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A Study on Romanian Grief in America
I fell victim to a scam. I am not getting my money back. My youth is slipping away from me, such as melted butter on a warm summer day. Maybe I just need a vacation. Maybe a vacation will soothe my soul. But it is not physical rest I require. It is not my limbs that are hurting. It is my soul. Its pain irks me, keeps me up at night, forces me to surrender.
In "A Study on Romanian Grief in America," Julia Boca delivers a deeply personal and compelling narrative about the immigrant experience in the United States. Weaving together her journey as a Romanian in America, Julia explores the complexities of identity, belonging, and survival in a foreign land. With sharp insight and vivid storytelling, she captures the loss of cultural identity, the struggle to integrate, and the emotional turmoil of navigating a country that promises opportunity but often delivers disillusionment. This book offers readers an intimate look into the lives of Romanians in America, students, workers, and dreamers, highlighting their resilience, moments of despair, and the delicate balance between hope and heartache. "A Study on Romanian Grief in America" is a poignant exploration of the immigrant soul, a story of loss, discovery, and the enduring pursuit of belonging. For anyone who has ever felt caught between two worlds, this is a story that will resonate deeply.
This book is more than a personal memoir; it is a resonant exploration of the universal themes of loss, resilience, and the quest for self-understanding. As you turn these pages, prepare to embark on a journey that traverses the depths of sorrow and the heights of hope, offering a poignant reflection on what it truly means to find one's place in the world, far away from everything you have known as home.
According to a reader, “Julia’s book is important. Since our parents' generation left to work after '89, our path to study abroad was unobstructed. A reaction has not yet been created, a critical analysis of what it means to move to another country, clinging to the hope of what you will obtain after you are done with college. Julia’s book is one of the first honest reactions to leaving the country [to study] after ‘89, in this case, to move to America."
In "A Study on Romanian Grief in America," Julia Boca delivers a deeply personal and compelling narrative about the immigrant experience in the United States. Weaving together her journey as a Romanian in America, Julia explores the complexities of identity, belonging, and survival in a foreign land. With sharp insight and vivid storytelling, she captures the loss of cultural identity, the struggle to integrate, and the emotional turmoil of navigating a country that promises opportunity but often delivers disillusionment. This book offers readers an intimate look into the lives of Romanians in America, students, workers, and dreamers, highlighting their resilience, moments of despair, and the delicate balance between hope and heartache. "A Study on Romanian Grief in America" is a poignant exploration of the immigrant soul, a story of loss, discovery, and the enduring pursuit of belonging. For anyone who has ever felt caught between two worlds, this is a story that will resonate deeply.
This book is more than a personal memoir; it is a resonant exploration of the universal themes of loss, resilience, and the quest for self-understanding. As you turn these pages, prepare to embark on a journey that traverses the depths of sorrow and the heights of hope, offering a poignant reflection on what it truly means to find one's place in the world, far away from everything you have known as home.
According to a reader, “Julia’s book is important. Since our parents' generation left to work after '89, our path to study abroad was unobstructed. A reaction has not yet been created, a critical analysis of what it means to move to another country, clinging to the hope of what you will obtain after you are done with college. Julia’s book is one of the first honest reactions to leaving the country [to study] after ‘89, in this case, to move to America."
154 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 30, 2025
4 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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July 22, 2025omg i can say i reviewed my friend's book on goodreads (i hope friend is reciprocal in this scenario), what a flex!
i dont think the number of stars is relevant in this review since it's such a personal story and her feelings and emotions can be found by any international (sometimes, specficially romanian student) in the United States. I can't say that Julia was wrong or right in some chapters of this book, I can only say my experience differs. I am glad, though, that someone inked some of the ways in which America makes you feel even though you are supposed to be a guest. We live much scarier, porcelain-like times as international students which are not inhumane when you put it into perspective, but it is interesting to think that we had a choice in where we were going to study and we chose (and still are choosing) this place. I am glad Julia portrayed how America's individuality is a hard-to-climb wall in the way of friendship and genuine human connection, how schools do pay for your education, but the help stops there, and how even your own people can easily become foreigners following an extremely flawed idea of a certain dream.
For that I think you, Julia.
i dont think the number of stars is relevant in this review since it's such a personal story and her feelings and emotions can be found by any international (sometimes, specficially romanian student) in the United States. I can't say that Julia was wrong or right in some chapters of this book, I can only say my experience differs. I am glad, though, that someone inked some of the ways in which America makes you feel even though you are supposed to be a guest. We live much scarier, porcelain-like times as international students which are not inhumane when you put it into perspective, but it is interesting to think that we had a choice in where we were going to study and we chose (and still are choosing) this place. I am glad Julia portrayed how America's individuality is a hard-to-climb wall in the way of friendship and genuine human connection, how schools do pay for your education, but the help stops there, and how even your own people can easily become foreigners following an extremely flawed idea of a certain dream.
For that I think you, Julia.
June 11, 2025
I could write a whole book about this book.
I’ve always imagined the author as the first person who managed to connect the dots between the version in my head of the American Dream and the real, raw experience of life in U.S. colleges. And by reading this I felt like I was opening a new wound, but then, being gently handed everything I needed to care for it: bandages, the balm, the quiet space to sit with the pain.
There were so many moments I almost closed the Google Drive tab. The emotion was too much. Too real. But something unexplainable kept pulling me back in. A strange, almost mystical connection to the narrator. If it weren’t for that, I don’t think I would’ve made it through in just 2 hours and 35 minutes.
I don’t regret a single second.
It left me full of questions about life, choices, identity, and where I belong in this wide, shifting world. I wish this journey were easier for me, as it should’ve been for Julia. I really do. But now, every strand that falls from my future bald head will carry a trace of this story, because of all the thinking, all the feeling, all the wondering it stirred in me.
I’ve always imagined the author as the first person who managed to connect the dots between the version in my head of the American Dream and the real, raw experience of life in U.S. colleges. And by reading this I felt like I was opening a new wound, but then, being gently handed everything I needed to care for it: bandages, the balm, the quiet space to sit with the pain.
There were so many moments I almost closed the Google Drive tab. The emotion was too much. Too real. But something unexplainable kept pulling me back in. A strange, almost mystical connection to the narrator. If it weren’t for that, I don’t think I would’ve made it through in just 2 hours and 35 minutes.
I don’t regret a single second.
It left me full of questions about life, choices, identity, and where I belong in this wide, shifting world. I wish this journey were easier for me, as it should’ve been for Julia. I really do. But now, every strand that falls from my future bald head will carry a trace of this story, because of all the thinking, all the feeling, all the wondering it stirred in me.
June 11, 2025
I can’t recommend this book enough.
November 7, 2025
devoured it in 3 days but there were times when i didnt really understand what was happening
June 16, 2025
Julia's debut novel perfectly encapsulates every Romanian student struggles when moving abroad to study and build a better life than our parents. The expectations, the sleepless nights, the alienation - the forced growing up to navigate complicated situations all on your own...
As a fellow such student, I found myself crying while reading the passages about how comforting and, somehow alluring it feels to be able to connect with other Romanians in foreign lands. It's easier to relate, joke, love and live.
I admire Julia's courage and perseverance to live in a country so different and so much more brutal than ours.
Perhaps it was a conscious choice, but I wished the events would've been narrated more consistently since the jump from one instance to another feels hazy and chaotic, with no certainty about what, or who, the current subject is.
A great read nevertheless! I wish you only the best moving forward!
As a fellow such student, I found myself crying while reading the passages about how comforting and, somehow alluring it feels to be able to connect with other Romanians in foreign lands. It's easier to relate, joke, love and live.
I admire Julia's courage and perseverance to live in a country so different and so much more brutal than ours.
Perhaps it was a conscious choice, but I wished the events would've been narrated more consistently since the jump from one instance to another feels hazy and chaotic, with no certainty about what, or who, the current subject is.
A great read nevertheless! I wish you only the best moving forward!
July 20, 2025
wow. I couldn’t relate more to this book, as an immigrant myself. I had highlighted almost the entire book. Awaiting for the next publication of yours. 🖤
“After a few months, my fate paused and inquired about my loneliness. There wasn't a definite answer I could offer in return since it seemed I was anything but stupidly lonely. I found myself shaking in the bed, staring at my cracked wall. I must have been lonely. I must have been the epitome of loneliness when you took my empty hand and I allowed you. Now, a prisoner in my humility, I wonder how I indulged in pleasure when pleasure was everything I sought.”
“After a few months, my fate paused and inquired about my loneliness. There wasn't a definite answer I could offer in return since it seemed I was anything but stupidly lonely. I found myself shaking in the bed, staring at my cracked wall. I must have been lonely. I must have been the epitome of loneliness when you took my empty hand and I allowed you. Now, a prisoner in my humility, I wonder how I indulged in pleasure when pleasure was everything I sought.”
January 1, 2026
This is an extraordinarily written and emotionally powerful book! I devoured it and found myself wishing it were longer. While the story was deeply engaging, there were moments when the chronology felt unclear.
July 30, 2025
Amazing book, I can’t recommend it enough!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews