The Woman Warrior extra credit book review

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong was a memoir of a girl growing up in the Chinese culture. It was an interesting book showing the narrator, Maxine Hong, at different stages of her life. She had a very twisted family life and a lot of family related drama. Maxine, her mother, and her aunt were very complex characters.

Maxine, the narrator, was born into Chinese culture and desperately wanted to escape. She was brave, disturbed, or depressed throughout the story. Brave Orchid, Maxine’s mother, was a very intelligent yet close-minded character. She was very protective of her culture and this cause a lot of issues between her and Maxine. Moon Orchid, Maxine’s aunt, was a woman who was betrayed by her estranged husband and this caused Brave Orchid to try and fight back. This situation also caused a lot of Brave Orchid’s paranoia because she thought she would end up like her sister.

This story would often go into the story of someone else. Maxine would tell stories that she made up or she was told in different parts of the book. Sometimes she would tell stories that her mother had told her about her mother’s past. These little stories kept the book very interesting to me.
I loved Maxine’s writing style and how she showed her twisted and/or confused thought process at different points in the book. People from age twelve and up should definitely read this book. It shows the struggles of a new life from all of the characters perspectives.
All in all I really liked this book. It was an interesting memoir and really opened my eyes to Chinese culture. It was a real page-turner and I often didn’t want to put it down. You should definitely read The Woman Warrior.