Rating: 
Summary: Cinderella
Review: Adeline Yen Mah writes down her heart on the pages of Falling Leaves. Her life is written down hardship to hardship. All she wanted in her life was love. I started to read this book because I had to, but I am glad that I did. As soon as the first pages were read, I could not stop. Adeline's life drew me in. The life that she had to lead was horrible, yet she survived. People today are sitting in front of the television involved in watching reality shows. This book gives you a good dose of reality. This book show you that not everyone has a great life and that people have to work hard to get places. You will always hit a few bumps in the road, but Adeline hit a few mountains. She was able to get over those mountains because she was determined to set herself free from the bonds that tied her down. As I read I kept cheering her on and believing that she could do anything that she wanted to. Adeline's story was very similar to Cinderella's story. However, I believe taht her evil stepmother was in an entirely different league than Cinderella's. I have never read such horrible happenings to a child. Her stepmother did not deserve what she had. It was a shocking site and it kept me thinking. Anyone that wants to read this book for any reason I would recommend this one. It touched my heart and soul. I saw a little girl go through hardships taht no one should have to go through. Not only was this book an amazing read, it had a lot of educational value.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacks complexity, depth of character
Review: I found this book to be a mildly interesting, quickly read story. It is primarily a litany of emotional abuse, interspersed with family history and tidbits of historical fact. Unfortunately the characters are presented without any engaging depth. Perhaps this is a result of the author's unhappy childhood, that everyone around her was either an ogre or a saint, but I was disappointed. I was hoping for more insight into her culture, into the dynamics of a Chinese family, into the experience of escaping the revolution. The author has lived through momentous personal and historical events, but the story reduces them to line items on her checklist of wrongs. Finally, childhood emotional abuse has profound effects when the victim, as an adult, takes on the role of parent. I would have been fascinated to read about the author's experiences with parenthood. She only briefly mentions two children, one by her first husband and one by her second. I can't help but wonder if she acted badly towards her children, or at least not perfectly, and omitted the details to preserve her unsullied image. Dr. Mah has accomplished quite a lot for herself by establishing her career and her new life. With all respect to her success, I don't think this book is one of her finest moments. Just before reading this book, I read _Red Azalea_ by Anchee Min, which I strongly recommend over _Falling Leaves_.
Rating: 
Summary: ...a modern Cinderella story...
Review: Adeline Yen Mah's autobiography is "charged with emotion", as Wild Swans author Jung Chang puts it. The reader is initially drawn into the story when Adeline is a very young girl. The audience becomes wrapped up in Adeline's terrible adolescence and soon has no other choice but to endure the pains of Mah's adulthood in an effort to shoulder part of her weighty burden. The more pain Adeline feels and the greater misery her stepmother, Niang, imposes upon her, the more the reader must remember that Adeline's story is not fictional. Though Mah's account of her own life is horrifyingly engaging, the conflicts her family faces as the Red Army nears in 1949 also capture the reader's attention. Since Adeline's father is a very successful businessman, he and cruel Niang move to Hong Kong when the Communists arrive in order to keep their money. However, Adeline's loving Aunt Baba and Buddhist Grandfather Ye Ye opt to remain in their home city outside Shanghai and face the economic and political shifts caused by the new government. They experience the troubles of being too well-off and successful in a time of turmoil. Meanwhile, Adeline is thrown into boarding school and ignored by her entire family. Her dreams of freedom, family and friends are what get her through the tough times. Mah writes in a "human style" that is full of passion and feeling in order to convey her message. She knows how to utilize the beauty of two languages, both English and Chinese, to tell of endurance, triumph and the outstanding will of the human spirit. She includes such phrases as, "...her life had evaporated yi chang chun meng, 'like an episode of a spring dream'" (Mah 39), to describe a family member's graceful death. Due to her high economic status, Adeline's story is specific and fails to represent the common person's struggle against Maoism and Communism, yet it is still both compelling and fittingly disturbing. It teaches of Communist China's history and tells the story of a troubled Chinese family, but more importantly, it inspires the reader to overcome obstacles and sincerely appreciate all those comforts in life which are taken for granted.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book is one of the best I have ever read. I enjoyed both the Chinese History and the autobiography. I had a difficult time putting it down. Adeline Yen Mah did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit and struggles of a country and a family and a time of turmoil. The characters are alive in my mind. As an American wife of a Chinese born immigrant I found the book very informative reguarding thoughts and beliefs, from the same era as my husband's parents and grandparents, that are difficult to translate. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: FALLING TEARS......
Review: The best biography-novel I've ever read. As heros show up in wars and caos, the greatest stories often take place in special times, especially in special famailies. This is exactly Adeline's case. Adeline was born in one of the most wealthy families in the 1930s of China, in an amazing house settled in the luxuious French territory in Shang-Hai. Her mother died 2 weeks after her birth and a cruel stepmother then went in her life. She and her siblings had lived in hell all through their childhood. With the starting of the WW2, Adeline's family immagrated to Hong Kong. Although still considered wealthy, the war and the cultural revolution in China had changed the family, as had the horrible stepmother did. Decades later, by the time the father of the family died, the children were astonished to find nothing in his accounts. The stepmother had taken away everything. And so the poker game continued... All through her childhood, Adeline had never received any concern and care a child needs the most. In the field of love, she was in fact an orphant. However, she made her way through medical school and achieved success in the dream land-The United States of America-and found her true love there. This is a story consisted of cultural confusion, the power of money, the limit of human cruelty, the strenghth of tolerance, and an overall view of the 20th century China history. A mother can be so scary as to disown her own daughter-her real flesh and blood, what else can't she do to her step children? A successful business man can be so obsessed with a woman as to listen to her for everything only because of her beauty and most of all, her French blood. How could this happen? The answer is simple yet hard to comprehend: History and Human heart. Pick the novel. It's not as "Chinese" as you might think. However, you can see China from a different point of view. The story itself is too heartrending to be true, though it really is true. Highly recommended to anyone who reads. As a final note, as a Taiwanese, I may not agree with Dr. Mah's decision to donate the royalties to Chinese universities, but I know she has her reasons. We stand in the different sides of the river of history; no explanation needed. Nevertheless, I believe a good book should be well introduced anywhere, without any fence of country borders, racial problems, or political disagreements. Honestly, again, this is the best biography-novel I've ever read, not only because of the story itself but also because of the accuracy of wording. Two thumbs up.
Rating: 
Summary: So what?
Review: I have a friend who was born in Algeria. Her father was murdered and her mother died of starvation, holding two babies in her arms. One of them was a girl (my friend) who eventually ended up in an orphanage in France. She never had the opportunity to go to University and become a doctor. She never had to fight a will, she never had to fight with her siblings over money... And she is the most generous person I know. MS. Adeline Yen Mah is very lucky; a lot of kids are left alone, abused, mistreated and never have the chance to become American citizens, study and have a wonderful life in California.
Rating:
Summary: excellent book
Review: The story is so touching and i really recommend you to read it. People like me cant even bear a book for over 100 pages this book is nearly 300 and i have to say i was once moved by the sense of the story, I felt like being with Adeline in all her life, wxperiencing all her sadness and happiness...etc
Rating:
Summary: Extremely moving...
Review: Being Chinese myself, I can truly identify and relate to the emotional abuse that Ms. Mah suffered. It's true that she wasn't left to the elements or sent to an orphanage, but sometimes you have to wonder would she have been better off. It was as if she did not exist to her father, and although she had her material needs met all she longed for was love and affection. Thankfully her aunt and grandfather did provided that for her, but her stepmother always tried to prevent it. She was fortunate enough to study in England and become a doctor, but her father still controlled her in some way even as an adult. She became quite successful in the United States, yet she still looked for approval from her father which of course was not forthcoming. Ms. Mah does tend to jump around a little, but it's not hard to keep up. This book is absolutely well worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, and yet, enlightening personal memoir
Review: Although the story itself revolves around the author's personal heart-rending childhood and many unbelievably poignant episodes, I couldn't stop feeling her inner strength and love that enabled her to overcome her predicament. Loveless in the childhood, said Adeline, but I could feel that she was at least embraced by love of her aunt and grandfather, and it was a salvation to her. The story is filled with some historical incidents from time to time and very intriguing Chinese proverbs and phrases, and that was also fascinating about the story. When I finished the book, I felt surrounded by a very warm and tranquil feeling. It was as if I had become a friend of a little Chinese girl, Adeline. I just wonder if in any way the author could make a movie out of this story. That must be a wonderful film, then.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifuly Enchanting, Undescribably Moving
Review: This is a first class, book. It has no pretensions just tells the girls story as it was. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could not put it down. Its honesty and bluntness was refreshing and equally moving. The heartfelt story of a little girls struggles against insurmountable odds is both enthralling and upsetting. It shows that strange human trait that blood is thicker than water. No matter how awful they were to her, she still longed for acceptance, even as an adult with her own family, career and life. Strange but I am sure similar to alot of you. I defy you not to enjoy this book!
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