We Were Dreamers

December 1, 2021

The first Chinese star of a Marvel superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Chinese Canadian actor Liu relates his journey from struggling immigrant child--he lived with grandparents in China until age four, then joined his parents in Canada--to model student starting to question the goals set out for him, to taking some huge risks after being laid off from his first job and winding up a Hollywood star. With a 50,000-copy first printing; originally scheduled for May 2021.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 14, 2022
In this triumphant debut, Liu, star of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, traces how he followed his “immigrant dream” all the way to the big screen. His “cross-generational tale” begins in 1990s Harbin, China, where young Liu lived happily with his grandparents in a “ramshackle apartment.” Things changed drastically when, at age four, Liu was reunited in Toronto with his parents, who’d moved overseas in search of a better life. He bluntly reveals how cultural divides, compounded by the “weight” of his parents’ expectations, created a rift in the family, one that was often defined by violence. “I stopped feeling like my parents’ happily ever after, and more like their burden,” writes Liu. After excelling in school, though, dogged determination and a love of “tricking” (a mix of martial arts, gymnastics, and break dancing) led Liu to acting. Fans will relish the candid look at his winding road to success—from playing an “Asian extra” in 2013’s Pacific Rim, to unglamorous gigs found via Craigslist, to making history as Marvel’s first Asian superhero. The book’s beating heart, however, lies in the affecting story of his family’s path to healing: “My parents are beaming with pride at the son who has disobeyed practically every single order they had ever given.” This real-life hero’s journey is a knockout.

March 15, 2022
The star of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings recounts how he overcame his tortured relationship with his immigrant Chinese parents to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Liu spent his youth with his loving paternal grandparents in Harbin, China, while his parents struggled to establish roots in the U.S. and, later, Canada. When he was reunited with his parents at the age of 4, they were unprepared to be parents. "Mom and Dad were about to experience the myriad of new responsibilities and burdens that came with raising a child," he writes, "and would learn very quickly that 'parenthood' was a lot more complicated than just living together." Liu vividly remembers that the first time he lied to his parents, when he was 5, they locked him out of the apartment, a punishment that led to a rupture of trust that was never fully repaired. Their relationship deteriorated further when Liu was accepted into a prestigious private school in Toronto, which required him to work harder than he ever had before at his academics--something that, as a young man, he had little interest in doing. Before detailing the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents, he gives readers details about their earlier lives, which included a great deal of hardship. It wasn't until Liu was laid off from his accounting job after college that he had the courage to admit to his parents--and himself--that he wanted to act. Today, he is the latest Marvel hero. Liu's compassionate treatment of his abusive parents and his younger self results in a tender, nuanced narrative that is refreshing in its frankness. His focus on the pressure, rather than the promise, of the American dream actively subverts the model-minority myth. Though the prose is sometimes uneven, the book is mostly entertaining and nuanced. A celebrity memoir that compassionately interrogates the dark side of the American dream.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2022
Liu's memoir begins with a fateful call: he will be playing the first Asian superhero lead in Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. From there, he looks back and recounts how his life led to that point, beginning in China, where his parents came of age during the Cultural Revolution and fell in love. They eventually landed in Canada, leaving young Simu in the care of his grandparents until they could afford to bring him over. Life with his parents in Canada was tough; he felt his only worth was in meeting their high scholastic expectations, which led to his rebelling and a contentious relationship that turned physically abusive. Once he started acting after college, though, he abandoned his parents' dreams for a high-powered business career and jumped headlong into show business. Liu's story covers his youthful ""triumphs"" (he started a boy band with his friends), and he writes frankly about the anti-Asian and anti-immigrant prejudice he has faced all his life. The smooth writing conveys both humor and hardship, with moments of reflection that any reader, even non-superheroes, will relate to.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2022

Liu, the star of Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, tells the complex story of his parents' childhood in China during the Cultural Revolution and their sacrifices and struggles to get an education, first in China and then in Canada. He shares his experiences as a young child left in the care of his grandparents in China and later as an only child adjusting to life in a new country, overwhelmed by his parents' expectations of academic achievement. Liu notes that he was compelled to share his story to illuminate how this drive for academic success in families comes with psychological scars from emotional, and sometimes physical, abuse. Liu later reconciled with his parents, and they share their story in hopes of helping other families break this pattern of behavior. Liu shares anecdotes about getting his first big break with Kim's Convenience, and the community of Asian American actors in Hollywood who embraced him. The majority of this compelling memoir is about his family experience. VERDICT A powerful story about a family struggling under the weight of definitions of sacrifice and success, and reconciliation and forgiveness.--Julie Feighery

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.