Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A harrowing story about a family during the Japanese occupation of Malay (Malaysia) during World War II.
This is the first book I’ve read depicting the Southeast Asian theatre. It’s a story of betrayal and a story of survival. It’s told from the perspectives of the mother and her three children.
Despite jumping around amongst all the perspectives and narratives, the story is compelling and draws you in. I do think the author could have picked one perspective and still would have had enough material for a good book. With the four perspectives, there wasn’t as much character development as there could have been.
Overall, this is worth a read.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to be invested in this but the writing was not good. Also I got hit with an unexpected “she let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding” at 7% into the book and couldn’t seem to find a way back into it.
I loved the setting of this: WWII in Southeast Asia. But I didn’t feel a great connection with the characters. Something just fell short. I didn’t particularly find any of them likable or all that intriguing.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book was a heartbreaking look at the impact of the Japanese in Malaysia during WWII. It follows Cecily and her family - both in present day and 10 years ago. We see how in the past Cecily was a spy and then in the present see how her choices impact the life of her family.
It was hard to read about Abel and his experiences in the labor camp. How he uses alcohol to cope. Hard to read about how the youngest child, Jasmine, must hide each day as to not be recruited to work at the comfort station. And how the oldest child, Jujube, becomes angrier and angrier at everything happening around them.
This book was beautiful and there were some lovely lines. And I really enjoyed reading about WWII in the pacific. I do not typically read about this area, so it was interesting to learn more.
Definitely recommend for fans of historical fiction.
It was hard to read about Abel and his experiences in the labor camp. How he uses alcohol to cope. Hard to read about how the youngest child, Jasmine, must hide each day as to not be recruited to work at the comfort station. And how the oldest child, Jujube, becomes angrier and angrier at everything happening around them.
This book was beautiful and there were some lovely lines. And I really enjoyed reading about WWII in the pacific. I do not typically read about this area, so it was interesting to learn more.
Definitely recommend for fans of historical fiction.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
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
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There is a really amazing story in here but the author does nothing more than skim the surface on these characters and this period of history. Describing the horrors does nothing to connect the reader to this point in history or connect to the characters themselves. There’s also a lack of trust that the audience can understand what is happening and needs over the top flowery language to describe the metaphor or connect certain plot points. I had high hopes for this and wish there was more to it.