Review: Malibu Rising (by Taylor Jenkins Reid)

My Rating: 3 stars

I've been wanting to read a Taylor Jenkins Reid book for a while now and actually have several of her previous works on my shelf, it's just that I haven't had time to get to them yet (which I intend to at some point) -- so of course, I was excited when I was able to get my hands on an ARC of Reid's newest novel Malibu Rising (which is scheduled to release on June 1st).  Reading the premise of the book, I originally thought this would be right up my alley, with a story revolving around the evolution of a family over several generations (I love family stories) against the backdrop of a setting (Southern California) and timeframe (1980s era) that I'm more than familiar with having myself grown up in Los Angeles in the 1980s.  Based on these reasons, I thought I would be able to connect with the story at least somewhat – unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case.

 

Before I go into what didn't work for me though, I do have to say that I actually didn't have much issue with the writing.  In fact, given the unique structure of the story, the descriptive language, the vivid imagery, as well as the use of allusion and foreshadowing woven so seamlessly throughout the narrative, I have no doubt in Reid's abilities as a writer and a gifted storyteller. For me, the problems I had with this book had more to do with it perhaps being not the right book for me, and also going into this with certain expectations and being disappointed by the outcome.

In terms of the story, the first half of this book was actually pretty solid (even though, admittedly, I couldn't stand a few of the characters – but more on that later) and if the trajectory of the rest of the book had continued on in a similar vein, I'm sure this would've been a solid 4+ star read for me.  But instead, the second half of the book — which started with the first hour of the party and covered the entire timeframe though to the end — unraveled to the point that I almost didn't want to bother finishing the book, except that I was already so close to the ending and didn't want to feel like I had wasted my time reading up to that point. Ironically, in the end, even after finishing the entire book, I still felt like I wasted my time because most of the Riva family's story arc (which had been so well developed in the first half and I had been looking forward to in the second half) got lost in the shuffle of the wild and crazy, over-the-top play-by-play of the party (which I honestly felt was wasted plot space and highly unnecessary).  I mean, yes, I knew from the beginning that the party would be an important part of the plot and I was expecting a few pages, perhaps even a few chapters, to be dedicated to the party — what I wasn't expecting was for nearly every aspect of the party to be painstakingly detailed and drawn out over the course of 150+ pages. (Disclaimer:  I didn't actually count the pages, but part 2 started around the 53% mark on my Kindle and with the book clocking in at 384 pages, I figured 150 is a close enough midway page count).  I'm sorry, but there is only so much of "the rich and famous behaving badly" that I am able to stomach (especially when that "behavior" consists of getting drunk, having sex, doing drugs, destroying things, etc., then rinse and repeat on overdrive every 2 pages or so) before I feel like I want to vomit.  Given how the party concluded in the end, I honestly wasn't sure what the point of including all those scenes was.

As for the characters, I honestly didn't like any of them (especially the parents, whose horrible decisions caused so much unnecessary pain and difficulty in their children's lives).  Probably the only character that I felt a little bit of sympathy for was Nina…everyone else was downright annoying, frustrating, and, in the case of Mick Riva, a disgusting piece of trash!   The second half of the book consisted of a ridiculous parade of characters that I found exhausting to read about — after awhile, I just ended up skipping pages because I figured I wasn't missing anything anyway…

Obviously, I didn't enjoy this book much and under normal circumstances, would've probably rated this way lower than I did — but I thought the first part was truly well done and the second part would've worked if not for the overload of irrelevant party scenes that overshadowed the main story line.  Instead of being the powerful, moving story about love, loss, the bonds of family, resilience in the face of sacrifice, etc., that it could've (should've) been, this turned into a frustrating-to-read story about a rich and famous family whining about their messed up lives and their messed up relationships — a family that, by the end of the book, I could no longer bring myself to care about.

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley.

Review: Swimming Back to Trout River (by Linda Rui Feng)

My Rating: 5 stars

I actually finished this book a few days ago but held off on writing the review because I needed some time to gather myself after such an emotional reading experience.  Linda Rui Feng's debut novel Swimming Back to Trout River is poignant, powerful, and beautifully written — a touching story about endurance in the face of repeated tragedy, about resilience and hope, about love and family and the complexity of human relationships, about loss and grief and regret, about history and culture and how what happens in the past can continue to haunt the present as well as the future.  

As the story opens, we meet 5 year old Junie, who is sitting on her mother Cassia's lap as they travel by bus to Junie's grandparents' house in the little village of Trout River in China.  Cassia is about to leave for America to join her husband Momo, with the intention for Junie to join them in a few years' time.  Meanwhile though, Junie will be left in the care of Momo's parents in the little village where Momo himself grew up alongside his two brothers.  Junie adjusts wonderfully to life at Trout River and grows to love the idyllic countryside as well as the grandparents who raise her — which is why, when she is 10 years old and receives a letter from her father in which he promises to return by her twelfth birthday to bring her to America for a reunion, Junie's immediate reaction is that of impending doom.  Precocious by nature, Junie is determined to stay put and never leave her beloved grandparents' side — at one point, she tells her grandfather that if she were forced to leave, she would find a way to return back to them, even if she has to swim from America back to Trout River to do so. What Junie doesn't know is that her parents, living thousands of miles away in their adopted country, are estranged and struggling to deal with lingering feelings of grief and loss from past tragedies.  Intertwined with their story is that of Dawn, a former classmate of Momo's who is also a talented violinist — having lost her parents at a young age, Dawn was raised by her grandfather, who helped cultivate a musical sensibility within her.  The narrative alternates between the perspectives of these 4 characters whose destinies end up intersecting in ways both familiar and unexpected.

This was such a sad and heart wrenching story, yet also hopeful and tender in its depiction of the characters' struggles and endurance.  From the moment I was introduced to Junie on the very first page, I was absolutely smitten with her, to the point that I continue to hold her dear to my heart even now, days after having finished this book. I loved Junie's closeness with her grandparents — a sentiment that of course wasn't surprising since she was raised by them (this is actually an all-too-familiar situation for many Chinese children who are often left behind in the care of grandparents or relatives in their home countries while the parents try to get situated in another country, with most only reuniting with their children after they feel they've built a stable enough future for them) — having said that, a part of me still felt a little sad at Junie's lack of familiarity with her parents.  My favorite scene in the novel (which occurred fairly early in the story) was also the most heartbreaking one — where Junie tells her Grandpa that she will swim back to Trout River to be with him and Grandma — I had tears streaming down my face when I read that scene (I don't want to spoil the story so I'm not going to explain further, but those who've read the book and met Junie in its pages will probably understand why this scene had such an impact).

This is one of those books that actually requires discussion, as there is so much here thematically, it's impossible to cover everything in such a brief review.  A few of the themes that stood out were those pertaining to water as well as music.  The one that stood out to me the most though was the idea of "motion" or "movement" — from Junie's "other means of locomotion" to the various ways that the characters "move" through the story, whether physically or figuratively.  I had read somewhere that the author, Linda Rui Feng, also writes poetry, which explains the lyrical and metaphorical nature of the writing, as well as all the imagery rendered so beautifully throughout the story.

Even though only about a third of the story takes place in the United States (the setting for majority of the story is China), this was also an immigrant story at its heart, albeit a very different one from what we may be used to seeing.  In terms of China's cultural and historical elements — from the hardships of the Cultural Revolution period to the insights into the concept of family and filial piety embedded in Chinese culture, etc. — all of it was incorporated so seamlessly and flawlessly into the story…which I guess should come as no surprise given the fact that Feng is a scholar and teacher of Chinese history and culture.  

I loved nearly everything about this book:  the realistic yet endearing characters, the gentle and reflective nature of the story, the nuanced exploration of family and human relationships, the subtle way that so many different themes were woven into the narrative — the Chinese concepts of yuanfen and zhaohua (I love the way Feng explained both of these in the story — remarkable given how difficult it is to translate either concept into English accurately and correctly), the idea of inevitability versus coincidence, fate and destiny, and whether it's possible to change the trajectory of your life even with the most sincere of efforts. 

With all that said, my biggest complaint with the story is that we didn't get to see much of Junie (most of the story was about her parents and the evolution of their relationship) — disappointing not only because I loved Junie so much as a character, but also because of the crucial role she played as the character who tied the entire story together (without her presence, the story definitely would not have been as powerful).  

As I mentioned earlier, this was an emotional read for me, and I definitely recommend it, though with the caveat that the metaphorical language might take some effort to parse, especially since there is a philosophical aspect to the language as well (for me, it was well worth the effort).   The story is also the quiet, slow-burn type where there really isn't much of a plot, for one, and two, there's very little "action" to speak of — this is a absolutely a character-driven story with a strong sense of place (two elements I love in books) that, in my opinion, is almost guaranteed to move the reader in some way.  I recommend reading this one with a box of tissues handy, especially for the scenes at Trout River with Junie and her grandparents.  I do hope that Linda Rui Feng writes another novel — when she does, I know I will absolutely want to read it!

Received ARC from Simon & Schuster via Edelweiss.

Review: The Plot (by Jean Hanff Korelitz)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

Two years ago, I had read Jean Hanff Korelitz's previous novel You Should Have Known (which is now famously known as the book that the HBO series "The Undoing" was adapted from) and while I liked the story overall, I remember how tedious of a read it was for me, mostly because the story meandered quite a bit and went off on various different tangents that didn't seem to have a whole lot to do with the plot.  And the book was long (400+ pages) — which normally wouldn't matter, except that the story was written in such a convoluted way that, by the time I got to the end, I was just glad it was over.

Given the above experience, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I went into Korelitz's newest book The Plot with a bit of trepidation, despite the fact that, as soon as I had read the book's premise, I had immediately wanted to read it.  My concerns didn't go away even after starting the book, as the story progressed really slowly for the first 50 pages or so — not only that, I also started noticing some of the long, meandering, overly-descriptive passages that had irked me in her previous book. But I stuck with it and am so glad I did, as this ended up being such a wonderful read! 

The story centers around a writer named Jacob Finch Bonner, a once successful author of a bestseller who hit a snag with his second book and is now struggling to move his career forward. While teaching at a low residency MFA program, Jake encounters a student, Evan Parker, who shares with him the plot of a story he plans on writing that he believes will be "a sure thing." Several years later, as Jake still struggles with his writing and has just about given up all hopes of reviving his career, he inadvertently finds out that Evan Parker has died, supposedly without having finished the "sure thing" novel he had bragged about during the MFA session.  At this point, Jake does what he feels any self-respecting writer would do — he takes the plot that Evan had told him about and turns it into a widely-read, bestselling novel.  Jake instantly becomes famous and also wealthy beyond measure.  One day, as he is riding the highs of success in both his personal and professional lives, he receives a mysterious message that contains four terrifying words: "You are a thief."   But it doesn't stop there — as Jake receives more and more threatening messages, to the point that he can't ignore them anymore, he sets off on a race against time to find out who his harasser is in the hopes of confronting them before they expose him.

As I mentioned earlier, I initially didn't have very high expectations going into this book (despite all the hype it has gotten so far) because I thought it would be a convoluted, drawn-out story that would take me longer than preferred to read.  But this book turned out to be opposite of what I was expecting — not only was it a quick read for me (I finished it in 2 sittings, with majority of the book completed in the second sitting because I just couldn't bring myself to put it down), the story was also tightly-plotted and absolutely brilliantly written.  Of course, there were still moments throughout the story where certain passages veered into the "overly-descriptive" category, but not to the extent as her previous book, in my opinion.  Having said this, in researching the author and her other works, I've come to realize that this is actually her distinctive writing style, which is good to know.  

In addition to a cleverly-crafted story however, one of the things that makes this book stand out is the way the characters are rendered, especially the main character Jake.  As a character, Jake is entirely fictional, however the way his struggles as a writer and the angst he goes through all came across so realistically, it really made the character come alive for me — to the point that I found it difficult to figure where I stood in terms of what he did.  Here, Korelitz did a masterful job weaving in recent "discussions" about certain aspects of the publishing industry and literary community that have been concerns over the years: issues such as appropriation versus inspiration, who should get to tell what story, the writing process and the trials and tribulations of being a writer, and most interesting of all, an inside glimpse into the publishing world and the role of the writer in that world. 

Another unique aspect of this book is the way Korelitz utilizes the "story within a story" method to tell Jake's story by incorporating excerpts from his book (the one with the "stolen" plot) interspersed throughout the story, culminating in a fantastic coming together of the plot to create a "fiction vs reality" twist in the end.  I don't want to say too much so as not to give away the ending, but I will say that this was one of the most propulsive, surprising endings that I've read in awhile.

Lastly, I just wanted to comment on why I ended up rating this one 4.5 stars rather than the full 5 stars.  The main reason for this is because I actually was able to figure out aspects of the ending early on, which made the "big reveal" (specifically as it pertained to the person sending the messages to Jake) less impactful — though with that said, the last couple scenes were definitely unexpected and very well-done.

This literary thriller is definitely a "must-read" in my book!  It's clever and creative and even though I did figure out parts of it early on, I still found much of the plot to be unpredictable in terms of the direction things ended up going.  Already, this book is getting a lot of buzz, and deservedly so, in my opinion!  And I wouldn't be surprised if this one also gets optioned for a movie or TV series at some point — I would definitely be interested in watching if that were to be the case!

Received ARC from Celadon Books via NetGalley

Review: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

My Rating: 4 stars

So far, I have read all 4 of Chanel Cleeton's historical fiction novels and have enjoyed all of them.  Starting with Next Year in Havana, which first introduced us to the Perez family and their subsequent exodus from Cuba, then later her follow-up novel When We Left Cuba, where she continued the family's story after their arrival in the United States, to last year's standalone novel The Last Train to Key West, and now her most recent release The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, Cleeton not only pays tribute to her own Cuban heritage, she also sheds light on a few little-known historical events that have been fascinating to learn about.  

 

This time around, in her latest work, Cleeton tells the story of Evangelina Cisneros, a real-life Cuban woman who was part of the fight for Cuba's independence from Spanish occupation at the end of the nineteenth century.  At the age of only eighteen, Evangelina  was separated from her family and unjustly thrown into a Havana jail notorious for its squalid conditions.  When Evangelina's situation is brought to the attention of an American audience via New York newspaper reporters stationed in Cuba, she suddenly finds herself thrust into the international spotlight – in addition to being dubbed "the most beautiful girl in Cuba" by the media, she also becomes a rallying cry on the political front for those pushing American intervention in Cuba.  At the same time, Marina Perez is separated from her beloved husband Mateo when he goes off to join the Cuban revolutionaries – shortly afterward, she and her 7-year-old daughter Isabella and mother-in-law Luz lose everything they own when Spanish soldiers burn down their farm and force them into reconcentration camps where, in order to survive, Marina secretly works as a courier passing messages  to the revolutionaries.  Meanwhile, in New York, Grace Harrington lands a dream job as a female journalist at the Journal, run by famous newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, where she hopes to catch that one big scoop that will allow her to be taken seriously as an independent woman trying to prove herself in the ruthless world of news media.   The lives of these 3 women converge and are changed forever when the situation in Cuba becomes most dire and the United States is spurred into war with Spain for control over the territory.

 

Once again, Cleeton tells a compelling story from the alternating perspectives of 3 women whose backgrounds and circumstances couldn't be more different, yet they are brought together with the common goal of fighting for freedom – whether for themselves as individuals or for their country.  As was the case with Cleeton's previous books, the story features strong female protagonists who defy convention as well as the restrictions placed upon them by society, ultimately rising above their circumstances with courage and grace.   Having said that though, there was one slight difference I noticed this time around:  with Cleeton's previous book, which was also narrated from the different perspectives of the 3 main female characters, I had actually liked all 3 story arcs equally – with this one though, I actually preferred Marina's and Grace's story arcs to Evangelina's, which is a bit ironic given Evangelina's story is technically the main arc that everything else revolves around.  It didn't occur to me at first, but after I read the Author's Note -- where Cleeton explains how, with Evangelina's story, most of the sources available, including the autobiography of her life, were written by people associated with Hearst's New York Journal newspaper, which was locked in a fierce circulation battle with the rival paper run by Joseph Pulitzer at the time, so unfortunately, much of the information was sensationalized and likely overdramatized in order to attract buyers, making it hard to separate the true facts of Evangelina's life from the embellished ones – it made sense why Evangelina's story arc felt a bit "off" to me (I realize now that what was "off" with the story was that it felt too incredulous and farcical – by comparisons, both Marina's and Grace's stories felt much more realistic). For me, I would've preferred Marina's story to be the main one — I think the book overall would've been more powerful and emotional if that had been the case.

With all that said, I still enjoyed this quite a bit.  Chanel Cleeton is a great storyteller and writer — when reading her books, it's easy to become absorbed and lose yourself in the stories she crafts based off her thorough and extensive research.  I also love the way she weaves a connection to the Perez name through all of her books (some more subtly than others) — every time I read one of her books, I feel compelled to go back and re-read Next Year in Havana again to find the connection. Cleeton's books have definitely become "must-reads" for me and of course, I look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next, both from a story and character perspective (and yes, I will continue to look for the Perez connection as well)!

Received ARC from Berkley via Edelweiss.

Review: The Downstairs Girl (by Stacey Lee)

My Rating: 5 stars

Reading Stacey Lee's YA novel The Downstairs Girl was truly a delightful experience – one that I honestly was not expecting.  As I've mentioned before, I don't read much YA because I'm not the target audience for the genre and, as such, I feel like it would be harder for me to appreciate the story and/or the characters.  With the last few YA novels I've read though, I've been pleasantly surprised with how much I've enjoyed them.   As an avid reader, one of the things I always hope for in any reading experience is the possibility of encountering a book that will resonate with me in ways I wasn't expecting.  With Lee's book, this is exactly what happened – so much so that even now, a few days after finishing the book, I am still thinking about the characters and longing to revisit with them again.  

 

The year is 1890 in Atlanta, Georgia.  17-year-old Jo Kuan works as a milliner's apprentice making hats for society's wealthy elite.  Though the pay is meager, it's a job that Jo is good at and is grateful to have given that she is a girl who, by necessity, has lived in the shadows all her life.   Abandoned by her parents when she was a baby, Jo was taken in and raised by the elderly Old Gin, who works as a caretaker on the estate of one of the wealthiest families in Atlanta.  Jo and Old Gin live quietly in a dilapidated basement that used to be a hideout for abolitionists – a basement located underneath a print shop owned by the Bell family, who have no idea that the space (or the Kuans) exist.  When Jo is fired from her job unexpectedly (due to her being "too opinionated" according to her employer Mrs. English, though the real reason is because Jo is Chinese), she has no choice but to return to the Payne estate and work as a house maid for the family's cruel daughter Caroline (who hates Jo with a passion).  One night, through a pipe in the basement, Jo overhears a conversation between the Bells and their son Nathan that inspires her to start an advice column in their newspaper, using the pseudonym "Miss Sweetie."  The column, which focuses on addressing society's ills from the female perspective, becomes wildly popular, but also garners backlash from those uncomfortable with society's fixed notions being challenged.  When Jo discovers a letter that provides clues to her past and who her parents are, she must decide whether to remain hidden or risk coming out of the shadows.

 

This is one of those books that proves, once again, that we shouldn't judge a book purely by its genre.  I know this book is largely categorized as YA, but to be honest, it really doesn't read like a typical YA novel.  In addition to the story being very well-written, with endearing yet realistically-drawn characters, I also thought the historical and cultural elements of the story were really well done – most impressive though, was how the author, Stacey Lee, was able to so seamlessly weave in complex social commentary about race, class, privilege, identity, etc., which actually made this an unexpectedly timely read despite its setting in the 19^th century.  Reading about society's prejudices back in the 1890s and the discrimination that people of color faced during that time, it both frustrates and saddens me to be reminded, once again, that, even though our society and our country as a whole have both a come a long way, many of the attitudes and biases haven't changed all that much.  With that said, I am heartened by the increasing presence of books like this one in society nowadays — books that don't hold back in terms of bringing important issues to the forefront and helping to initiate necessary conversations about social justice and the need for change in our society.  I absolutely love the fact that the main protagonist in this story is a young Chinese woman who defies the typical gender and cultural stereotype — a woman who is smart and feisty, opinionated, yet kind and compassionate, and most admirable of all, bravely rises above her circumstances and stands up for her beliefs, even in the face of society's harsh criticisms and prejudices.  I also love how all the main characters — the most well-drawn and endearing characters — were either Chinese (Jo and Old Gin) or Black (Noemi and Robby).

Thinking back to my own childhood, growing up as a Chinese girl in a city as supposedly diverse as Los Angeles, it was nearly impossible to find books with Asian supporting characters in them, let alone Chinese characters (and female ones at that).   I remember back then, the only way for me to read fiction books with characters in them who looked like me, was to have relatives buy books in Hong Kong and send them to me here.  I wish there had been books like this back then that do a way better job of educating youths about diversity and acceptance than school textbooks; that would've been way more helpful for a Chinese girl like me — one of only 3 Asian faces in the entire school — to actually stand up for myself, rather than constantly shrink into the shadows, stay quiet, keep my head down, and draw as little attention to myself as possible; that would’ve helped me navigate the contradictions of my identity and understand that it didn't matter whether we were born here or grew up here, by virtue of our "foreign" faces, this will never truly be our home and we will never truly belong — but yet we must strive to make our situation more tolerable, if only for survival's sake.   

There were so many scenes in the book that I was able to relate to;  that had me nodding my head in agreement at how true to life many of Jo's and Old Gin's experiences were; that had me both laughing and crying at various moments throughout the story.  For me, one of the most heartbreaking scenes was that last segregated streetcar scene near the end of the book, which powerfully summed up what the Chinese experience has been for many of us in America. 

There is a lot to unpack with this book and it's impossible for me to do justice to it in such a brief review.  I definitely recommend taking the time to read this one — if anything, for its glimpse into history and culture.  Yes, this is ultimately a triumphant story and perhaps even a predictable one in terms of plot, but it is an absolutely worthwhile read — one that I'm sure will continue to stay with me for a long time!