Reviews with content warning for Racism - Peach Blossom Spring

This was an interesting read. MEILIN's character was for the first 65% of the book, then Renshu for another 25% and the last part or 10% was for Lily. I liked both female stories best and feel like more focus could have been given to Lily, but Renshu's story was very tragic. As much as Meilin's struggle was difficult in living through the war and trying to find solutions, I think it says a lot by what Renshu survived daily during his childhood or as they say formative years. It sounds as though he suffered from a great deal of PTSD.

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kimveach's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was a terrific multi-generation historical fiction book. The history of the Chinese-Japanese War and the Civil War that followed it was new to me. And I think this might be the first book I've read with a setting in Taiwan.

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abundance_of_fiction's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

I wish I could give half stars because this is truly a 4.5 ⭐️ book for me! The only think keeping it from being 5 ⭐️ was the pace of the last half of the book; it really slowed for me during the transition of Henry/Lilly, before it picked back up at the end.

The story itself was such a beautiful exploration into how war/life effects three different generations.

Meilin and Renshu’s migration and war journey was so compelling and the things that Meilin endured to get to Thailand was so heartbreaking. Then Renshu/Henry feeling like he had to abandon his culture to assimilate and avoid “politics” forced the reader to consider how he was still fighting a war, even if it looked completely different. (The scene where he has PTSD to the war after JFK was so jarring and emotional). Finally, Lily describing her desire to understand her culture, but then still not really being apart of it, brought a different kind of sadness. Especially when Lily states that she just wanted to belong.
The conclusion, and the passage of heritage -finally- from father to daughter was such a beautiful moment. I teared up thinking about all the pain that Renshu had to acknowledge, in order to finally let his daughter in on what his life had really been like. The repetition of stories from grandmother to his daughter felt like a nod to all the ways that we can try to move on but that there is this common thread that lingers.

I’m ranting, but the story was beautiful and I have so many emotions. In short, loved it. Melissa Fu is a phenomenal storyteller.

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smgossett77's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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darkhorse488's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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cait_mccarron's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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roguephoenix7's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I initially struggled to get into this book but I found I couldn't put it down by the second half. My favorite part of the story was the characters and how they had a lot of depth to them despite seeing them in such a limited way. They were flawed, they didn't always make the right choice but you could always see why they made the choices they did. They thought they were doing the right thing with the circumstances they were dealt. The story is sad, it's one of loss and struggling to find a place to belong but the characters persist and create new lives for themselves. I enjoyed seeing the story progress through the three generations of the family. It added a lot of depth to the characters getting to see where they came from and how they were raised.
I'm glad I stuck through with this book, I definitely found it a worthwhile read.

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