Reviews

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

colleengeedrumm's review against another edition

5.0

Ying-gai = I should have.
To me, king-gai meant my mother lived a life of regrets that never faded with time.

Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.

I don't know why something that made me so happy then feels so sad now. Maybe that is the way it is with the best memories.

Ai-ya!

yujahey's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child abuse, Grief, Bullying, Confinement, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

msflameo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.75

lydiainspace's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Like any Amy Tan book, The Kitchen God's Wife is about mother-daughter relationships, the unreliability of memory, and the invention and continuation of culture. This story specifically deals with women's independence, and how the Chinese women in the story choose many different paths to emancipate themselves from the men who hold the reigns to their futures. I found it to be thematically similar to The Bonesetter's Daughter, but worthy of a read in it's own right. Though I enjoyed many aspects of the book, the choice to make the middle 4/5ths an uninterrupted narration of the mother's life felt poorly paced to me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

flamwenco's review

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

lisbethduke's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

drpeeper's review

4.0

So lovely. Reminds me why I love Amy Tan. definitely started slow, but about when Pearl's mother began telling her story I couldn't put it down, and when I was finished I was reminded of how mysterious and wonderful and difficult and excellent it is to be a woman.

michelleloretta's review

5.0

Tragedy after tragedy after tragedy in this book... But beautiful all the same. Wow.

littlelizzieborden's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, War, Domestic abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Abortion, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Infertility

debandleo's review

4.0

Loved this book. I thought it was my favorite but now I'm not sure. I must read The Bonesetter's Daughter now!