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elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Masterfully executed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Death, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Medical trauma, and Medical content
cnlarge's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Racism, Animal death, Racial slurs, and Death of parent
ad1t1s's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual content
alisonvh's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m going to have to sit with this book for a while before deciding how I feel about it. Overall I think I liked it. It’s very well written, and I found myself sucked into the mystery. But it’s also intense, so I need to follow it up with something light.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
hellosarahpham's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Murder
ukponge's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Infidelity
pun1sher's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Very well written, complex and sometimes unlikable characters, great portrayal of complicated familial and romantic relationships. Also a rather fast and easy read - I started and momentarily it seemed to over, in a good way. Many povs featured so it doesn't get boring
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Murder
Possible dog eating, nervous breakdown, emotionally abusive parental figurebookbelle5_17's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Review of The Family Chao
By: Lan Samantha Chang
The Chao’s own a popular Chinese restaurant, but family patriarch Leo Chao is the most hated man in the community. His three sons, William “Dagou”, Ming, and James have intense bitterness and anger towards their father, and his wife Winnie left him to join a convent after he committed one cruel act too many. After the Christmas party at the restaurant Leo is found dead and William is the number one suspect.
This is a retelling of the Russian classic Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky but set in contemporary times with a Chinese family. I haven’t finished Brothers Karamazov, but I have read enough to see the inspirations. Like Fyodor Karamazov, Leo Chao is narcissists, and James like Alyosha Karamazov is a pure soul and tries to see the good in everyone. Most of the characters in The Family Chao are unlikable and flawed. I appreciate William’s big dreams, but he comes off as a bit of an idiot and tends to take the easy way out. Ming is sensible and ambitious, but he is too cynical and bitter needing to quit taking out his anger on others. Though, anger is understandable as he and his family experience a lot of casual experience a lot of casual racism. He hates being Chinese, but does love his family. He is probably the most complex of the brothers. I felt bad for the main female characters like the Winnie. She tries so hard to be a good person, wife, and mother. Her faith is a beautiful thing, but I personally feel she forgives too easily. It’s admirable but her husband doesn’t deserve it in my opinion. He’ll never appreciate it. Unfortunately, she comes from a culture where women are passive and submissive to their husbands. Another female character I feel for is Katherine. She was a childhood friend of William’s and they were engaged 12 years ago, but he fell for Brenda. He never broke up with Katherine and is now asking for the ring back. Katherine is devoted to the family and Ming thinks she is a little too obsessed with being part of their lives. She is Chinese, but was raised in America, so she didn’t have the Chinese experience. I interpreted her bond with the family as feeling guilty about being raised in America. Each of the characters are interesting and engaging to read about and I was riveted by the court scenes. It is beautifully written, but it does have some stereotypes about the Chinese culture and people. As a person who has had dogs as pets I was bothered by the reference to Chinese eating dog. I did find it fascinating how easily the public will believe things and act as they know and understand what’s going on. The public is ready to turn on William and his family, and easily believe he is a monster that would kill his own dog, eating it. I can see why some readers might not like it, but I thought it was a pretty good read.
By: Lan Samantha Chang
The Chao’s own a popular Chinese restaurant, but family patriarch Leo Chao is the most hated man in the community. His three sons, William “Dagou”, Ming, and James have intense bitterness and anger towards their father, and his wife Winnie left him to join a convent after he committed one cruel act too many. After the Christmas party at the restaurant Leo is found dead and William is the number one suspect.
This is a retelling of the Russian classic Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky but set in contemporary times with a Chinese family. I haven’t finished Brothers Karamazov, but I have read enough to see the inspirations. Like Fyodor Karamazov, Leo Chao is narcissists, and James like Alyosha Karamazov is a pure soul and tries to see the good in everyone. Most of the characters in The Family Chao are unlikable and flawed. I appreciate William’s big dreams, but he comes off as a bit of an idiot and tends to take the easy way out. Ming is sensible and ambitious, but he is too cynical and bitter needing to quit taking out his anger on others. Though, anger is understandable as he and his family experience a lot of casual experience a lot of casual racism. He hates being Chinese, but does love his family. He is probably the most complex of the brothers. I felt bad for the main female characters like the Winnie. She tries so hard to be a good person, wife, and mother. Her faith is a beautiful thing, but I personally feel she forgives too easily. It’s admirable but her husband doesn’t deserve it in my opinion. He’ll never appreciate it. Unfortunately, she comes from a culture where women are passive and submissive to their husbands. Another female character I feel for is Katherine. She was a childhood friend of William’s and they were engaged 12 years ago, but he fell for Brenda. He never broke up with Katherine and is now asking for the ring back. Katherine is devoted to the family and Ming thinks she is a little too obsessed with being part of their lives. She is Chinese, but was raised in America, so she didn’t have the Chinese experience. I interpreted her bond with the family as feeling guilty about being raised in America. Each of the characters are interesting and engaging to read about and I was riveted by the court scenes. It is beautifully written, but it does have some stereotypes about the Chinese culture and people. As a person who has had dogs as pets I was bothered by the reference to Chinese eating dog. I did find it fascinating how easily the public will believe things and act as they know and understand what’s going on. The public is ready to turn on William and his family, and easily believe he is a monster that would kill his own dog, eating it. I can see why some readers might not like it, but I thought it was a pretty good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Murder
emilyinherhead's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After emotions are felt, expressed, where do they go? Is there a place where spent passion collects? Surely it can't simply vaporize, disappear like smoke. There must be a secret hiding place. For every old love affair, a locked room.
This novel is full of characters, both within and outside of the Chao family, that aren't easy to like. We're in many of their heads through the lead-up to, and unraveling after, a seemingly easily-solved murder, and what we find there isn't super flattering. There is jealousy, resentment, emotional suffocation, greed, inadequacy, fear, and even maybe some hate. It's both slightly repulsive and incredibly juicy. And since the family owns a restaurant, there's a lot of drool-inducing writing about delicious food.
I don't want to give away any of the plot, since following it as it unfolds is part of the joy of the reading experience, but I'll just say that if you enjoy digging into family dynamics or if you're interested in immigrant stories and/or literary mystery, you'll probably really like The Family Chao.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Racial slurs
wngwendy's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"Doesn't she know that college is more than 4 years of bubble tea?"
no, no i do not
This book was an interesting read, it tackles the anxiety that early generations of Asian Americans deal with and intra-generational trauma. The book is a weird mix of Chinese culture and racial stereotypes, this does make me wonder who the target audience is for this book. I would also classify this book more as a mystery with a tint of familial horror.
I cannot speak on the Asian American experience, but as a person of Chinese descent, I did relate to some parts of the story. These were mainly the issues of losing the ability to speak mandarin and some of the family dynamics described in the book. However, some parts of the books really went into racial stereotypes and felt hugely exaggerated, these parts made me feel a bit cliché and could've probably benefited from sensitivity readers.
This arc was provided to me by netgalley
no, no i do not
This book was an interesting read, it tackles the anxiety that early generations of Asian Americans deal with and intra-generational trauma. The book is a weird mix of Chinese culture and racial stereotypes, this does make me wonder who the target audience is for this book. I would also classify this book more as a mystery with a tint of familial horror.
I cannot speak on the Asian American experience, but as a person of Chinese descent, I did relate to some parts of the story. These were mainly the issues of losing the ability to speak mandarin and some of the family dynamics described in the book. However, some parts of the books really went into racial stereotypes and felt hugely exaggerated, these parts made me feel a bit cliché and could've probably benefited from sensitivity readers.
This arc was provided to me by netgalley
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Murder
Moderate: Hate crime and Animal cruelty
Minor: Child abuse