Reviews

This book did not work for me. The constant over-the-top fighting between the older sisters got on my nerves, and the younger women were basically all obsessing over men. With the exception of two of the younger female characters, none of the other female characters found any satisfaction until they had a boyfriend/husband or kids, despite that most of them were very well-educated and successful. Rather than watching these women fight over men, I wanted to see them learn about themselves and each other. The fact that this book is told from so many different perspectives may have limited its ability to give me insight into the women, instead reducing all of them to broad strokes. I found this very disappointing.

regil09's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

sllau's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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? No

3.5

katherinenelson03's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

lernstreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

kaileybelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

4.0

vanniereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

This book took awhile to get into because there are so many characters that it was easy to get lost and not feel invested in any character in particular. Even as I got deeper into the book I would still get confused on the characters especially with all the jumping back and forth. However, I'm glad I decided to continue and finish it because overall it was really heartfelt and had a lot of funny moments. As a vietnamese daughter it felt comforting to read a story about Vietnamese family drama and relationships with other Viet women in your family. It got convoluted at times and the dramatics became too much at one point. I also didn't feel attached to any character in particular because since there are so many of them and the book is pretty short, it seemed like none of them got enough character development which ended up leaving them all semi one dimensional. Overall I enjoyed the humor and warmth of the author's writing and I think it's an impressive debut novel.

More...