Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Family Chao

Saw this book on a B&N shelf early last year, didn't buy it because my library had it, then didn't check it out until last Friday. I had no clue that it was a retelling (?) of The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky (at the risk of sounding ignorant, I'd never even heard of this book before).

I've started using the CAWPILE rating system (I love formulas) and was surprised that I rated this as highly as I did. I think we all know that I prefer characters over plot, and these characters were so insufferable and weird for a large majority of the book. Still, they, and the plot, were really interesting and I could not put this book down! The writing was at times confusing and hard to follow. Leo Chao, and to a lesser extent, all of his sons, skeeved me out. Annoyed at James

for letting O-Lan (or should I say, Chao Ru) get away and letting his brother go to jail. But, I believe in my heart of hearts, that Dagou will be exonerated

. Ming was a little weirdo, and most of my confusion around the writing was because of his scenes. Though I feel this might have been intentional.

Still, there was something so captivating about this book and these characters and I couldn't look away.

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alisonvh's review

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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.

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hellosarahpham's review against another edition

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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

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pun1sher's review

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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

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bookbelle5_17's review

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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.

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kimveach's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

I thought this was outstanding. The narration was excellent.

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wngwendy's review

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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

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