DOCILE 🌸

By Hyeseung Song.

Docile, is a fearless and deeply affecting exploration of identity, mental illness, and the often painful pursuit of self-worth.

From the sugar cane fields of Texas to the sterile halls of an Ivy League school, Song takes readers on a journey that is both intensely personal and universally resonant.

What struck me most was the author’s no-nonsense, unapologetic way of writing about her strained family relationships, particularly with her mother. There’s no sugar-coating here.

Song’s mother is depicted as beautiful and commanding, driven by her own fierce ideals of success that conflict sharply with Song’s dreams and sense of self. The tension between them pulses through the book, raw and unresolved, and I found myself torn between frustration and sympathy.

Song is brutally honest about her experiences growing up as the daughter of Korean immigrants, where expectations weighed heavily and affection was conditional or confusing.

The memoir doesn’t just focus on cultural identity in the broad strokes, but hones in on the subtleties of internalised racism, tokenism, and the exhausting performance of being the so-called “model minority.” Her writing about these themes is sharp, self-aware, and often painful in its clarity.

There’s a particular bravery in the way she recounts her mental health struggles, including her hospitalisation and suicide attempt. These sections are written with such vulnerability, yet also with strength. Rather than trying to frame her story in a redemptive arc, Song allows space for ambiguity and contradiction, which made it all the more powerful.

Although she eventually finds some comfort in marriage and a new career as a painter, the memoir resists offering neat conclusions. Life remains complicated, as it always is. That refusal to tie everything up in a bow made the book feel especially real and resonant.

Docile is not a comfortable read, but it is a necessary one. It’s beautifully written, emotionally charged, and quietly radical in the way it reclaims space for a woman who has spent so long being asked to shrink herself. I came away from it feeling both heartbroken and hopeful.

Thank you so much to Rachel at Rachel Quin Marketing and the team at HQ for running this book-tour! The book is out on the 24th April and available for pre-order now.

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