[Review #3] We Should Hang Out Sometime: A Memoir of a Paralympic Ski Racer

"I was still the same person I had been all along,

the one who was always worthy of love.

Being an amputee doesn't make me a fraction of a person.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I am whole just the way I am."

Started on February 4, 2021

Finished on February 6, 2021

Title: We Should Hang Out Sometime

Author: Josh Sundquist

Year of Publication: 2014

Pages: 346

ISBN: 9-780316-251006

Genre: Biography, Autobiography

Language: English

• Reasons Why I Read This Book:

Several months ago, I met a guy and found myself being smitten by him. Unfortunately, things did not go well as I expected. We suddenly stopped talking after a month of conversation. It was terribly painful for me to accept the fact that someone whom I talked to every day decided to cut contact with me. I felt a sense of shame for mistakenly thinking that he was into me. My self-esteem was damaged which led me to feel more insecure about myself and wonder "Is there something wrong with me?". I started questioning my worth because I thought that I was not worthy enough to get a closure. It was a hard time indeed, trying to let go of someone and learning to forgive myself at the same time.

I knew I could not let this last any longer. I knew I deserved better. Later on, I began to understand the importance of self-compassion and mindfulness, given I always found myself being distracted by sudden flashbacks. I started practicing yoga as Naura, my college friend, recommended me to start one for the sake of my physical and mental health. Surprisingly, yoga did a great job with the healing process I had. Besides practicing yoga, I also talked to Tiara, a friend of mine who comforted me and implicitly encouraged me to read a memoir written by Josh Sundquist, a Paralympic ski racer. She said this book might be suitable for me since I always wondered what things that had kept me single. Therefore, I decided to give this memoir a chance.

• Impression:

On the day this book arrived, I did not directly read it as I was still busy with my life as a fifth-semester undergraduate psychology student (lol). However, I still got myself familiar with the book as I observed the whole aspects of it. Its paperback cover is dominated with the use of fire engine red which makes it quite splashy. The kind of paper used in this book is thicker and in the color of ivory. I personally love this kind of paper as I can prevent myself from experiencing eye-strain when I spend a prolonged time reading books with clean white paper. One of the things I overwhelmingly love about this book is the font. The font size chosen is large enough so that I can read comfortably and faster with so much accuracy.

The book itself is divided into eight independent sections: Prologue, Sarah Stevens, Liza Taylor Smith, Francesca Marcelo, Evelyn Williamson, Lilly Moore, Sasha Wright, and Ashley Samsonite. Yes, this book has a unique concept in which each section is named after the author's ex-crush, except for the prologue (duh). As already mentioned by Tiara, this book reminded her of Rumah ke Rumah by Hindia, and I could not agree with her more. It really did remind us of that popular song. Moreover, each section is further separated into three parts which are Background, Hypothesis, and Investigation. At the very end of each section, Josh Sundquist took the readers to witness his experience of revisiting each of his ex-crushes in order to seek a closure. He also did that to prove his hypothesis about his ex-crushes' reasons for rejecting him which he initially thought had something to do with his disability as an amputee. Eventually, he realized that most of the rejections were caused by miscommunication and his fear of being rejected.

In my opinion, unlike the other memoirs I have read, We Should Hang Out Sometime is a memoir that is least embellished since it does seem authentic and personal. This is one of the strengths this memoir has that eases the readers to realize the message of the story. Some parts of it were successful of making me laugh. There are some awkward and heartbreaking parts as well. Furthermore, the diction used in this kind of memoir is simple and understandable that truly helps the readers, including me, to comprehend the story with no difficulty. Regardless of what makes this memoir enjoyable, it also has some flaws, such as the absence of bookmark and the repetitive crush-to-crush cycle. Luckily, none of them had disturbed me that much.

• Final Thoughts:

This book is quite eye-opening to me, given it teaches me to believe that there's nothing wrong with me once I learn to give so much love to myself first before giving some to others. It also convinces me that everything does happen for a reason, even though I have not understood it yet. Moreover, it helps me to realize that I am not the only one who has ever got rejected and failed at maintaining relationships. This further leads me to see a heartbreak as something common and less painful.

• Rating: 4.0