Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

My first 5 star of the year!!!!

This book was such a a rollercoaster of emotions, and I think I probably felt every single emotion over the course of the book. I learned a TON about the Akha people, a culture I didn't even know existed, and it was interesting to see the trauma that comes with adoption from both sides of the equation. This book isn't a romance, but has romance in it, and as someone who reads a lot of romance, it's really good romance. :)

I would recommend this book if you are interested in other cultures, or if you would like a book about international adoption. I would NOT rec mmend this book to people who find it hard to open their mind to aspects of other cultures that have values and practices much different to their own. You really have to put your head in a different space to read about some of the Akha practices, and if you struggle with themes of child/infant death, this book is not for you. There are fairly graphic childbirth scenes as well (I'm kind of a baby with that stuff though so take that with a grain of salt lol).

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greedy_dahlia's review

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informative medium-paced

3.75

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clemrain's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad slow-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

4.0

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a strong story of motherhood, love, culture, and other tribulations of life.

I want to write a review for this novel, but an analytical essay is coming to me much stronger than my thoughts on what I liked and disliked. It’s a rich read.

The characters in this novel are strong. All fully complicated, dimensional, and show growth in some form. Which is a great achievement for a novel full of this many characters.

The novel mainly follow’s Li-yan. Some of the story also gives us tidbits of Yan-Yeh all of which I thought were clever and proved the need for them effectively.

Li-yan is a beautiful character. Her entire life flowed so effortlessly from the pages to me. I felt as if I were with her every step of her life in this book.

Motherhood as a concept was sincere and flowed from So-sa, to Li-yan to Yan-yeh. I like that Akha men recited thier lineage, and this novel captured the linage of the Akha women. The men have the names of their father, and the women had their story.

Lisa See had a whole website dedicated to the research she’s done for this book. It’s mainly pictures and videos. I’m not sure about the depth of the research but See has spent time on it. This isn’t a textbook, but I think it’s a beautiful introduction to the history of tea and Akha people. I thought See was respectful in presenting the ideas of something that isn’t western. Nothing stood out to me as the author looking down on the Akha traditions.

The resolve of Li-yan wasn’t to push away what she grew up in, but rather embrace is deeper as she grew older even when she left her village and entered a wealthier life. The history of tea sometimes read like a textbook and sometimes we got to experience is through dialogue and plot.

San-pa was cursed with a horrible death and got one. San-pa and Li-yan were born in days that made their marriage difficult, and even changing the days of thier birth they still had a difficult marriage. These little things could’ve gone any other way, to say “look, see how stupid their beliefs are?” But none of that happened. I was scared of the author contributing to the colonization of the Akha people. But that never happened. Which is amazing.

Ont thing that always took me out of the story was Li-yan’s vocabulary. Sometimes, it felt too modern and didn’t fit in with the rest of her sentence structures. I remember Li-yan mentioning superstition to refer to some of her cultural ideas and I was confused. We hadn’t been introduced to her going to school at the point. And Li-yan was critical of the colonist teaching in her school so I wasn’t sure why she would use the word superstition. This is just one example that comes to mind. Maybe I read too much into it, but I was taken out of the experience.

The story inched slowly and it took me a while to be invested in it. But by part two I can say it was very difficult for me to put down this book. I do think some parts really dragged on and could’ve been condensed but because so much of it is Li-yan’s thoughts, I was fine with some of the on going paragraphs. Li-yan is constantly fighting with herself, with her culture, with her education and with her happiness. I liked reading these thoughts, it just made Li-yan a good main character.

Good ending. I shed a tear. It was so impactful and abrupt. Well executed.

I have a lot more to say but they’re full of spoilers and my thoughts are very muddled. But all that is to say I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

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kcelena's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative 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

4.5

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s very clear that Lisa See spent a lot of time researching Pu’er and the Akha people to craft a unique story that follows the journey of Li Yan. And Li Yan is such a complex character who is truly shaped by her culture and surroundings. All of this adds to the overall narrative to make for a rich, immersive reading experience. It’s actually surprising just how much information See packs into one novel: immigration, transracial adoption, discrimination, general information about the Yunnan province, and so on. It occasionally felt like you had a lot of information dumped on you, but maybe this is distinct to See (I’m not sure, since this is the first time I’m reading one of her books).

So much of this book is shaped by the idea of choices and coincidences based on circumstances, and goodness, there are so many to consider that are all interwoven with one another. It’s to the point that the plot begins to muddle towards the end in an attempt to have everything connect. It gets a little too ham-fisted, trying to force this idea that everything is connected.

I also wish Li Yan’s adopted daughter was given more time to shine and be further developed. I felt there was so much that lacked, especially how her story really didn’t seem to manifest until the very end of the book (which felt rushed). I think considering how important the daughter was to Li Yan’s development, it would have really helped to get more from that perspective. Perhaps replace some of the in-depth, near-anthropological, descriptions of the cultures of tea, Akha, etc.? (Not that I’m saying they’re unimportant. It’s a matter of striking a balance...)

Not wanting to end this review on a negative note, I will say that I genuinely enjoyed the novel. See really knows how to tell a story, and I found myself immersed in the world she crafted. I know this won’t be the last See novel I’ll be reading, especially given the dedication she puts into her work.

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aqtbenz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

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