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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
I really loved this book. While 1986 felt a lit more current, I forgave the author immediately because I fell in love with the characters. Revolving around a period that most Americans would rather further, it was nice to read a story from the perspective of the chinese americans.
I enjoyed this book right up until the end. I felt the ending was a bit cutesy and did not capture the same depth and emotion of the rest of the book. I felt this book sacrificed something in order to have a "happy" ending.
That being said I felt this book was well paced and interesting. It really drew me in.
That being said I felt this book was well paced and interesting. It really drew me in.
This book was so hyped I think it was its undoing for me. It was an interesting story, but not much good seemed to happen and I couldn't keep going with it. I am hoping someday my mindset will make it so I can read it again and enjoy it as much as others.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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:
No
It's a bittersweet love story about two young lovers caught in a cultural divide. It's WWII, he's Chinese-American, she's Japanese-American. They become friends because they're the only two Asian students scholarshipping at a white school. Friendship blossoms into young love but his father hates the Japanese and her family is caught up in the internment.
There were plenty of issues. The internment camps were glossed over and I can't believe they were as benign as the book made them out to be. There were also some anachronisms, such as searching the Internet in 1986. I graduated from college in 1985, we didn't all have home computers in those days, and the Internet was a series of bulletin boards and MS-DOS or Windows 1 were the standard interfaces. One didn't just type a search into Google.
Despite all that, I enjoyed the book. I liked the characters. I liked the writing style. Would I recommend it? I guess if you like love stories, or Nicholas Sparks, and are able to look past the errors, sure.
There were plenty of issues. The internment camps were glossed over and I can't believe they were as benign as the book made them out to be. There were also some anachronisms, such as searching the Internet in 1986. I graduated from college in 1985, we didn't all have home computers in those days, and the Internet was a series of bulletin boards and MS-DOS or Windows 1 were the standard interfaces. One didn't just type a search into Google.
Despite all that, I enjoyed the book. I liked the characters. I liked the writing style. Would I recommend it? I guess if you like love stories, or Nicholas Sparks, and are able to look past the errors, sure.
This may be the best book I've read all year. A deeply moving story about love, loss and family. A story about cherishing what you have and also not giving up on what you want. This book touched me to tears. I highly recommend it.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The story was interesting, and I really enjoyed learning about a part of American history that is often "conveniently" forgotten. It was clear the author spent time researching and that he was very dedicated to the subject.
However. The writing was simply not good. In my opinion, Ford was trying too hard to be dramatic, using predictable plot devices and was extremely redundant throughout. The book, if better written, could've been told in about 100 pages. It would've been much more powerful if it was concise.
I hate to give bad reviews to any author who spent time and invested themselves in the research and writing. But there were many times I wanted to just put the book down and not finish it. But, as I mentioned, the story was interesting enough, I needed to find out what happened, although (without giving anything away) I predicted the ending pretty early on.
However. The writing was simply not good. In my opinion, Ford was trying too hard to be dramatic, using predictable plot devices and was extremely redundant throughout. The book, if better written, could've been told in about 100 pages. It would've been much more powerful if it was concise.
I hate to give bad reviews to any author who spent time and invested themselves in the research and writing. But there were many times I wanted to just put the book down and not finish it. But, as I mentioned, the story was interesting enough, I needed to find out what happened, although (without giving anything away) I predicted the ending pretty early on.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No