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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s not engaging and I’m finding my attention is waning
Starting strong, dipped a bit in the middle, finished very strong
I loved the themes of this book. The “wanting” ads (grammar error: “wanted ads”) and the idea of pining for something for so long you’ve lost track of what it is and/or simplified it to be something trivial and unworthy. Song Chen desiring money and wealth. Fan desiring freedom and the American Dream. Wenyu: wealth and status. Ye Lian: making it in America. Guiling: getting out of poverty and being glamorous. Everyone doing what it takes to achieve their dreams at the expense of the people who love them most. I didn’t like the POV shift to Song Chen but I understand Jia might have wanted to show that a man can also want so hard he disparages his life. I think I enjoyed this book but it seemed like there was too much to cover — like something seems incomplete. Or maybe that’s Jia’s depiction of the emptiness of wanting? I was really invested in the characters and their stories so the book moved fast for me.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wanting follows the lives of Chinese people who were let down by the "American dream" in different ways. The characters were complex, made bad decisions...and I didn't really like any of them. Jia paints a realistic portrait of how people can lie to themselves when their lives do not turn out how they expected and demonstrates the types of choices people make to get ahead.
This book was hard to continue because the characters were so hard to root for. The characterization was almost too real and toxic and true to how childhood friendships progress. But I also couldn’t stay away from this view of parallel of my life. These characters are pretty much my age and could have been me if I grew up in China.
But the ending was kinda crazy haha.
Wenyu took the blame for something back in high school that got her expelled and Lian stayed in China having the “ideal life”. Then something happened at the house warming where Su Mingzun, Wenyu’s ex ends up burned and under a chandelier at the new house and Lian has to lie that he was being a stalker. Possibly Wenyu staged an arson!?
But the ending was kinda crazy haha.