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emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Abortion
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, Classism
Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
this is my second time reading a book by celeste ng, and trust me when i say, her books are SO good and definitely worth the read. i read this as an audiobook, and it was so entertaining, and kept me interested throughout the whole book. about to go start the mini series on hulu rn !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Racism, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Kidnapping
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I spent the last third of this book tearing up and calming down and tearing up and calming down and then just tearing up until the last page which did make me just cry. Incredible prose, incredible characters, incredible emotion. Themes of motherhood, racial and class boundaries and what it takes to maintain them without ever actually putting a physical gate up, of judgement and hatred masquerading as love, as regret and hope, of art and love; Ng just does not stop with the punches. My god. If this has been on your list, you have to read it today. YESTERDAY!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Moderate: Racism
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This story explores the meaning of family, love and home. How rules are made to be broken, how if you love someone too much it will turn to simmering hatred. this book left me feeling gutted and vulnerably wide-open, like a fire had ripped through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Grief, Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Racism, Kidnapping, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Car accident
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Well written, entertaining and reflective. The pace is on the slower side but feels right for this story.
Great commentary on the suburbian hellscape and its rampant classism and racism.
Great commentary on the suburbian hellscape and its rampant classism and racism.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Classism
Minor: Sexual content
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a great start to my year of reading. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the mother and daughter, at the center of the novel, and how they get entangled in the white middle-class neighborhood in Ohio.
The plot twist at the end that ends up, tearing the two families apart is really shocking to me. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with how the mother made her decision, I sympathize with her character for having to go through what she did to be a single mother and love her daughter, with her whole heart.
The side story of the drama surrounding the Chinese infant who was away by her birth mother, and then is now being fought for again because she is at a different point in life - utterly heartbreaking. It’s such a complicated situation, but ultimately the plays of power and race schism that go down in the court case are tragic.
The plot twist at the end that ends up, tearing the two families apart is really shocking to me. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with how the mother made her decision, I sympathize with her character for having to go through what she did to be a single mother and love her daughter, with her whole heart.
The side story of the drama surrounding the Chinese infant who was away by her birth mother, and then is now being fought for again because she is at a different point in life - utterly heartbreaking. It’s such a complicated situation, but ultimately the plays of power and race schism that go down in the court case are tragic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, Classism
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You’ll always be sad about this. But it doesn’t mean you made the wrong choice. It’s just something that you have to carry.
one of the cardinal rules of writing is that the first page—the first sentence, even—is supposed to hook your readers. this book did not do that, but i am so glad i stuck it out and kept going! this book is good! the plot is always moving & it was the perfect subway read because it was easy to pick up wherever i left off.
now, for the characters...
- pearl & mia are perfect. i loved them. wouldn't change a thing.
- lexie & izzy were okay characters, but it def felt like they were plot-movers if not their own people.
- trip felt sooo forgotten as a character, would have loved to see him incorporated into the plot more.
- mr. richardson was replaceable. he had one somewhat important role in the story and even then, it could have easily been written with anyone else & not changed a thing.
- mrs. richardson made me want to break fucking necks. but i guess that means she was well-written?
- and finally, moody...
girl what the hell happened? he's a sweetheart, he disappears from the plot, and then he turns back up as an asshole? how does he go from <i>"he would crack dumb jokes and tell stories and dredge up bits of trivia, anything to make her smile"</i> to <i>"i thought you were smarter than the sluts who usually agree to do it with him. but i guess not.”</i> ??? celeste ng, please explain wtf you were trying to accomplish with this regressive development bc i am NOT having it. i could maybe understand moody's bitterness over pearl liking trip if the brotherly conflict arc had been explored <s>at all</s> a little more, but it wasn't, so this whole sibling jealousy thing comes out of fucking NOWHERE.
anyway, other than my nitpicky critiques of the characters, i enjoyed this book! i might have to take a peek at what else celeste ng has written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Abortion
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
emotional
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
I don't know what took me so long to read this book! Absolutely stunning writing. The true questions of what makes one a mother and what makes one a daughter are the core of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Classism