Dear Girls

Author: Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta
​Pages: 240
Overall: 4/5
Takeaways: 3.5/5
Cheers Factor: 4/5
Pairing: Spicy MF
1 ½ tequila
1 ½ Trader Joe’s Mango Nectar
¾ ounce Jalapeño simple syrup
½ lime juice
   The Spicy MF packs a punch in a little cup just like Ali Wong. It’s a tropical and spicy combo that looks like sunshine.

Step one: Pour ingredients into a mixer.
Step two: Shake with ice
Step three: use a plate filled with a little water and dip rim of glass into it
Step four: roll rim in plate with salt
Step five: strain onto fresh ice in glass
Step six: serve and enjoy

   Ali Wong is a famous comedian, writer, and actress. If you haven’t seen her comedy specials Hard Knock Wife or Baby Cobra, you need to do that ASAP then read this book. Wong’s crazy, wild and occasionally vulgar humor shines through in this novel. 
   Dear Girls is a love letter to her two daughters. She wanted something for them to be able to look back on and read when they were older. Ali writes of how she “trapped” her husband or how she grew up with her much older siblings while weaving in small anecdotes to her young daughters. She prefaces by warning her girls that if they are reading this before they are 21 then they should likely put it down.

     I repeat the sentiments to anyone prospectively wanting to read it. There is a lot of swearing and references to sex with homeless men. However, that is what gives it the charm. The book goes places where many won’t go and that is the charm of it. Wong goes in depth about the real side of childbirth and having babies or what it’s like to make it in stand up comedy. She is brutally honest and doesn’t sugar coat anything. It’s refreshing and I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. Wong and her husband both read their respective parts and I really love that authenticity that they both give to it. 
    Personally my favorite part was the afterword by Hakuta, Wong’s husband. He talks a lot about how he had to learn to change his own perceptions about his life with Wong and their respective careers. However, he makes it abundantly clear that the girls are his favorite part of his life and that in moments he spends with them he constantly thinks this is the best moment of my life. It was a sweet and touching way to give their kids memories while also sharing a look into their personal lives.

“You do need to be a real person with a real heart who remembers where you came from."