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meme_too2's review against another edition
3.0
A young girl is promised to a young man in marriage, but ends up falling in love with someone else and refuses to marry. She starves herself to death, and is forced to hang around to watch the happiness of others. After something like forty years of watching she learns a lot about love and acceptance.
Ironically, her husband to be ended up being the guy she had fallen in love with. She gets to watch him marry other girls and that's when things get a little weird, but it works out in the end.
jolie3467's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
missamarisa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
alexa_19's review against another edition
5.0
gck's review against another edition
2.0
flaneussy's review against another edition
3.0
I don't think I enjoyed this novel as much as Shanghai Girls, but I still found Peony in Love interesting. I was tempted to abandon both books (basically, the temptation didn't go away until I read the last line), but the payoff was substantial in both cases--namely, I felt like I had learned something by being exposed to a different cultural and different periods in history. Additionally, it was cool to be exposed to the perspectives of several women throughout the course of both stories; neither See nor I were actually in China during the 17th century, but I still felt like I had an idea of what women had gone through and could have been feeling.
That being said, as a fairly discerning reader, I still had issues with POL. It felt a little long, and there wasn't so much there in terms of actual plot. I've learned that See's writing style takes me a while to warm up to (the phrase "man-beautiful" made me want to throw up in my mouth.) I understand why she gave Peony the voice that she did--she died when she was a teenager, so it makes sense that she was "stuck" in that mindset--but she never seemed to grow up or change. The story took place over the course of twenty-three years; a little bit of character development would have been interesting. Peony never seemed to grow out of her stupid, love-struck mindset. I thought her interaction with Tan Ze was really interesting; however, it might have served the story better if Peony acted from a place of vengeance rather than ignorance. That being said, it's possible to disagree with the narrator and still become invested in the story. Tan Ze's characterization bothered me until the very end of the novel; her motivations become much clearer and she seemed to redeem herself. As a reader, I felt that I had underestimated her.
In conclusion, I liked this novel. It was accessible yet complex, and it made me think about what was being fed to me. I will say that See's novels (as much as I seem to take issue with their narrators) have no lack of depth. In the future, I will definitely give her other novels a try.
alimo711's review against another edition
5.0
hmgelo02's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story of a young woman who has led a privileged but sheltered life in her father's familial home in a time when women still bound their feet and were seen but not heard... and sometimes not even seen. Although she has been betrothed to a man from a family of her father's choosing, this educated young dreamer falls in love with a young man who happened to be visiting her home. In the months leading to her wedding date, she is sequestered in her room and becomes obsessed with the study of a controversial opera, eschewing all food, drink, and sleep. In her weakened state she ultimately ends up with the same fate as the young woman in the opera, and then proceeds to live the identical story of that woman in the years that follow.
At first I was a little put off by the twist that this story took, and it took me awhile to fully immerse myself in the story. I think if I had known that this story was based on actual events, I would have read it with more interest. As it is, I'm so glad I stuck with this story through to its end. I learned more about the role of women in that period of history than I'd known before, and it gives me a much better appreciation for the struggle and oppression that women regularly faced at that time.
If you've read books by [a:Amy Tan|5246|Amy Tan|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202437936p2/5246.jpg] and enjoyed them, you'll like this - and other works - by Lisa See. Well-written, well-edited and interesting storylines about Chinese culture. In short, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction, or about Chinese culture.
savlan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
parisakamali's review against another edition
1.0
describing Peony's role in the clouds and rain of her betrothed to another woman was weird but taking us through the biological process of impregnation? that's just too unnecessary. the ghostly adventures were dragged too long and it became quite tedious to follow her journey. the book didn't have anything new to say, too, even though the author did extensive research to write this. i mean, it's good that the author thought to shed light on women's stories in ancient China but the way she wrote it was too weak to make an impact for me.
this is definitely one of Lisa See's lesser works.