We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story

This is a memoir you're going to want to listen to. Simu narrates his memoir with humour, heart, and emotion as he tells the story of his early life up until his breakout role as Shang-Chi in the Marvel universe. 

This memoir is equally inspiring and heartbreaking as Simu describes his early life in China and his parents' youth (which was eye-opening but went into more detail than I liked). Simu is open and honest as he shares painful memories about his childhood - raised in China by his beloved grandparents and extended family for the first four years of his life only to meet his father for the first time right before he is sent to live with his parents in Canada. 

Living in this new Canadian culture as an immigrant with a new family unit was a lot for him to handle leaving Simu to feel like he always had to prove himself and meet his parents' exceptionally high expectations. Simu does not hold back as he shares his struggles with self-esteem, facing his parents' consternation about his choices and working his way to getting his dream job as a Marvel superhero. His relationship with his parents is central to his life story, was fraught with conflict and their treatment of their son was hard to read. 

This was an interesting memoir about perseverance and finding your passion and fighting for it. Simu Liu is still a young guy with a lot of life left to live and this memoir ends just as his Marvel career takes off. Was I was disheartened that his experiences as a Marvel superhero are barely mentioned? Yeah, I was but I know that he is just starting out I have no doubt he'll do great things in upcoming roles, as a role model for young people and in his commitment to bring better Asian representation in Hollywood. 

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Simu Liu

Genre: Memoir, Canadian, Celebrity

Type and Source: Hardcover (personal copy), eAudio from public library

Publisher: William Morrow

First Published in Print: May 17, 2022

Run Time for Audiobook: 8 hours, 10 minutes

Narrator: Simu Liu

Book Description from GoodReads: Marvel's newest recruit shares his own inspiring and unexpected origin story, from China to the bright lights of Hollywood. An immigrant who battles everything from parental expectations to cultural stereotypes, Simu Liu struggles to forge a path for himself, rising from the ashes of a failed accounting career (yes, you read that right) to become Shang-Chi.

Our story begins in the city of Harbin, where Simu's parents have left him in the care of his grandparents while they seek to build a future for themselves in Canada. One day, a mysterious stranger shows up at the door; it's Simu's father, who whisks him away from the only home he had ever known and to the land of opportunity and maple syrup. 

 Life in the new world, however, is not all that it was cracked up to be; Simu's new guardians lack the gentle touch of his grandparents, resulting in harsh words and hurt feelings. His parents, on the other hand, find their new son emotionally distant and difficult to relate to - although they are related by blood, they are separated by culture, language, and values. 

 As Simu grows up, he plays the part of the pious son well; he gets A's, crushes national math competitions, and makes his parents proud. But as time goes on, he grows increasingly disillusioned with the expectations placed on his shoulders and finds it harder and harder to keep up the charade. 

 Barely a year out of college, his life hits rock bottom when he is laid off from his first job as an accountant. Unemployed, riddled with shame and with nothing left to lose, Simu finds an ad on Craigslist that will send him on a wildly unexpected journey, into the mysterious world of show business. 

 Through a swath of rejections and comical mishaps, it is ultimately Simu's determination to carve out a path for himself that leads him to not only succeed as an actor, but also open the door to reconciling with his parents. After all, the courage to pursue his ambitions at all costs is something that he inherited from his parents, who themselves defied impossible odds in order to come to Canada.

 We Were Dreamers is more than a celebrity memoir - it's a story about growing up between cultures, finding your family, and becoming the master of your own extraordinary circumstance.