Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Worry runs through this inviting volume of ruminations on identity and self-acceptance from illustrator Sun (Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too). While taking a break from being "constantly productive," Sun ended up writing these brief (sometimes just sentence-long) thoughts. The brevity, he notes, reflects that "we are all burnt out and don't have enough time as it is." Sun explores his anxiety and his need to feel productive, as well as his relationships to change, loss, and his family and friends. "You are allowed to mourn change," he writes. "You can mourn an old home that is gone, or a world that has changed so imperceptibly until one day it no longer feels familiar." Quirks run throughout, such as a subtheme of caring for houseplants, which acts as a connective thread to his parents (who take care of a cactus the author thought had died), and to different cities where he travels ("And so, now... it has become a coping mechanism to look for plants that I recognize from elsewhere"). While full of reflections, each section is so self-contained as to feel scattered and, at times, lacking in depth. Nevertheless, the author's fans will no doubt appreciate these musings. Illus. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this collection of personal essays, best-selling author Sun (Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too) invites readers into the many metaphors of taking care of plants, the anxiety-ridden need to be productive, and the power of relationships. Sun relays many relatable anecdotes from being recognized by wait staff at a favorite restaurant to feeling more confident in writing and texting than in conversation. Readers familiar with Sun will appreciate his relatable voice as he details what it is to live with anxiety and depression but to still feel happy sometimes as well as to grow up and change while feeling nostalgic for the past. The collection is broken up into sections including 10 to 20 stories each, and stories range from one paragraph to several pages but each has significant meaning. Readers of David Sedaris will devour this collection; the stories are short but packed with eloquent detail that will lead readers to reminisce on their own lives. VERDICT This poetic, humorous, and heartfelt collection will have readers nodding along, laughing, and maybe even crying, but more than anything they will be engrossed and craving more. Similar to Sun's previous work, this is another standout.--Natalie Browning, Longwood Univ. Lib., Farmville, VA
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Canadian writer and illustrator transforms his perceptions of the everyday in his own life into a series of highly personal reflections. Sun--who holds a master's degree in architecture from Yale, is a doctoral candidate in urban planning at MIT, and wrote for the sixth season of the Netflix series BoJack Horseman--took three years from a ferociously busy schedule to turn inward and scrutinize "every thought that passed me by." Though he was supposed to be resting, rather than simply let his mind "meander," he decided to document everything that passed through his mind: "Otherwise, I told myself, all this break-taking, this intentionally unproductive time, would not be 'worth it.' " Sun opens with an essay about his failure to notice features about an apartment where he once lived--e.g., where a power outlet was located. The topic appears mundane, but it is ultimately symptomatic of what consumed Sun's attention and left him "burned out": work. In several essays, the author describes work as his antidote "to…nothingness and emptiness." Later in the book, Sun muses on the guilt that fuels his work ethic, observing that he wouldn't get anything done without it. His "go slow" approach--which he admires in parents who "linger at restaurants"--manifests in essays about lessons in observation and the natural world learned from houseplants. In "How To Cook Scrambled Eggs," for example, Sun transforms several egg recipes into an homage to his parents and the family memories each recipe allows him to rediscover and savor. Illustrated throughout with simple line drawings, this quirky book offers insight into the workings of an exceptionally busy, productive mind as well as the price of living in a hypercompetitive society where "we are all burned out and don't have enough time" and it's important to "steal moments away from yourself whenever you can." A quietly provocative collection. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
