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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
amy tan invented mommy issues and i love her for it
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Compassionate view of mother daugher relationship.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book. My wife and I picked it out to read together, this being the first time either of us has read any Amy Tan. It was a fairly quick read, but enjoyable nonetheless. The character's were compelling. And although there were some characters I was not a fan of at first, Tan did a very good job of fleshing them all out and making them three dimensional. I was especially drawn to the mother, Luling. Tan wrote her in such a way that she could be hilarious and haunting at the same time. The story moved along at a very even pace, allowing me to be interested throughout the whole thing. The shifts in timeline helped a lot with that, in my opinion. I liked the whole ghost/spirit motif and how Tan used that as a way to show how the regrets of our past have a way of staying with us our whole lives until we choose to either let them go or begin to focus on the more positive things in our lives. I also enjoyed how Tan portrayed the different types of communication that were required in order for the full story of these three women to be understood. Verbal and written communication are important, but there are also gestures, as well as the communication with past selves or those that have died that can affect just as much. All in all I'd certainly recommend this book.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Classism
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I like Amy Tan, so I was glad to get this book immediately from Libby. read partially by the author, and by Joan Chen - a great production. the story itself was alright - not my favorite but still beautiful and powerful, and bringing the reader on a journey just like the rest of Tan's works. some notes from my lb
- I like amy tan’s reflective prose and the humanity in her characters, which is the only reason I can read her works when I tend to dislike this entire genre of book, but there really is only so much bland everyday modern middle class american suburbia I can stomach (this was in the first half)
- amy tan is maybe one of the very few modern authors I’ve read who understands csa as a type of violence expressed as domination and control over children, not specifically bc of sexual desire or ‘perversion’
- oh my god this is actually kind of stupid. so the daughter is reading her mom’s life story and in that story her mother is reciting HER mother’s life story, which has just enough repetitiveness to seem boring and unoriginal rather than an thematic nod to generational trauma. and there’s this big tragic moment where her groom dies on their wedding day but like. he dies after their wedding caravan gets ransacked and he’s like “I swear I shall find who did this’ and fires a pistol into the air for some reason and then a horse spooks and kicks him in the head and he dies. what is this…farce 😭 (I thought this was dumb)
- WE DIDN'T EVEN LEARN HOW SHE DIED.....
- the absurdity of the earlier scene is balanced so well by the gravity and beauty of the scene afterwards. god
- constipation being a legitimate recurring motif in this book is killing me. I do kind of get it and it does work but also. omg
- well now she’s at a christian missionary orphanage and honestly there is some comedy in this
um. well if you like amy tan's writing and her mother-daughter stuff you'll probably enjoy it. some of it was actually pretty funny, and the emotion around memory and family was powerful towards the end.
***SPOILERS***
it was kind of a bummer to see her mother shuffled off to an old-person home but ig that's the happy ending for her...they have money now too yayyy
- I like amy tan’s reflective prose and the humanity in her characters, which is the only reason I can read her works when I tend to dislike this entire genre of book, but there really is only so much bland everyday modern middle class american suburbia I can stomach (this was in the first half)
- amy tan is maybe one of the very few modern authors I’ve read who understands csa as a type of violence expressed as domination and control over children, not specifically bc of sexual desire or ‘perversion’
- oh my god this is actually kind of stupid. so the daughter is reading her mom’s life story and in that story her mother is reciting HER mother’s life story, which has just enough repetitiveness to seem boring and unoriginal rather than an thematic nod to generational trauma. and there’s this big tragic moment where her groom dies on their wedding day but like. he dies after their wedding caravan gets ransacked and he’s like “I swear I shall find who did this’ and fires a pistol into the air for some reason and then a horse spooks and kicks him in the head and he dies. what is this…farce 😭 (I thought this was dumb)
- WE DIDN'T EVEN LEARN HOW SHE DIED.....
- the absurdity of the earlier scene is balanced so well by the gravity and beauty of the scene afterwards. god
- constipation being a legitimate recurring motif in this book is killing me. I do kind of get it and it does work but also. omg
- well now she’s at a christian missionary orphanage and honestly there is some comedy in this
um. well if you like amy tan's writing and her mother-daughter stuff you'll probably enjoy it. some of it was actually pretty funny, and the emotion around memory and family was powerful towards the end.
***SPOILERS***
it was kind of a bummer to see her mother shuffled off to an old-person home but ig that's the happy ending for her...they have money now too yayyy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, War
I pretty much love anything by Amy Tan. I would probably buy her grocery list.
Beautiful writing, compelling characters and relatable mother-daughter relationships.