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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
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:
Yes
This was a really fantastic book. It sounded interesting and I was expecting to like it but it shocked me as to the reasons why.
The characters are so loveable and their actions are very nuanced and well-thought out. I expected the book's main thematic problem to be about racism and immigration. That ideas was woven throughout the context of the lives of all our characters but what was really the main focus was more of a coming of age story that dealt with insecurities and identity at a young age.
I've heard it said before that we don't realize how much trauma can also come from our friends in our early life, not just family, and I feel like Lang Leav did a great job exploring how all this input of information and experience gets jumbled around and processed in our adolescent minds. The title of the book is take from a part of the story where she's talking about all these emerging new ideas being like jewels in the mind. Some are diamonds and others were emeralds.
The story follows Ai and her set of friends and new boyfriend as they go through the last years of high school and the growing racism towards Asians in Australia that leads to a fateful event in all of their lives.
Some characters are pure and loving. Others are vindictive and conniving. Some quiet but profound and others bold and sturdy. I really was amazed at how well the book explored early teen friendships and how formative those moments and interactions can be.
Most of Lang Leav's other books, from what I've seen, our books of poetry and I think you could really tell with this book. Her writing is very pretty and very poetic.
The characters are so loveable and their actions are very nuanced and well-thought out. I expected the book's main thematic problem to be about racism and immigration. That ideas was woven throughout the context of the lives of all our characters but what was really the main focus was more of a coming of age story that dealt with insecurities and identity at a young age.
I've heard it said before that we don't realize how much trauma can also come from our friends in our early life, not just family, and I feel like Lang Leav did a great job exploring how all this input of information and experience gets jumbled around and processed in our adolescent minds. The title of the book is take from a part of the story where she's talking about all these emerging new ideas being like jewels in the mind. Some are diamonds and others were emeralds.
The story follows Ai and her set of friends and new boyfriend as they go through the last years of high school and the growing racism towards Asians in Australia that leads to a fateful event in all of their lives.
Some characters are pure and loving. Others are vindictive and conniving. Some quiet but profound and others bold and sturdy. I really was amazed at how well the book explored early teen friendships and how formative those moments and interactions can be.
Most of Lang Leav's other books, from what I've seen, our books of poetry and I think you could really tell with this book. Her writing is very pretty and very poetic.
In defense of the book I was not aware this was a YA, which is very much not my jam.
had my reservations halfway through but was pleased to find my shift in attitude aligned with lang’s spotlighting the power of misconceptions - in literature, race, friendships and romance. endearing voice of a teenage girl as a second generation asian migrant also raised in Sydney. most chapters read like one of those excerpts from HSC prescribed texts lol because the racist encounters she writes about are mostly clichés. dialogue was very bookish which is where i was a bit lost on its realism (why was 17yo teenage boy speaking like an oracle). tldr; very clever very sweet.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lovely writing, and an interesting plot. How self-aware, reflective, and verbal every character was took me out of it - they all knew exactly what they were doing and why, and were able to articulate insecurities and motives to an extent that felt unrealistic. There was also quite a bit of dissecting each character’s behavior through the eyes of the others that felt a bit exhaustive.