Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Ghost Girl, Banana

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton

3 reviews

lauren_epub's review against another edition

adventurous

3.0

I can't tell if this was better than I thought it was and I just read it too fast, or if reading it at hyper speed was the best way to get through it.
As I experienced it, the characters were a bit flat with the occasional mid-conversation personality transplant... Maybe I zoomed past some important details? (Bookclub deadline, lol) Also, some of the writing had me pausing to re-read, highlight, read again, and scratch my head...

Didn't hate it, but also not sure I'd recommend it. From what I read of the author it seems like a deeply personal story, so if you are interested in learning more about racial politics and identity in the UK/Hong Kong in the 60s/70s/90s there might be something here for you.

Lastly, love the cover design! (The one with the dragon illustration and color blocking--impactful, balanced, and modern) This cover makes me actually want to go and buy the book, despite it not being an all time favorite. So shout-out to the designer Grace Han!!

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sketchjester's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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thecriticalreader's review

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

Blurb:

Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Warton alternates between two perspectives. The first is Lily Miller, a young biracial woman living in London who feels adrift in the world after she survived a mental health crisis in university. When she receives notice that a recently-deceased Hong Kong financier has left her half a million pounds in his will, she travels to Hong Kong to collect the funds, discover why this stranger has left her this enormous sum, and learn more about her Chinese mother’s past. The second perspective follows Lily’s mother, Soon-Yin Chen, as she immigrates to England and marries a white Englishman and soon finds herself embroiled in family secrets and hardships that will have reverberations into her children’s lives.

Review:

I picked up Ghost Girl, Banana because I was intrigued by the title. I hoped that the book’s contents would reflect its title and be unique, bold, and daring. I was disappointed, therefore, when the book ended up being the opposite. For most of it, I had a strong sense of déjà vu because the storyline and characters felt like echoes of the many other literary fiction books I have read in the past. The prose, while serviceable, never stood out to me as beautiful or unique.

I struggled to maintain my interest in the story mostly because the characters all feel flat and underdeveloped. Thus, even when the plot was intriguing, I kept wishing that I could read about the events as a news article or blog post rather than a novel. The plot picked up considerable pace toward the end, reminiscent of a thriller or mystery, but it simultaneously became less coherent and more baffling. When I finally reached the end and read the acknowledgements, I noticed that the Wharton repeatedly states that she never meant this story to be a novel—she made it one at the encouragement of those around her. Unfortunately, I think that this shows in her writing and the story.

Despite my overall negative opinion of the book, I do think that it has some interesting plot points and commentary on biracial identity. Particularly clever is how Wharton incorporates the words in the title (“Ghost Girl” and “Banana”) in Lily’s story.

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