Letters to Young Chong is a memoir written by Melanie Jo
Moore that is built on her friendship (well… sometimes friends, sometimes
cousins…. Sometimes sisters) with Melissa Moore (no actual relation).
It has a very good flow to it by working in chronological
order. Some memoirs can try to get too much information into one book and jump
all over the place while losing the reader in the process. I did not find this
to be the case here, although maybe the incredibly crazy stories had some hand
in that haha.
This book takes you through the beginning of Melanie and
Melissa’s friendship that began during their early school years when they would
constantly be confused for one another due to their similar names. Melanie held
quite a grudge over Melissa for this, and wasn’t very fond of her for a long
time.
I guess that could be how all great friendships began.. or
maybe they are just a very unique pairing. I will go with a mixture of both.
They grew up in a rural area and did not have much to do.
So, obviously, this translates to them causing havoc everywhere they went.
Then the book jumps a little to when they are older.
You thought there was a lot of alcohol, boys, and trouble
when they were in high school.. just wait until you continue reading.
This book is pretty long, but the length is also a bit
deceiving. It has a very quick pace to it, so the length is actually pretty irrelevant.
I read over half of it in one sitting.
Although this memoir is packed with crazy and hilarious
stories, it also follows some rough topics as well including bad relationships
and losing people close to you.
The writing is very good. It flows nicely, and the way Melanie writes interactions and descriptions of the people in the book, you can really visualize them and feel as if you know them a little bit.
Overall, it is actually pretty addicting once you pick it
up. It is hard to stop reading while you are in the middle of it.
I am excited for the sequel!
4.5/5 stars
