Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

It's always weird to give a star rating and a review to someone's memoir because you're basically giving them a review of their life. Thankfully, I found Docile to be an enjoyable and quick read, which was well written. Hyeseung Song is a Korean-American who was born in Seoul before moving to Texas with her family when she was 5. We read her life story from this age all the way up to her mid-late 30s and all the issues she had.

I'm not an immigrant, nor American, but I can imagine her story will resonate strongly with lots of children of immigrants/immigrants themselves. Her dad wants to chase the American Dream and become a billionaire, while her mum just wants to ensure her family is cared for and not destitute. On top of that, you've got the fact they're religious Catholics with the Confucianism that runs through Korea even today, which means that Hyeseung is doomed in her parent's eyes: she's a girl, and she has a younger brother. Ergo, her brother can get away with everything, whereas she has impossible standards put on her and her parents, who watch her like a hawk.

This story is also about Hyeseung's depression, which began when she was a teenager. The need to be perfect and get the highest grades is ingrained in her by her mum - there's no praise for doing well, only more pressure to do better. She does everything her parents want, including attending an Ivy League university, yet nothing seems good enough. This carries on into her adult life - when she's 25, she's still doing what her parents want because she's too afraid to say no. The expectation that her parents sacrificed to give her a better life means she must do what they want, even though Hyeseung's talents don't lie towards things like medicine or law.

Overall, this was very enjoyable, and I really felt for Hyeseung. I know she's a real person, and I can only hope that she's doing better now. A lot of the time, I spent thinking, 'Go to therapy!' It was great to see her finally go and realise that it's not her fault. PSA to everyone out there—go to therapy, even if you don't think you need to.

Full of emotions and heartbreaking confessions, Docile is a fantastic memoir. As someone who is the descendant of East Asians, I understood a lot of the struggles faced by Hyeseung. Her struggles with metal health, education and finding a purpose rang true and reminded me of the power in novels like this. By giving voice to her struggle she subsequently gives voice to everyone suffering with the same questions she has. As is often the case in life, some of her problems don’t have natural solutions. She fights and claws her way to carve a path for herself and I admire her determination to do so. Well written and brave, I really enjoyed this.