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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
This was my first Amy Tan, and after hearing all the hype about her writing, I wasn't disappointed. Tan has a unique niche into the Asian American culture that is so fascinating to me. She skillfully flashes from present-day America to early 20th century China and back to her original storyline. The characters are deep, the storyline realistic, the plot moves well. I'd read it again, actually. Looking forward to reading more of her work.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I love everything Amy Tan writes. I really connected with this book, as I'm going through the same issues with my elderly mother. The book was another great insight into the Chinese culture and history.
I liked this. I couldn't for the life of me understand the attraction to her sap of a boyfriend, but I loved her mom.
I so enjoyed The Joy Luck Club and now have finished The Bonesetters Daughter and loved it as well. A well-told heartwarming and heartbreaking novel that explores mother-daughter relationships, secrets, aging, generational respect and frustration, cultural clashes and changes and relationship stresses, just to name a few. Amy Tan draws on her Chinese heritage and the dynamic of the changing female Chinese identity across generations to open up deep emotional places for the reader - who can identify with these characters even from her Midwestern Scandi-Celtic-Bohemian place of identity. If you haven’t read Amy Tan yet, DO!
This book is a heart-wrenching gut-punching read there is a curse, dementia, death, destruction, love, geology, history, and war but most importantly it teaches us to try to understand our loved ones or at the very least try to hear them out. I loved Amy Tan's joy luck club so I was really happy to find another book written by her featuring mother-daughter drama the bonesetter's daughter is a fair bit darker than the joy luck club.
Your mother while seemingly trying to ruin your life because she won't let you do whatever you want and has no idea of what fun it has been through what she's putting you through she didn't get along with her mother at times and neither did her mother's mother it's a cycle that goes on and on. The saddest part about this book is to realize that once the daughters finally understood their mothers they had already passed on.
I appreciated this book because it really hits home and makes you realize that parents aren't perfect they are just trying to do the right thing . They might not know-how and they might go about it the wrong way but they really want what's best. I liked the women in this book they were strong and loved hard selfish but also giving. Stubborn and learned the lessons the hard way.
I believe you could read this book in your teens in your sixties and in your 100s and still learn something from it. The Chinese culture was interesting all the sayings and local customs and the general way they lived their lives was intriguing. If you loved the joy luck club please give this one a try!!
Your mother while seemingly trying to ruin your life because she won't let you do whatever you want and has no idea of what fun it has been through what she's putting you through she didn't get along with her mother at times and neither did her mother's mother it's a cycle that goes on and on. The saddest part about this book is to realize that once the daughters finally understood their mothers they had already passed on.
I appreciated this book because it really hits home and makes you realize that parents aren't perfect they are just trying to do the right thing . They might not know-how and they might go about it the wrong way but they really want what's best. I liked the women in this book they were strong and loved hard selfish but also giving. Stubborn and learned the lessons the hard way.
I believe you could read this book in your teens in your sixties and in your 100s and still learn something from it. The Chinese culture was interesting all the sayings and local customs and the general way they lived their lives was intriguing. If you loved the joy luck club please give this one a try!!
Since I forgot I read this once, apparently it wasn't all that memorable. But I did enjoy it. However, I felt like the ending was just... there. I wanted to know more about the rest of the story after the words were translated, and what Ruth was writing about her mother, or if they ever talked about any of it with the rest of the family.
Oh how I loved this book. I lent it to my old boss when I still liked her and she gave me some other book I never read in return. I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled and needed a good book and this was really good, indeed, plus, some of the crap sounded so painful my burning mouth and swollen cheeks felt like a picnic compared to drinking a vat of boiling ink...
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
Wonderfully written, it explores a multigenerational story of a grandmother, mother, and daughter trying to navigate hardships and loss, identity and belonging. I really loved how the characters were deeply complex and flawed, they had heartbreaking losses and were real.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Grief
