Reviews

First things first: this book is not a mystery or a thriller in any way. Yes, it is psychological, but it is most definitely not a psychological thriller. The way this book has been classified is, to me, misleading.

That said, it's also one of those books where I'm just not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, it kept me reading. The writing is vivid, the author uses quotation marks (THANK YOU), and I was catapulted right into Ivy's world every time I started reading.

And yet. My first real difficulty is with Ivy. I get what the author is doing with her, but she's a cipher. The book details a lot about her family, her situation, and her life, but I never felt like I had a grasp on her at all. I can buy that this may have been intentional--Ivy herself doesn't seem to really know who she is or what she wants--but it made the book a lot less satisfying than it might otherwise have been.

I also wasn't all that thrilled with the plot arc itself. The book has a lot to say and says much of it well in fine, deft touches, but it also tends to dance around some things when it may have been better had the text been more explicit.

readingonmountains's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed reading about Ivy Lin, a poor Chinese immigrant struggling to fit in with her wealthy classmates. Her mother Nan is hard on Ivy, with high expectations for her daughter to succeed in the American dream. Ivy’s grandmother Meifeng showers her with affection and wisdom, and really made the story for me! Years pass and Ivy, now a school teacher, runs into her middle school crush and feels like it must be fate. They begin dating when another man from her past surfaces to complicate things. This is a coming of age story, love triangle and has some great darker twists as well.