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leahthebooklover's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Bitter and Sweet pretty much describes my experience with this book, leaning more towards the sweet. It was a fairly straightforward, dual timeline love story between star-crossed Henry, a Chinese-American boy, and Keiko, a Japanese-American girl. The story alternates between 1986, and the war years of 1942-1945. Caught up in an age old ethnic rivalries, racial prejudice, and the Japanese xenophobia that was prevalent during WW2, Henry and Keiko's friendship flourishes in spite of these challenges. Eventually they are separated when her family is deported from Seattle to an internment camp in Idaho. The second timeline reveals what happened to Henry after he lost touch with Keiko, and how that loss affected him. There are a lot of complex issues touched upon in this book, but nothing is explored very deeply. In the author's note Mr. Ford states that "I did my best to recreate this historic landscape without judging the good or bad intentions of those involved at the time. My intent was not to create a morality play, with my voice being the loudest on the stage, but rather to defer to the reader's sense of justice, of right and wrong, and let the facts speak plainly." I was drawn into Henry and Keiko's story, and the sense of time and place in the earlier timeline. The injustices suffered by Japanese-American citizens, particularly their loss of home, property, livelihood, and sometimes family (apparently some families were split up and sent to different internment camps) was heartbreaking. The later (1986) timeline didn't quite capture me in the same way, but served as a framework or foundation for the central story. There were some odd anachronisms regarding Internet usage in the 1986 storyline, which struck me as odd, but not enough to disrupt my engagement with the story. Overall a solid read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Bullying, Racism, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Grief, War, Death of parent, Cancer, and Terminal illness
booksngrannies's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: War
pich's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
though it took me a while to finish, i really enjoyed this book. i thought the writing worked well (even if the dialogue felt clunky at times), as well as the time skips. the overall story was, as the title suggests, bittersweet. once they started to mention the girl at the counter more often, i had a feeling it might’ve been ethel, and was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be true. i thought that was an interesting but nice impression, especially since henry was still in love with keiko, and she was someone who cared about his well-being. i thought the quote “He’d do what he always did, find the sweet among the bitter” was a great way to tie in the title into the book. the ending was very well written, along with the extra short story of keiko from the ‘40s.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death and Racial slurs
angelbabe_cj's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Bullying
Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Death and Police brutality
alyssagirardi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, War, and Xenophobia
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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
4.25
I read quite a bit of historical fiction that has to do with WWII, but I realized that most of it focuses on the European front. This one gives you a look into the Japanese Internment camps that were set up in the western US.
I thought this was so sweet! It had a slow start that took me a while to grasp, but once you get to the Romeo and Juliet- esque relationship (without the terrible ending) it is so worth it. I always love when there are secondary characters that fill in the gaps in the main character’s life. Mrs. Beatty was an unassuming hero in this novel and I grew to love her and what she did for Henry. Sheldon was just *chef’s kiss*. I would definitely recommend this book!
I thought this was so sweet! It had a slow start that took me a while to grasp, but once you get to the Romeo and Juliet- esque relationship (without the terrible ending) it is so worth it. I always love when there are secondary characters that fill in the gaps in the main character’s life. Mrs. Beatty was an unassuming hero in this novel and I grew to love her and what she did for Henry. Sheldon was just *chef’s kiss*. I would definitely recommend this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, War, and Hate crime
Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Terminal illness
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