4.5 stars

If you're looking for your next powerful, personal memoir then look no further guys, I got your back! Wild Swans is the story of three generations of women told by Jung Chang: her grandmother, the concubine of a warlord, her communist mother, and herself. The book is super lengthy and heavy (as is expected) but I think it's so worth it, as you get the full picture of what life was like under Mao. Hint: it was terrible.
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I was awestruck by the amount of time and research Chang put into her memoir; even the parts about her grandmother's early life felt rich and compelling even though she obviously wasn't alive to witness it personally. She goes to extreme lengths to make the average reader aware of the height of control Mao held over the entire Chinese population, describing perfectly (and terrifyingly) the brainwashed state of the nation. I was appalled at the way Mao managed to turn 900 million people into a weapon against themselves, sowing fear and misinformation to create a constant state of unrest and war.
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This book book belongs to a series called 'Stranger than...' and honestly it's so accurate: it had more gore and horror than a freaking Stephen King novel. It can definitely get a little hard to swallow, because what you're reading seems so wild, like a horrifying dystopian novel and then you're smacked in the face with a reminder that this is true life, this actually happened to real people. Truly eye-opening.
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In amidst all the horror, you do have the amazing resilience and bravery of the Chang family to keep you going. I was enchanted by Chang's slow disillusionment with the regime and her drive to escape it and create something better!
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My only complaint is that it was a bit TOO long, some stuff was repeated unnecessarily, plus the writing is obviously very straightforward as it is non-fiction, and I missed the flowery, poetic language of fiction.