Reviews with content warning for Rape - Peach Blossom Spring

I received an e-galley of Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu from Little, Brown Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Peach Blossom Spring follows the story of a multi-generational Chinese family as the members find themselves on the move as events on a national and international level force them to keep fleeing for survival. The story first begins in the late 1930s in China and the historical events of that time - Japanese invasion, World War II, and the Chinese Civil War - provide the backdrop for the characters. We follow Meilin and her son Renshu as they move through China and across oceans in hope for a place to call home. A historical novel like this is so important because it really is more of a personal historical story. While you can read accounts of the "facts" of these historical events - stories like this show the more personal histories (and HERstories) that happened to the people who had to live out these time periods. I really liked Meilin - her strength, her love for her son, and her resilience and determination in the face of some really challenging life events.

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haleysversion's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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pollyflorence's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Peach Blossom Spring is one of those books where you don’t notice the time passing as you’re reading, it’s one that’s engaging and difficult to put down and it’s one that is just a perfect example of why I love storytelling. Through Melissa Fu’s clear, succinct but beautiful prose comes a story spanning decades from 1938 onwards and generations of one family fleeing war and journeying across China, Taiwan and the US— something that is close to being flawlessly done in a book under 400 pages.

There are many themes that I thought were beautifully explored in Peach Blossom Spring, including identity, generational trauma, loss and grief. One of things that I especially appreciated though was how Fu makes a point, through the different characters and decades, to portray many unique examples of immigrant experience— positive and negative experiences alike. I also adored the inclusion of Chinese fables that are weaved beautifully and skilfully throughout the novel from beginning to end. I am sure that this vivid, captivating novel, that really captures the importance and joy of storytelling, will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to Headline/Wildfire Publishing for the review copy of Peach Blossom Spring.

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kjulie's review against another edition

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emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

In Peace Blossom Spring, Melissa Fu explores Chinese history, the experience of fleeing violent conflict, family dynamics, the chaos of survival during war, immigration, the uncertainty Chinese immigrants experienced in America in the 60s and 70s, growing up mixed race in America, feeling disconnected from your family history, and so much more. This was a huge undertaking, and overall it was excellent.

The three POVs (Meilin, Renshu/Henry, and Lily) complemented each other well (and felt age appropriate: the parts when Renshu and Lily were children sounded different than when they had grown up). I really appreciate the use of different perspectives to widen the emotional and internal understanding of the story, and this novel novel does that fabulously. These characters are complex, honest, and believable, which provides a great foundation for the rest of the story.

While my experiences in life are vastly different from any portrayed in this book, I saw a little bit of my own feelings reflected back at me while reading, especially in the last section when we follow Lily more. Good fiction acts like a mirror, sometimes showing us we’re not alone, and other times revealing areas in ourselves where we can grow. I learned a lot through this book, and I am so grateful for the journey it allowed me to witness (it being fiction doesn’t make the story any less real).

My only difficulty with the book is a common symptom of multigenerational sagas like this, the huge timespan of the novel sometimes meant that long chunks of time were rushed or skipped over with just a quick mention. I know it would be very difficult/impossible to give significant time to every moment (which I don’t think I would enjoy either), but there were a few years skipped over that I would have loved to read more about. Honestly, this “criticism” speaks more about what I’m looking for in a book right now, and not about the novel itself (which I will absolutely recommend to anyone interested in own-voices historical fiction focused on Chinese history in the 20th century, or people looking for a quality multigenerational family story).

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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natashaleighton_'s review

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emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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silene's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The story is powerful with an incredible amount of information about recent Chinese history and life in the US for Chinese and Chinese-Americans. There is some closure. The pacing is very uneven; it skips or speeds through years to drag on other events. The focus of the story shifts between the generations in ways that aren’t always effective. So many characters are introduced for plot purposes who then drop from the narrative. There’s basically no development for any characters but Meilin, Renshu, and Lily. Rachel and Longwei’s character development are debatable. Overall, the story works but it could have been better with some editing choices.

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allie8973's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

My February Book of The Month pick. I really enjoyed this story. At first I was a little taken back by how quickly time past and then slowed in certain sections (this is my first generational novel) but having finished I really enjoyed seeing how each characters life was shaped from beginning to end. I enjoyed learning more about China and Taiwan and I really valued the view point from a half-Chinese and half-American growing up. It was interesting because you saw both why Lily desperately wanted to know about the war and her dad's experiences. But you followed Renshu/Henry through it and can thoroughly understand why he doesn't want to share it.

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