Stay True by Hua Hsu

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⭐ 2/5 Book Review: Stay True by Hua Hsu — An Asian American Memoir That Fell Flat for Me

👉 Grab your copy of Stay True on Amazon 📚 (affiliate link)

🚨 Trigger Warnings

  • Murder 🔪

  • Racism / microaggressions 👀

  • Grief and loss 💔

  • Depression & isolation 😞

📢 Spoiler Warning!

This review contains major spoilers about Ken’s murder and Hua Hsu’s journey through grief.

🌸 Why I Picked This Book

I’m Asian American, and I gravitate toward Asian American memoirs because they usually resonate so deeply with me. I’ve read quite a few, and Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner is one of my all-time favorites — raw, powerful, unforgettable.

So I came into Stay True really excited… and left feeling kind of let down.

📖 What Stay True Is About

Published in 2022, Stay True is Hua Hsu’s coming-of-age memoir about his college years in the ’90s, his friendship with a Japanese American frat boy named Ken, and his grief after Ken’s murder during a carjacking.

The book explores identity, friendship, grief, and memory, framed through Hua’s zines, late-night conversations, and cultural commentary.

📚 Full Plot Summary (Spoilers Ahead!)

  • Freshman year at Berkeley: Hua is the zine-making, straight-edge misfit. Ken is outgoing, frat-affiliated, and kind of his opposite. Despite differences, they bond over movies, music, and long talks.

  • Sophomore year: They grow closer. Ken gifts Hua things (glasses, a clock) that symbolize adulthood. Hua becomes more political, writing about Asian American representation.

  • Junior year: Their friendship deepens. Then tragedy strikes — Ken is murdered in a carjacking just after his 21st birthday.

  • Aftermath: Hua is shattered. He writes letters to Ken, journals about him, and tries to carry on while feeling consumed by guilt and grief. His relationships (including with his girlfriend) suffer.

  • Post-college: Hua pursues grad school at Harvard, but struggles with memory, grief, and guilt. Therapy helps him realize guilt was holding him back more than grief.

  • Ending: The memoir closes with Hua listing things he misses about Ken, honoring their friendship’s lasting impact.

🤔 My Honest Thoughts

Here’s where I struggle.

✨ What worked:

  • Hua captures the small, everyday rhythms of friendship beautifully.

  • The look at Asian American identity is thoughtful.

  • Ken was such a bright, likable presence that I felt the loss.

😬 What didn’t:

  • The pacing is slow, and I found myself bored more often than moved.

  • I felt like I could see the ending coming from a mile away (I assumed suicide, but knew early on the story was building toward Ken’s death).

  • The memoir felt self-indulgent at times, circling around themes without landing anywhere clear.

And maybe this is where my disappointment comes in: I usually love Asian American memoirs because they feel like glimpses into lives that mirror parts of mine. But with Stay True, I didn’t feel that spark. It didn’t grab me the way Crying in H Mart did.

That book broke me. This one… kind of bored me.

📌 Final Verdict

⭐ Rating: 2/5 stars

I’m glad this book exists, and I respect Hua Hsu for sharing his story. But for me? It missed the mark. If you’re looking for something more emotionally gripping, I’d recommend starting with Crying in H Mart or Beautiful Country.

📚 If You Liked This, You Might Also Like…

  • Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner 🍜 (my fave!)

  • Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong 🖤

  • Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang 🌆

  • On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong 💌 (fiction, but very memoir-like)

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