Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Downstairs Girl

The Downstairs Girl tells the story of Jo Kuan, a Chinese American woman struggling to find her place in post-Civil War Georgia. Jo is employed as a servant for a wealthy family while she lives illegally in the basement of a struggling newspaper owner’s house. She decides to write an advice column to help her upstairs neighbor boost newspaper sales and give herself an outlet.

Stacey Lee seamlessly touches on so many themes over the course of The Downstairs Girl. My favorite was Lee’s handling of intersectional feminism. From Jo’s column to her involvement with the Women’s Rights movement, there is so much to unpack, and sadly, most of it still needs to be unpacked today.

The Downstairs Girl reminded me of Last Night at the Telegraph Club. It didn’t help that Emily Woo Zeller read the audiobook for both. However, they are both about young Chinese American women dealing with inter-generational conflict and discrimination. I think these books are worth looking at next to each other.

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jashanac's review

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challenging hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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qingxuanluvr's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? No

3.75

I'm not usually one for historical fiction without a bit of magic and/or dragons thrown in, but The Downstairs Girl hooked me from the beginning. From the halfway point, I just couldn't put it down. The way the plot twists smacked me towards the end were phenomenal and the relationship between Jo and Old Gin was absolutely beautifully woven - the heart of the story.

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caidyn's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense 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

4.25

Wow, what a good book. I've had it on my TBR for a long time and decided to finally get to it this AAPI heritage month. And it was so fun. Sad at times, but overall light and enjoyable. That's all I can say about it, really. I'm on the Stacey Lee bandwagon.

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kikicochrane's review

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adventurous hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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chloejadereads's review

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hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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tesshersh's review

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funny lighthearted 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? No

3.5

a little predictable but all in all a fun read :)

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annalisaely's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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? No

5.0

This was such an enjoyable time. I loved our main character, her father figure, the family upstairs, her coworkers - all the interplay between characters was fascinating and heart warming. I haven't read a book about being a secret agony aunt before and that was very interesting. The elements of horse riding and racing and the main character's work as a milliner were also entertaining and the insights into racism specifically against Chinese and other east asian people at the time as well as sexism and classism were very good to see. And the romance was adorable!

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