Reviews

Peony in Love by Lisa See

serenabena's review

2.0

I thought the book was okay. It feels like the author is trying so hard and it makes some of the book very cringey. It was hard to get into, but I did find the afterworld stuff interesting. Not the worst book but probably not the first thing I’d recommend to people.

emmadkreads's review

1.0

I was looking forward to reading another book by Lisa See after I finished Shanghai Girls. Unfortunately, I could not connect with this book at all, and I found Peony to be one of the most uninspiring "heroines" I have ever encountered in a novel.

libraryladys's review

2.0

I loved See's first novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I was disappointed by Poeny in Love...so much so that I didn't finish reading it.

meme_too2's review

3.0

This book is a strange, but sweet, book.

A young girl is promised to a young man in marriage, but ends up falling in love with someone else and refuses to marry. She starves herself to death, and is forced to hang around to watch the happiness of others. After something like forty years of watching she learns a lot about love and acceptance.

Ironically, her husband to be ended up being the guy she had fallen in love with. She gets to watch him marry other girls and that's when things get a little weird, but it works out in the end.

jolie3467's review

informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

missamarisa's review

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

alexa_19's review

informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

gck's review against another edition

2.0

Maybe it was because I listened to it as an audiobook, but I really didn't like this one. Even if it's the way the culture was back then and even if the story ultimately ended up being about women having a voice, it was hard to listen to hours of the narrator talking about how good wives are supposed to be quiet and obedient because they are worthless. I was interested enough in the story in the beginning, but once things got all ghosty, I lost all connection with the characters.

flaneussy's review

3.0

I don't think I enjoyed this novel as much as Shanghai Girls, but I still found Peony in Love interesting. I was tempted to abandon both books (basically, the temptation didn't go away until I read the last line), but the payoff was substantial in both cases--namely, I felt like I had learned something by being exposed to a different cultural and different periods in history. Additionally, it was cool to be exposed to the perspectives of several women throughout the course of both stories; neither See nor I were actually in China during the 17th century, but I still felt like I had an idea of what women had gone through and could have been feeling.

That being said, as a fairly discerning reader, I still had issues with POL. It felt a little long, and there wasn't so much there in terms of actual plot. I've learned that See's writing style takes me a while to warm up to (the phrase "man-beautiful" made me want to throw up in my mouth.) I understand why she gave Peony the voice that she did--she died when she was a teenager, so it makes sense that she was "stuck" in that mindset--but she never seemed to grow up or change. The story took place over the course of twenty-three years; a little bit of character development would have been interesting. Peony never seemed to grow out of her stupid, love-struck mindset. I thought her interaction with Tan Ze was really interesting; however, it might have served the story better if Peony acted from a place of vengeance rather than ignorance. That being said, it's possible to disagree with the narrator and still become invested in the story. Tan Ze's characterization bothered me until the very end of the novel; her motivations become much clearer and she seemed to redeem herself. As a reader, I felt that I had underestimated her.

In conclusion, I liked this novel. It was accessible yet complex, and it made me think about what was being fed to me. I will say that See's novels (as much as I seem to take issue with their narrators) have no lack of depth. In the future, I will definitely give her other novels a try.

alimo711's review

5.0

I thought this book was beautifully written, and evocative of the time and place. Carried me away to the lovely gardens. I didn't see the "twist" coming, but enjoyed it all the same. Very unusual story.