Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Downstairs Girl

A beautiful slice of life about the trials and tribulations of a Chinese-American young woman in 1890s Atlanta

Jo Kuan was a wonderfully written character! Formerly a hat maker but laid off because of her race, Jo pseudonymously publishes a column in the local newspaper challenging the fixed Southern ideals about gender and race, while simultaneously working as a maid for a wealthy Atlanta family.

Unsure about her past, Jo’s journey to discover who her parents are and what their story is gets her tangled up with a notorious criminal and engulfed in society drama. Stacey Lee weaves a wonderful story about finding one’s roots, challenging stereotypes, and fighting prejudice.

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ernis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense 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

A well-written story about a minority experience in the South in the 1800s. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Jo, if the story was going to be focused on how people dressed etc, but those things were just background elements for a great novel. Certainly makes you think about the freedoms and privileges we have in North America today that were so hard fought for by the people in Jo's time. I loved Jo, she was a brave and loyal character whose love for others shone through.

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korpney's review

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funny informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

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mikarala's review

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

4.0

Kind of surprising myself here to rate this so favourably, because this is a book I downloaded on Kindle mostly on a whim and because I'm going through a Gilded Age phase, but I really enjoyed this. While all of the "plot twists", so to speak, are ridiculously predictable and quite typical of YA-lit in general, I at least think they were generally well-executed and fit in thematically. I also think this book fell into the YA trope of having everything work out a little too well in the end, basically glossing over some harsh historical realities for a happy ending that was a little too cheesy for my tastes, but hey, that will be the reason some people find this inspiring. While I wouldn't go that far, I will say I think this was an enjoyable and quite well-written little novel. Jo grew on me a lot as a MC; at first I was worried she would fit into that kind of snobbily superior attitude so many female YA MC's seem to have, but her moments of self-doubt, empathy, and stubbornness won me over. I also liked that some of her more "feminine" interests were shown to have as much value as things like her horseback riding or writing, which I think tend to be typically "pick me" traits you'll see in a lot of female MC's.

Just a light and enjoyable read that tries to complicate a little the picture we paint of the American South in the 19th century.

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