We Are Not Free

I read this back in the fall as a buddy read with @bookedwithemma! I love how this book is told from multiple POVs and expresses all the complexities and permutations of Japanese American sentiment during WWII, as well as the lasting legacy of internment. Chee's afterword gave me chills. I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking to expand their knowledge through historical fiction.

A solid accompaniment to THEY CALLED US ENEMY and DISPLACEMENT, though WE ARE NOT FREE is a bit more complex so I would suggest reading this after the two graphic memoirs.

This could have been a great read but it wasn't; it is too sprawling and amorphous. And that's a shame because the writing isn't bad and Chee clearly did lots of research. Focusing on just a few characters, instead of trying to create 14 different narrators, would have yielded a more readable novel; every time I started to get into a character, it would shift to somebody else and lose my established interest.

It seems I've decided to pick up a lot of titles that are heartbreaking lately.

The characters in this book may be fictional but they all seemed so very real, especially Twitchy and much like the characters in the book I could not accept that he was dead until we “saw the body” and waited for the gotcha moment where he would return.

Chee's writing manages to seem beautiful and natural but very deliberate and intentional at the same time and I'll definitely look forward to reading more of her writing.

Absolutely fantastic.
The forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans is underrepresented in literature. I'm so glad this book exists to highlight this important atrocity in such a nuanced, personal, and accessible way. These connected short stories bring each character to vivid life and shows how varied their experiences were, but there is also a sense of a central narrative as we move through time and their collective experiences.