Reviews - Others Were Emeralds

168 reviews for:

Others Were Emeralds

Lang Leav

3.88 AVERAGE

thestarsandthesky_5's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark hopeful sad tense fast-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

windy_ways's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

annehenriksen's review against another edition

5.0

Im going to need 3-5 business days to process this book, specifically the hole it left in my heart.

I have recurring nightmares of my friends dying. So for this book to have not only the amazing supportive ride-or-die (no pun intended) best friend die but also her sweet lovely boyfriend die right in front of her?? What kind of torture is that?!?!?

kellableeping's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional reflective sad 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

jouljet's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective sad fast-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

Content Warnings

cinderellasbookshelf's review

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

This is one of my new all-time favorite books. It completely broke my heart and put it back together again.

Lang Leav’s novel is a poignant coming-of-age story that follows Ai, a Cambodian-Australian teenager living in Whitlam, Australia in the late 90s. Her neighborhood is home to other Asian immigrants and refugees who have fled war-torn countries as her family did when they escaped the Khmer Rouge. Though Ai and her friends, Brigitte, Bowie, Tin and Sying try to live ordinary lives away from the horrors of the past, it still continues to haunt them along with the racism they face in Australia. It all comes to a head when a horrible tragedy changes their lives forever.

Initially, I picked up OTHERS WERE EMERALDS on a whim after reading two friends’ reviews on it. Never did I expect how much it would affect me. I was angry, I cried, but it also left me with hope, especially for Ai and the people in her life after everything they endured. The writing is especially beautiful. I felt pulled in by Leav’s thoughtful prose and everything she wanted to say and said through her characters and their stories.

An important aspect of the book, and what struck me while reading, is how Ai is just a teenager and later just at the beginning of adulthood as she grapples with trauma and its aftermath from both the past and her present.

On the surface, her friendship with Brigitte, which is complicated by own insecurities, may seem trivial compared to Sying’s cause against anti-Asian sentiment and Tin’s difficult homelife. However, everything she and her friends go through are a significant part of their youth that is inextricably tied together. While Ai may process or see things differently at first, focusing instead on what is closest to her that she can perceive and control, it’s as she gets older she begins to realize how much all of it, the past and the memories she has, can reverberate throughout the rest of her life and how she can also heal from it. It’s what makes OTHERS WERE EMERALDS and that weight of nostalgia so raw. It’s truly one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Content Warnings