathize with her pain,Dr. Mah chooses to see only the bad elements of her past. She had a number of wonderful opportunities provided by her parents. She had the love of her aunt. She had enough food to eat, clothes to wear, access to medicine and education - she had many provisions that a large number of people did not have. Dr. Mah has a good career, good marriage, and children. Instead of celebrating how she overcame her past, she chose to portray herself as a victim, which I find disappointing. The really sad part of this story is that she continues to allow herself be a victim. A book like this cannot help her relationship with the family members she professes to care for. She demonstrates a lack of the compassion and understanding towards her siblings that she desires for herself. This book declares Niang's ultimate triumph if she was really as sinister as Mah believes. I hope that readers will not confuse her story with what is to be a Chinese daughter within a Chinese family. The Chinese as people love their children - but like many western countries, males have consistently had a higher status within society. This story has less to do with being an unwanted Chinese daughter than about a terrible family situation, which can be found across all cultures and times.
Rating: 
Summary: Importance of Family
Review: Adeline was born into a family that did not want her. Her mother dies two weeks after she was born. Afterwards, her father then marries a seventeen year old beauty named Jeanne and treats her like a queen. All of the children's names were changed. Sadly, soon enough Adeline was sent away to school wishing for so much more than she had. The novel had a very big impact on me. In the beginning of the novel i was grasped in. I fell deep into the depressing words of Adeline. Her strive for a family that would love her made me want to read more. The suspense had me wondering what was going to happen next. As i read more, it got better and better. I did not dislike anything about this novel. I would not stop reading until i got to the end. This book was very heartwarming to me and made me think about how important my family is. It will make you think of your closest to you and what they are doing at that exact moment. In Conclusion I recommmend this book to anyone who enjoys reading.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Book
Review: I enjoy reading this book and appreciate the hardwork and persistency of the author during her childhood. In old Chinese, it is definitely not easy to be tough and persistent to do what we want to do or think is right to do.
The author has shown us how she wanted her life to be and at the same time, not to against her parents too much; she was able to handle the conflicting situations well.
We need to stick to our belief and believe what is right or good for us if we want to walk our way to a destination.
However, it would be even more interesting if the author could write a bit more on her life and her siblings' after the death of her "Gu Ba Ba".
This book is really good for leisure reading!
Rating:
Summary: The truth about Falling Leaves
Review: Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves is a book of a girls journey towards acceptance. love and understanding. When Adeline is born her mother passes away after her birth and grows up without a mother and to a family that didn't appreciate her presence which made her feel that she had to search for love somewhere else. Soon after her father marries Jeanne Virginie Prosperi whose daughter of a French and a mother. Jeanne, Adeline's stepmother beats her and treats her different from the other kids. Adeline later finds a man who she thought was worthy of her love, but ends up being bad to her and also ends up beating her. Her whole life she searches for acceptance and someone who will give her the love she so badly needs.
I thought the book was powerful, but had some weaknesses as well. I think this book is for more of the female gender. What makes this book so powerful is that although Adeline has several problems, she's still able to get through school and her life. The reason why I didn't like it was because at times it got kind of boring and lost its place. If you're a type of person whose sympathetic towards what one has experienced, it being abused, this memoir would be interesting to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching!
Review: this story shows the painful life of a chinese child. and n the background we can see the negative effect of communism on the lives of children.
Touching and unbelieveable!
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: Having an interest in the sad fate of thousands of Chinese girls, I have been wanting to read "Falling Leaves" for some time. As its subtitle suggests, it is the tale of an unwanted daughter - the youngest of five children, whose mother died two weeks after she was born. She lived with this stigma of causing her mother's death and being mistreated by her family for her entire life. At times what Adeline Yen Mah endured is unbelievable.
Yen Mah begins her memoirs after the death of her father, relating the devastating news from her cruel stepmother, that there was nothing for the children in their father's will; he had died penniless and left them nothing. She then goes back in time, interweaving family stories with her own lifeline. After her mother's death, her father remarried a shrewd woman, who regarded her stepchildren as less than her biological children. She plays her stepchildren against one another and keeps a stranglehold over her husband and his relatives. Everyone is inferior to her, even if it goes against Chinese tradition.
While the other children of the family fail, Adeline succeeds in school but cannot gain the recognition and love from her own parents that some of her siblings have gained. She eventually gains permission to study medicine in England, and finally finds independence and love in America. Yet at the center of her aching heart is the hope that her family will be united and that she will be loved. Her entire life has been spent in the anticipation that her father will applaud her efforts and demonstrate his love for her.
Yen Mah's memoir is elegantly written and astonishingly painful. She naturally weaves in bits of Chinese history and how it affected her family throughout their lives. She has incredible recall into her tormented childhood that will leave readers shaking their heads in disbelief. I could go into a long litany of the abuses she endured throughout her childhood, but they are more poignant when read through Yen Mah's words, tempered with adult wisdom and childish longing. In the end, we hope that Yen Mah receives her wish for recognition and love. "Falling Leaves" is a powerful testament to the importance of the love we all need in our lives.
Rating:
Summary: Chinese Cinderella
Review: After reading this and seeing how many other books Dr. Yen Mah has written which have some variation on "Chinese Daughter" stuck in the title like a Nike Swoosh, I wonder if this is how she introduces herself to new people. "Hi, I'm Adeline the abused Chinese kid, how are you?" The obvious attempt to capitalize on tragedy at the expense of family members put a bad taste in my mouth from the start. Yes, it was a horrible childhood, but I've heard of worse, and the self-pity is only barely restrained in the prose.
However, it isn't *badly* written, and provides a good layman's view of Chinese child-rearing, culture, and, in small doses, a half-decent historical context.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD BOOK
Review: In an age when many people are tired of hearing or reading about some whining failure blaming their parents for their lack of success, this is an inspirational story. The author's biological mother dies when she is quite young, a result of lack of proper care after giving birth to her. Her father falls hard for a grasping, conceited, beautiful woman and marries her. She becomes the step-mother from hell, determined that the world have no other purpose but to worship her. The author (Adeline) and her brothers immediately become second class citizens in the household, with Adeline on the lowest rung of the pecking order. The emotional abuse she endures is staggering. But, by directing her efforts to achieve her family's acceptance into her academic pursuits, she eventually becomes a successful doctor living (and living well) in the United States.
This tale is told in a plain, sensitive narrative, without hystrionics added. Adeline's story is compelling enough to stand on it's own, and the author seems to want to let the reader feel their own emotional horror as the story unfolds.
Another aspect of this book that makes it so interesting is the period in China's history that Adeline and her family lived through. It is by no means a central theme of the book, but hearing about the life of a wealthy Chinese family, set against the backdrop of the rise of Mao, the cultural revolution, the economic upheavel, and the changes that China undergoes during the course of this book make it all that much more interesting.
Don't be put off by the rather enigmatic chapter titles. After each chapter I could not help but reflect how appropriate each Chinese saying was for the events covered.
This is a book that whispers, rather than screams, that uplifts and challenges us, rather than blames.
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