Hi friends, happy Wednesday, I hope you’re having a great week so far! Today I’m going to be posting my review of Simu Liu’s memoir, We Were Dreamers.

This was long-listed for Canada Reads 2023.

We Were Dreamers by: Simu Liu: This was actor, Simu Liu’s memoir on his life so far; his origin story, if you will. This was definitely an emotional and important read, but it also had an undertone of humour to it as well. The reader could feel his comedy shine through this and they couldn’t help but read this in his voice the entire time. He has a distinct voice, both literally and figuratively. He’s very charismatic and charming, he even talks about how he’s very good with his words and this book undoubtedly showed that. He constantly kept his readers engaged, he knew when to pull out the funny card and when to dial it back for more serious topics. The reader liked that he gave us a backstory on his parents because it showed us who they are as people. It also helped to explain the generational differences between them and him, what they had to go through, versus what he did. How some of the struggles were the same, but in a different form. It felt very relevant to add it to his story because without their story, there wouldn’t be his. It was really interesting to read about his life as a child because it really opened up to see how he grew up to be the person that he is. It was not always easy and he candidly opened up about the relationship that he has with his parents. Like other reviews have stated, this just abruptly ended with his parents being okay with the decisions he was making after years of not approving. It felt like there needed to be more of a bridge to close that up because Liu spent so much time talking about how his parents didn’t approve of his life choices, but basically skimmed over the reconciliation, that it made this feel a little incomplete. It makes it clear that not all the mending has been healed and worked through; but this reader can see that a future memoir could come from Liu talking about more of it when he’s ready. This also felt like it was really cathartic for Liu to write as well because not only was he talking about his parents and his own personal life, but how that bled into his professional life as an actor and the representation that is lacking in the film and entertainment industry for Asians. In the end, this was a joy to read about how a young boy who dreamed of being a superhero, finally got to live out his dream acting as a superhero in a Marvel movie, truly inspiring.