Cover Image: Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This was a really good YA book, I really enjoyed it!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you Random House Children’s Books, Crown Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this great book. This very timely, relatable, coming of age story takes place in NYC and is about finding oneself and one’s way in the world while dealing with multicultural identity, grief, micro-aggressions, and navigating private school. I would recommend this well-written story to anyone who wants to get a contemporary look into today’s high schools.

Was this review helpful?

This book was both heartbreaking and beautiful. Alejandra spends the novel coming to terms with her father's death, finding herself in a predominately white institution, and discovering what home means for her. Not only did I love Ally's character, but also *most* of the side characters as well. I loved that Ally acknowledged that she was absorbed in her own struggles and did not think that characters like Billy or Claire or even Laurel could be struggling as well.
This book is important for anyone, but especially teens and young adults, who are learning to check their privileges and biases and want to learn about experiences of others.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed Alejandra's story and how much I learnt about myself as I read this. I also loved reading about her experiences as a minority in school and the greater world, Alejandra's discussions with friends about how to be a good ally are really good and sadly these honest conversations don't always happen as they should. I could really relate over the imposter syndrome too. A beautiful read

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Was this review helpful?

The writing was not as poignant as the message was necessary. Too often, immigrants and their adjustments, struggles, hardships, and stories are [still] overlooked. This tangles up multiple cultural talesand I spent half the book feeling so sorry for the folks involved...all of them really.

Was this review helpful?

“What is ‘home’ for you?” That is the question Alejandra Kim faces on her college application. Is it the small apartment where memories of her father surface? Is it eating at the counter with the tense relationship with her mother? Is home the park bench in a tiny park with broken equipment and trash? Is home at the prep school where she tries to go undetected? Is it on the subway where racial slurs are whispered and yelled when she bumps into another passenger? Where is home when you don’t feel like you fit in anywhere? Read Alejandra’s story as she navigates racism, identity, grief, and finding the meaning of home. Maybe home is the taste of empanadas.

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim focuses on a multi-cultural teen trying to figure out where she belongs and who she is. Teens and adults alike will easily connect with Alejandra’s relationships, thoughts and experiences. Every reader will find themselves in the pages and begin to question and examine their own privilege and stereotypes. Park’s story is so raw and real that it’s easy to get lost in the pages. The story might be fictional, but Park addresses real issues that are happening every day and shines a light on how even the smallest of moments can be just as suffocating as the big moments.
Even Alejandra’s wealthy and white friend tries to right a wrong that has happened to Alejandra. Through this, readers will feel the emotions along with Alejandra and realize their own failures in advocating for others, even when it feels like the right thing to do.

This book made me feel like I understood so little of the world around me. Obviously, this is not a weakness of the book, but of my own lack of knowledge. If I had to pick one weakness it would be that this book almost feels like it tries to tackle too much at times. At the same time, maybe that was the author’s point. Alejandra is constantly changing who she is depending on the expectations of those around her. At school she tries to be undetected and quiet while she feels loud and strong minded in other settings. With all that constant processing of environment, it must feel like some days are extremely overwhelming. Maybe Park’s goal is to make the readers feel the heaviness of the book so we can experience what Alejandra feels daily.

Alejandra Kim’s parents immigrated to the United States before she was born. With her Latinx first name and her Korean last name, Alejandra feels as if she is doesn’t know where she belongs.
Alejandra attends an elite wealthy prep school on scholarship. At school she changes her name to Ally to make it easier for her classmates and faculty members.
Alejandra’s mother calls her father’s death an accident, but Alejandra speculates it was not an accident. It appears that her father struggled with depression the year before his death and Alejandra feels guilty and responsible. The entire book discusses cultural identity, racism, mental health, ethnic stereotypes, privilege and more. Definitely a must read!

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this title.

This book helped me check my own biases. I enjoyed Alejandra's life story as a senior in high school getting ready for the future. She works so hard to get into her dream college so she can get away from her mom and start where no one knows her. Alejandra had a big year, lots of revelations, she figures out her future and makes new friends.
It was a good read, a book about family and identity, recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

Alejandra Kim feels like an imposter everywhere she goes. She's not Korean enough, or Latinx enough. She's on scholarship at her prestigious school, so she never feels entirely comfortable when going out with her friends because she can't afford the things they can. But she's also not entirely comfortable in her neighborhood, because she thinks everyone sees her as a sellout.

Alejandra is a senior in high school, and is facing some difficult situations. She has to decide where to apply to for college, while still grieving the death of her father, plus handling her after school job at her aunt's business, and the huge amount of homework her teachers assign, and deciphering how she feels about her oldest friend, Billy. The first day of school, her creative writing teacher makes a racially offensive remark about her. Alejandra keeps quiet, because her father always said not to make waves, that she was a guest in this school because she had a scholarship. But her best friend Laurel hears about it and is offended for her. She starts a petition and gets the teacher removed from his position. Alejandra isn't sure what to think about this, and she feels weird that Laurel is so invested in being an ally. Then Laurel takes it too far, and Alejandra has to figure out why it bothers her so much, and whether it's possible to be too much of an ally if you stop listening to the person you're supposedly helping.

I really enjoyed Alejandra's story arc, and how her feelings change throughout the year. I also loved reading about her feelings as a minority in her school and the world at large. Patricia Park allowed me to step into her shoes and see the world in a different way. Alejandra's discussions with friends about how to be a good ally, and what it feels like to always feel like an imposter in your own life, really spoke to me. These honest conversations don't always happen in the world.

I highly recommend this book for high schoolers trying to figure out their place in the world, and for anyone who enjoys a good story. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

Coming of age story based in Queens and centered around Ale, who is struggling with the death of her father.
Her private school is not super inclusive, especially confusing teachers and becoming a target of micro-aggressions with her heritage. She's ethnically Korean but her parents are from Argentina. Having to lead with your origin story and correcting pronunciation of your name gets old! Eye opening and relatable immigrant/assimilation story.

4⭐️!

Was this review helpful?

I appreciate what this book was trying to do. It's definitely important to look at how different identities intersect and the way people struggle in different ways. However, it came across as heavy handed to me.

Was this review helpful?

Imposter Syndrome follows Ale/Ally, a "multi-culti" high school senior, trying to figure out her future, all while mourning the death of her father.

A lot of books exist with this exact set up, down to the drunken fight with the best friend and a heartwarming resolution with the parent. The senior year where-are-we-going-to-college plotline seems a little tired, but what this book does have going for it is the main character and her family life. It's interesting and unique and necessary for young people to read. However, the focus is too much on the college essay and the BFF to really make the other stuff (the death of her father, the depression of her father, her mother's struggles), the good stuff, present and memorable.

Ale/Ally's voice just isn't strong enough. She should be the most important character in the book, and it feels like she's not present half of the time.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC! I would do probably 3.5 stars. The book itself was pretty neat-seeing someone who has trouble making sure people can see the real her and acknowledge but also not judge her dual ethnicities-was really interesting. She is also a scholarship student at a prestigious school where she fits in but does not fit in, and she finally comes to find herself and who her true friends really are. She has to decide what she really wants and what is important while respecting where she came from, and I loved that. I thought the one friendship was tough to follow because she was sometimes judging for mistakes I feel like the character did not mean to make (this friend was not perfect in many ways (these were pretty obvious in the book and were not respectful), but some of the things Ale pointed out or seemed annoyed by were things many white Americans who do respect other cultures and backgrounds would harmlessly make. I did really enjoy the ending and who Ale grows up to be. Overall, I did enjoy this read, but I think I had trouble getting where she was coming from and what she valued and wanted from other people. FYI profanity

Was this review helpful?

A wonderful and relatable coming of age story that showed the realities that so many immigrant and multicultural people face. The assimilation, micro aggressions, the struggle to find your identity and voice are all so real, and I loved following Ale’s journey. ⭐️4.5 stars!

Was this review helpful?

I wanted to love this book, but it seemed to be trying too hard to portray multiple multicultural points of view.

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and the publisher.

Was this review helpful?

Alejandra Kim is a senior in a prestigious high school in New York City. Of Korean descent born to Argentine parents, Alejandra looks Korean but speaks more Spanish than she does Korean. She is working on getting into the college of her dreams while working out her cultural crisis and dealing with the death of her father. In that, Alejandra does a lot of growing and learns a lot from what she has been exposed to in a high school filled with privileged kids. It's an interesting coming of age story.

Was this review helpful?

I was immediately drawn into this touching humorous and heartfelt book filled that shares the story of Alejandra Kim, the daughter of Korean-Argentinian immigrants growing up in Queens. It's her senior year at a fancy "woke" Manhattan high school and she and her best friend are focused on applying to their dream liberal arts college. When a visiting teacher makes an off-hand racist comment, she is reminded how her multiple identities and constant code-switching between her home and school worlds make her never quite feel like she belongs. I highly recommend this to 8th graders and above who have ever: 1) didn't feel like they belonged, 2) dealt with the loss of a parent or a parent, 3) had to code-switch, 4) wanted to have more empathy for those with multiple culture identities, 5) feel stressed about applying to college, 6) don't feel like their parents understand them. Or..anyone who likes compelling contemporary fiction stories.

Was this review helpful?

Alejandra's Papi is dead. Her mom calls it an "accident". Ale knows better. But this tragedy isn't the main plot in Patricia Park's story about a Korean/Argentinan high-schooler who is struggling to understand herself and the situations around her.

She has a best friend, who she thinks she can trust with anything. But can she? Or is there a little too much "white savior" complex going on? And it's not her fault the beloved creative writing teacher was asked to leave because he made a racist comment. Why is everything around her falling apart?

This book speaks to multiculturalism, mental health, racism and microagressions that are a part of life for Alejandra. Recommend for grades 8 and up.

Was this review helpful?

From my blog post: This was another book that kept me laughing but also one that I deeply understood. As someone who hails from two different cultures, I often times battle how much I may feel of either one on any given day. Alejandra deals with this a Korean Argentine (the book touched on the history of this, which reminded me of Haiti’s history being a sanctuary/refuge country) and how she not only battles the identity crisis she faces but how others impact this internal struggle. Since this book took place in New York (*shouts NEWWWWWW YORRRRRK*, sorry, had to), I felt like I was right in the middle of the story. There were emotional highs and lows but even with the lows, I didn’t feel pulled under because of the way Patricia wrote it. She did a bit of a “cut to” with the epilogue but I wasn’t mad at it because we often don’t get to see where YA characters are too much into their futures. This was definitely a worthwhile read!

Was this review helpful?

Alejandra is spunky and relatable, navigating a world fraught with the challenges and difficulties of being yourself, educating others, and maintaining genuine connections with friends and family. This book was an amazing exploration of thoughts and feelings I've had and have wondered if others have, too. As we go forward in becoming more sensitive and aware of the cultural differences between all people, Imposter Syndrome is a breath of fresh air to help everyone recognize that it's hard work, but good work, and all of us struggle with finding the right path, but the most important thing is that we keep trying.

Language: High
Violence: Mild
Drugs: Moderate
Sex: Mild

Was this review helpful?

I'm really sad, because I wanted to love this book as I live in Jackson Heights. There are some really good conversations in it, but I have a few issues with it:

1) I don't think this feels like a super authentic teen voice - the use of "fresh person year" made me cringe every time - it really felt like an adult trying to talk how they think Gen Z does. I kept thinking the "wokeness" was a commentary but we never actually got the full commentary if it was.

2) This is not Jackson Heights - the park is made up - and I think that if a teen from Jackson Heights actually picked this up they would see through it. The vibe of the neighborhood is there - but the fake locations feels weird when there's so many real ones you can use.

3) The way CUNY/SUNY schools are stigmatized was never really unpacked in the way I think it needed to be.

Was this review helpful?