There is something quietly revolutionary about this book. The author writes lives that are so often ignored or flattened into stereotypes like queer Asian American people living with grief, tenderness, rage, desire, shame, creativity, and love. These stories feel like they’ve been waiting for someone to finally tell them with care.

Reading it felt like being seen and punched in the heart at the same time. The characters aren’t polished or perfect. They’re messy and soft and angry and trying. A father who cannot yet name his truth to his son. A social worker so overwhelmed by other people’s trauma that he forgets how to hold his own. A trans man packing up his family’s home while his father slips away in fragments. And all of it happening in a Los Angeles that is not glamorous but raw and real and full of ghosts. What moved me the most is how the author writes solitude. Not as a punishment but as a space where longing lives. And from that longing, sometimes, comes connection. Sometimes not. But the hunger for it is always there. The hope is always there.

I wish more people would read stories like this. Not just because they’re good — and they really are — but because they’re necessary. We need queer Asian American stories that aren’t written to explain themselves to anyone. Stories that don’t apologize or simplify. Stories that exist in their full emotional range.

This book is for anyone who has ever felt too much and not enough at the same time. It’s for the kids who grew up with silence and the adults still learning how to speak through it.

If you’ve ever wondered where your story fits in the world — or if it even matters — this book will tell you that you are not alone. You never were.

4 stars
Thank you University of Nebraska Press for an early copy.
This is such an amazing read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel. All my thoughts and opinions are my own.

Daddy Issues is a collection of stories showcasing snapshots of the lives of several different Asian-American people in the LGBTQ+ community.

This was a quick and enjoyable read from start to finish. The stories are of varying lengths that offer me a mere peek into a random moment from an average day of these beautiful, twisted, and often-complicated characters. There’s something so intimate about how most of these stories aren’t about some big events in the character’s lives. I really loved that detail. There’s so much quiet sacrifice and struggle that’s happening in each of these people’s lives

Each story left me desiring another glimpse into their lives, for another opportunity to check in on them and their overall wellbeing. I didn’t want to leave any of these characters after their story ended. And I think that’s the sweet spot.

Wat's short story collection was a refreshing portrayal of queer Asian people just trying to live their lives. I found it to be very heartfelt, hopeful and realistic. While I don't read short story collections often, I really enjoyed this one.

A short story collection following queer Asian main characters? Sign me up! This short story collection really digs deep into those experiences and shows us heart and hope throughout. An enjoyable read for sure!

This is a collection of stories centered around Queer Asian-Americans and I really enjoyed it! It left me wanting after each story, but I definitely think I’ll purchase a physical copy so I can re read.

I will say “slutty nipple” was my fav story.

Thank you NetGalley and University of Nebraska Press for the ARC!

I’ve sat for a while on writing this review since it is always difficult for me to know how to write reviews for short story collections. In this case I mostly want to focus on the particular stories I enjoyed, but before I get to that I think that as a whole this collection is very good and the stories fit well together. I wish that some of them had been in third person, and there was even a few that might have worked well in second person. Because all of them were in first person it was sometimes hard to differentiate between narrators until I was deeper in the story, making consecutive reading feel too homogeneous. The solution to that though was for me to take my time between each story so that I had more time to reflect on them instead of rushing to the next. With many of the protagonists I felt like their actions and reactions were justified, even if I did not always understand their intent. This made them all feel very real because they displayed the messiness that is so very human and were all the more endearing for it.

The stories that stick out the most to me in this collection:

“This Business of Death” - Perfect choice for the first story in the collection. It drew me in immediately with the strong sense of character and family dynamics. I hesitate to call the ending of this story something as simple as “sweet”, because that makes it seem more twee than it actually is. It was as the story so far had been hollowing me out, and the ending was assurance that I was going to be filled with something better from now on.

“Duffle Bag” - Great example of a protagonist that I would hate to be roommates with, most likely because we are too much alike. This story helped me break through a lot of my post-MFA burnout but I won’t lie and say I enjoyed that process! I did enjoy the story itself a lot though, don’t get it twisted.

“Daddy Issues” - The ending of this one filled me with such an ache I longed to reread the whole collection over again. But I refrained because if there is any story in this collection that calls for you to sit and dwell on it, it’s this one. Sometimes self awareness won’t help when you feel powerless to change the cycles you and the ones you love are stuck in, and this story shows that perfectly.

Eric C. Wat’s Daddy Issues feels like sitting down with someone who gets how complicated people can be. These stories aren’t polished fairy tales, they’re messy, funny, heartbreaking slices of life that linger with you.
Most of the characters are just trying to figure out how to love and be loved without losing themselves in the process. They want closeness but get tangled up in fear, pride, and old wounds, you know, all the human stuff we don’t always like to admit. Wat captures that push-and-pull so well, and he knows exactly when to slip in a moment of humour that makes you laugh out loud in the middle of a sad scene.

Los Angeles plays a big role here, not just as a backdrop but almost as another character. Its mix of cultures, its beauty, its rough edges, all of it shapes how these people see themselves and the world. Wat doesn’t shy away from the complex parts, like feeling on the margins or fighting to carve out your own space, but there’s a lot of strength in the way his characters keep going.

Family runs deep through these pages. There’s the constant push and pull between generations, the way parents’ choices echo in their kids’ lives, and that longing to be truly seen by the people who raised you. When forgiveness comes, it’s never cheap; it’s earned.

I’m not usually one to reach for short story collections, but these hit the spot for me. They feel genuine, like sneaking a glimpse into someone’s life while they’re still trying to figure things out. Usually with short stories, I’m left wanting more, and there are a few here I would’ve loved to see as full-length novels, but even so, I closed the book feeling satisfied.

What I loved most is how Daddy Issues blends warmth and heartbreak so effortlessly. The sad moments never drag you down because there’s always a spark of humour, and the funny moments land even harder because they come from such a real, lived-in place.

In the end, this is a book about people in the middle of figuring themselves out, not always gracefully, but always honestly. If you’ve ever felt caught between cultures, between family expectations, or even just between who you are and who you want to be, Daddy Issues will hit close to home in the best way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the University of Nebraska Press for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very strong collection of short stories centering the queer Asian American experience in Los Angeles. Wat excels at slice of life vignettes that beautifully depict the complexity of the human experience. The characters are real, messy, and imperfect, all bound by a shared desire to be seen and loved as they figure out how to navigate the world. The stories don't shy away from themes of pain and grief, but there is a through line of hope and a continual reminder that the desire and pursuit of connection binds us all.

I read through the stories pretty quickly, but in hindsight I'd recommend spacing them out and savoring a bit more. Some characters and themes overlap in such a way that their story lines can feel a bit too similar and blurred, and I suspect it would hit more powerfully as stand alone stories. Nonetheless, it's a very moving collection that shines light on the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

Went into this one because I loved the cover. As with any short story collection, I liked some more than others, but I had a good time reading this, overall.