Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park

Published: February 21, 2023
Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 295
Genre: YA Fiction
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Patricia Park was born and raised in New York City and is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. She received her BA in English Literature from Swarthmore College and her MFA in Fiction from Boston University, where she studied with Ha Jin and Allegra Goodman. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, Slice Magazine, and others. In 2009 she received a Fulbright grant to South Korea to research RE JANE. She has also received writing fellowships with The Center for Fiction and The American Association of University Women. She has taught writing at Boston University, Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, and CUNY Queens College. RE JANE is her first book.

“But there’s no such thing as 300 percent.”

Alejandra feels lost, but she can’t quite explain why. She isn’t enough, but again, she can’t explain. Trying to figure out what she wants when she isn’t sure who she is is a challenge she doesn’t want to face but is speeding toward.

This was a powerfully written, emotionally delivered, and beautifully presented work. The challenges Alejandra faces, and the struggles she has, are so honest and genuine.

This beautiful story turns the light on things that many of us never know anything about. I loved the character development Alejandra goes through. As she started to figure out what matters to her and what is real, I loved how she found her voice.

The narrative in this book is so essential for young people, all people, to read and know. I cannot imagine what Alejandra felt being from three very different cultural backgrounds. But I loved how she found the beauty, the power, and the necessity to be the voice.

This was really interesting! I don't think this is a typical read for me. For one, it feels a little young for me. But I enjoyed it more than I expected. Sure, there were a handful of high school drama cliches, but I thought the attention to what it was like to grow up in a "woke" community was really interesting! I also learned a lot about the communities of New York, and I definitely had no idea before this that there was such a large Korean diaspora community in Argentina! That in itself was fascinating to learn about, and it translated very authentically into the portrayal of Alejandra's family. The tragedy of her father's death also hit in a way I didn't expect. I was breezing though the novel's casual prose, so it was really surprising to suddenly feel my eyes welling up.

Received a free copy from Netgalley.

3.5 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. .yAll opinions are my own.
Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim is a unique book that I respect for what it’s trying to do. Growing up as part of a cultural diaspora and bridging your birth culture and the culture of where you live is one thing and one that I’ve seen explored before, but I appreciate the simple ways it delves into the more layered existence of being multicultural through the lens of being Korean-Argentine-American. The little ways in which she’s seen as a bit of an oddity to those around her, such as the mispronunciation of her name or how people perceive her first and last names to not fit together, are told so frankly, and it explores how people struggle to classify her in a society that defaults to those classifications to make their assumptions.
But the book strikes a good balance between seeing Alejandra and those close to her dealing with racial and other weighty issues and also focusing on the typical growing pains of being a teenager, such as navigating life at the elite school she attends, working toward getting into college, and dealing with friendship troubles and school bullies. The ultimate goal is to follow Alejandra’s coming-of-age and into her own.
I did feel the pacing of the book was a bit off, as I found myself going through periods where the book felt rather mundane. It’s clearly more of a “me” thing, as while I don’t mind more introspective coming of age books, I didn’t vibe as much with the style here.
But I did enjoy this book for what it was trying to do for the most part overall, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a YA contemporary coming-of-age narrative from a multicultural lens.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not the demographic for YA books so I'm a bit out of my usual wheelhouse. This book was around 3.5 stars for me.

This is a good book about family and identity. We follow Alejandra trying to navigate loss in a private school and city where she already sticks out. While the language felt repetitive at times, it also made me feel like I could understand Alejandra and where she's coming from. I like that the characters aren't always likable and work through things their own way even when it's messy and even when they don't have the words for what they're feeling.

Overall it's a nice read.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the author’s writing atyle, and I thought the story in general was interesting for the most part. I also really like Alejandro, the main character. However, I didn’t like the politically correct overkill. I don’t know if the author was trying to poke fun at society or was actually serious, but either way, it was way too much. I also didn’t care for the ending at all. I will definitely try their books again though!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Crown Books for Children for an advance read in exchange for this review.

Alejandra Kim doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere. She attends a wealthy "woke" school on a scholarship where her Spanish name and Korean face confuse her classmates and teachers. In her Jackson Heights neighborhood, she isn't Latinx enough. She wants to escape, especially now that her home life isn't the same since her father's body was discovered on the subway tracks. She dreams of escaping to a well known liberal arts college.Then a microaggression at school puts her into the spotlight when she doesn't want to be. She will soon have to figure out where she belongs.

Okay, this will definitely be one of my favorite books of the year. I loved Alejandra and her journey of figuring out who she was as she dealt with code switching between her worlds. I laughed with her, I cried with her, and I felt like a weird older friend or distant cousin for doing so. I can relate in a very small way to not feeling like you belong because people aren't quite sure what you are. The pages where everyone got her name wrong reminded me of how my mom goes by an American name because no one gets her name right. Thank you Patricia Park for taking us on Alejandra's journey. Yes, this is a book that will discuss race, and Park is able to handle those uncomfortable conversations with grace, humor, compassion, and honesty.

In reading other reviews, please remember that Alejandra is a teenager. She's on an important journey. Of course she is going to be anguished because she is young, is caught between multiple worlds, and her father just died. If you want to call her too harsh, too loud, or too angry, think back to that scene where Colin can't be loud because then he is an angry Black man. For her high school years, Alejandra has had to play a certain role of a model minority so she isn't labeled another stereotype of her neighborhood. This book made me think a lot, and I so appreciated the different relationships - expected and unexpected - that Park created with all of the characters.

3.5 stars
Alejandra Kim has lived in the Jackson Heights section of Brooklyn her entire life. Her neighbors are used to her Latinx first name and Asian last one, for the most part. Although “Kim” is Korean, she hears muttered, “Chinas” and “Chinks” behind her sometimes.
The people at the elite school that Alejandra has attended the past four years are a different story. Unintentionally, they mispronounce her name and make assumptions about her just because of her name and appearance. Her best friend has always had her back, so Alejandra was able to ignore most of the ignorant comments.
Now, in senior year, things have changed. Some teachers make downright racist remarks, particularly the Creative Writing teacher, right to Alejandra’s face. This makes her classmates uncomfortable, but not enough to speak up. Others, especially her best friend, seem to be fanning flames for more diversity, making it an issue that embarrasses Alejandra. For herself, she wants to finish her year without more trouble on top of what she and her mother are already facing, what with Popi’s death. She has applied to a college in New England that seems perfect, where she hopes people will see HER, not just latch on to her name and face. And it’s nowhere close to Jackson Heights…
Red Flags:
Some terms and phrases are used for the purpose of plot, that readers may find offensive. Frequent f-bombs are dropped, and there are scenes of teenage drinking/drunkenness. A character has allegedly committed suicide and it is discussed, although it took place before the book began.
*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

Rating: 4.5 stars

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up Patricia Park's YA debut, but it wasn't for me to spend my day off sitting on the couch blinking back almost-tears reading a book with a cartoon cover, I can tell you that much.

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim is a nuanced and thoughtful coming-of-age story that with issues like grief, inequality, and racism. It's a surprisingly insightful exploration of the idea of identity and belonging, and though scathing at times, Park deftly handles sensitive topics with care. You can tell the story isn't simply a gimmick to jump aboard the diversity train, but something near and dear to her heart. I'll be the first to admit that I judge books by their covers, so, yes, I was expecting a story with a somewhat superficial message about self-worth and being true to yourself. But there's a level of depth to Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions that I wasn't expecting.

I appreciate the fact that Park wasn't afraid to wrestle with the ideas of identity and racism. Instead of painting the issue in broad strokes, she delves into the gritty details of a third culture immigrant. Like Alejandra herself, the other characters and events of the story are complicated. People don't fit nicely into neat categories like "good" or "bad." Instead, their motives are complicated, often messy, needing time and care to untangle and understand. Park doesn't simply offer up cookie-cutter solutions and tell readers to "cancel ___" or "become an SJW. " Instead of fairy tale ending, we're given a bit of an open epilogue (a happy-ish ever after, if you will,) that's satisfying and more realistic than a nicely tied up ending would be.

Park's one weakness is that she relies much more on telling than showing. A lot of the heavy lifting is done through Ale's cultural inclusion class or her many internal monologues which ends up throwing off the pacing. We spend so much time living inside Ale's head, we miss seeing some of her other relationships develop more. Her relationship with her family, especially her mom, for example, is really compelling, but we don't get to spend enough time exploring it. I also wish Billy were fleshed out more. He's supposed to be one of Ale's best friends, but we mostly see him through the montage lens, and I just think that we just needed an extra scene or two to help solidify their friendship and make that one climatic scene at the end even more impactful.

Imposter Syndrome is an interesting study in how a person with a multicultural background tries to find her identity. Alejandra Kim is part Korean and came to the United States from Argentina. She didn’t completely identify herself as belonging to any of those cultures. Alejandra is in pain and angry at herself for acting out against her mother, her friends, her schoolmates, and her extended family.
Alejandra self analyzes throughout the whole book. Her actions and thoughts are what the author uses to explain the theme of the book, which is about acceptance of self and the prejudicial treatment she receives, even from those who say they empathize.
I felt sorry for the main character, but I grew tired of her constantly rehashing every slight or hurt she felt. It seemed that she was the cause of much of her anguish. One difference from other similar stories is that she is willing to end an enduring friendship with her best friend at the end of the story. She does redeem herself in the end, though, and accepts the person she has become.
Overall, the story’s message was an important one. It was a well written book. I just wish Alejandra had been less harsh.

Okay so, this is a book that would’ve fundamentally changed me if I’d read it as a teen. I could NOT put this down and really enjoyed the story arc and the development of Alejandra.

This book has a lot to offer readers. Most readers will identify with some aspect of Alejandra's feeling like a misfit. Born to Koreans raised in Argentine who immigrated to Jackson Heights, NYC, Alejandra attends a prestigious school and is in the throws of college applications. Ale and her mother are also dealing with the suicide of Ale's dad. Opportunities for lots of discussion on issues teen's face are in these pages.

This book did an excellent job of making Alejandra a real person with real feelings and explored the complicated feelings so many people have surrounding racism and its associated topics in a way that I think will resonate with readers.

Meet Alejandra Kim. Alejandra is a half Latinx, half Korean adolescent from a low-income neighborhood. She attends the prestigious "Quaker Oats" private school as a scholarship student. Alejandra might not know what code switching is until halfway through the book, but that's what she does between home and school. And, as you might guess from the title, Alejandra experiences imposter syndrome amongst her classroom peers.

Alejandra has two close friends: Laurel at school and Billy at home. Her relationships with each could not be more different. With Billy, Alejandra can be her most authentic self. Sometimes Billy ribs her for being an Oattie, but generally, Alejandra relaxes around him. With Laurel, while Alejandra tamps some of herself down. Laurel prides herself on ally-ship; she is always quick to jump in to support and advocate for Alejandra when a micro- or macro-aggression occurs. Alejandra struggles with appreciation and discomfort because sometimes, she wishes whatever happened could be ignored.

Alejandra's home life has a separate set of challenges: her father passed away a year ago and her mother works all the time. There's tension within the extended family. And Alejandra's dreams for herself don't line up with the ones her mother has for her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the relationships and perspectives. Watching Laurel be a supportive, and then overstepping, as an ally is a powerful read. Reading about Alejandra's different experiences at home, work, and school is a great way of showing the different identities many minority individuals need to put on to navigate the world. Highly recommended.

I teach in a predominantly Latine school, so the fact that this book is liberally peppered with Spanish and Spanglish phrases that aren’t always translated rings true for me.

Alejandra and her mother struggle to get by, and even though she has a 90% scholarship to her private school, she works hard to make up the difference. She dreams of college in an elite school and believes it will be the key to a better future.

As a scholarship student, she tries to lie low and not make waves. She goes along with mispronunciations of her name and assumptions about her background.

And then things change. Despite her wishes, Ale’s best friend brings to light the microagression a visiting teacher subjected her too, and things blow up. Big time. Laurel, ever the social justice warrior, uses Ale’s life as a springboard to—she hopes—her own admission into Whyder.

Sprinkle in high school bullies (some of whom may become friends), the return of an old friend (and possibly more), and the Ale’s own constant self-doubt, and you get a coming-of-age story that rings true. The conversations and conflicts are realistic. So is the resolution of those conflicts.

I particularly enjoyed the epilogue. The endings of some high-school relationships, and the endurance of others, is so natural and well done.

What actually bugged me about this book is the accented U in "super." It’s the only word that gets that treatment, and to me it comes off as a bit of an affectation.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Teenage drinking, lying, sneaking around, bullying, injustice. One character is gay. Loss of a parent. Talk of Suicide. Swearing, including some instances of the “F” word.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those interested in racial issues, coming-of-age, friendship stories.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2023/01/two-new-young-adult-releases.html

4/5 stars! Books with a grieving character always pull on my heartstrings and this book was no different. Ale was such a unique character, going through so much. From losing her father unexpectedly to trying to fit in at school with a bunch of white millennials who just don't get it! I think we often fall into accidentally making assumptions based on what people look like. Our unconscious biases lead to so much miscommunication. The author pulled that apart and highlighted it in such an important way, as well as showing Ale gaining her voice.

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

Thank you to Underlined, Random House Children's, Crown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an Electronic Advanced Readers Copy of this novel.

Alejandra Kim is a high school senior in New York City at a prestigious Quaker high school. She's a scholarship recipient, living in Queens dealing with the death of her father, her childhood friend who just confessed his love for her, and trying to fit in and not make waves at her high school with her more privileged classmates. Feeling like she doesn't fit in anywhere, she struggles to find her way in the world and to be proud of who she is.

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park, is a very entertaining and thoughtful novel that deals with growing up and never feeling quite right. I was excited that so much New York City and Jackson Heights details were woven into the book - places that I know well. She really got the tone and characterization right - entertaining but not too preachy, interesting without it being too predictable. Imposter Syndrome seems to happen to almost everyone (especially females) and it was easy to relate to Alejandra and to find empathy in her situation.

I would definitely recommend this book to others and am looking forward to reading what's next from Patricia Park.

I feel like this book came, coincidentally, at the perfect time for me. The college admissions system right now is, frankly, an utter mess that punishes anyone who gets too caught up in it. It's a little microcosm of American society that captures all the microaggressions and barriers of privilege and doubt that people face in daily life, and I thought this book portrayed all of that perfectly. I really appreciated that everything in this book was complicated. no issue was easy to solve, and Alejandra especially was so conflicted internally, which added a lot of complexity to the situations going on.

Ale is a great main character. Her voice is so strong; there are times when you may disagree with her, other times when you agree, but she never lost my sympathy. She's fighting as hard as she can and I always respected that, but she's also a teenager who makes a lot of mistakes and goes through the natural course of feeling terrible and trying to make up for it.

Plus I think it's just such a unique perspective that needs to be seen. I both related a lot to Ale and felt like I gained new insight from reading through this book and its perspective. As an Asian teenager myself (and an "overachieving" Asian teenager at that), there are so many fears, insecurities, and observations about the world that I sometimes feel like I'm all alone for having or like I'm overdramatizing something. So to see Ale have the same fears about the same things is so powerful for me - it really makes me feel like I'm not alone. This is a book that both challenges stereotypes and shows how we accidentally fall into them, how we may unintentionally propagate them. It's a story that needs to be told and heard now.

I highly recommend this book. I related to Alejandra Kim so much - I went through the college application process not too long ago, and it was definitely challenging. Also, I related to Alejandra in not knowing where I could belong.

One of the best YA books that I've read in a long time! So well-written, not cliched at all, and the topic matter was so intriguing, especially the multi-cultural aspect of being Asian/Latinx/American... Very nuanced and very well-written on that aspect. Would definitely recommend this to young adults to learn more about cultural studies.
Loved this book!

Received ARC from Netgalley.

WOWOWOWOWOWOW. I've never read a book where the main character is not only multi-cultural but tries to bridge the gap btwn the two cultures and growing up in modern day America. I could NOT put this down and really enjoyed the story arc and the development of Alejandra. Would love to see more from this author!!