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2.97 AVERAGE
2.97 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*listened to the audiobook* 3.5 stars. it was okay… this is a book i am glad i got the audiobook for because i think having read it physically, i may have not finished it.
through the book, we watch eleanor’s life fall apart after her mother’s death. she life begins to untangle and eleanor soon finds herself in strange situations she creates and is trying to understand whats going on.
eleanor as a lead was strange and i felt quite disconnected from her. she was quite quirky and i tried to sympathize with her but she seemed to cause all these situations and tried to blame it on others or excuse herself because in the moment, one small thing was going right. the flips between her current life in what went on in the past were interesting. i didn’t necessarily feel like it was necessary to have in them in the book as i had difficulty understanding why they were included. i wished the book was a little more linear and not so abrupt.
the writing was great but the book left me unfulfilled especially because you never get a full decision from eleanor about anything. i felt like i had all this information but nothing to do with it. i wish i had liked it more.
thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this audiobook arc in return for an honest review.
through the book, we watch eleanor’s life fall apart after her mother’s death. she life begins to untangle and eleanor soon finds herself in strange situations she creates and is trying to understand whats going on.
eleanor as a lead was strange and i felt quite disconnected from her. she was quite quirky and i tried to sympathize with her but she seemed to cause all these situations and tried to blame it on others or excuse herself because in the moment, one small thing was going right. the flips between her current life in what went on in the past were interesting. i didn’t necessarily feel like it was necessary to have in them in the book as i had difficulty understanding why they were included. i wished the book was a little more linear and not so abrupt.
the writing was great but the book left me unfulfilled especially because you never get a full decision from eleanor about anything. i felt like i had all this information but nothing to do with it. i wish i had liked it more.
thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this audiobook arc in return for an honest review.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
as eleanor grieves her her mother, who she had a complicated relationship with, she makes some questionable choices that keep the story entertaining. eleanor is one of those characters you don't love but just can't bring yourself to hate. she's a very interesting character haha. i liked the flashbacks at first but after a while i was eager to get to present time to see what eleanor was up to. the way i gasped when i understood the cover, so clever. this feels like one of those books i will think about again down the road, reread it, and become obsessed because i'll catch things i might've missed the first time.
thank you sjp lit/zando for the arc!
thank you sjp lit/zando for the arc!
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
Above all, the writing for this one is amazing. I would love to read another book from Chang just from her writing alone.
This is dual timeline, literary fiction that unspools and splits like a skein of yarn. In one timeline we follow Eleanor, whose life has honestly derailed a little bit. Her mom just died and she's dropped out of her PhD program and is now working as a lab tech in her husband's lab. She's done some illegal mini lab side projects on her own and done a few more things that she shouldn't have.
In the second timeline, we follow her parents immigrating from Taiwan to start their lives in America and what follows in a relationship with no love.
Ultimately, when the timelines came together I was left confused. It hit like a bang and was finished so quickly I'm still unsure what happened?
I think ultimately the way that Eleanor's perspective and life just kept unraveling made this plot seem like it was rolling down a mountain like a boulder not being able to stop until it combusts, which I really enjoyed.
However, it is so hard for me to enjoy this new 2023 theme in publishing where women in STEM are so messy and weak. That made it knock it down though I ultimately enjoyed the story as a whole. Another reason I knocked it down is Eleanor's actions (drinking or eluding to drinking) while pregnant. A neuroscience PhD is going to drink while pregnant?
I'd recommend this one to lovers of meandering literary fiction, but I'm not sure if it's going to be a hit for summer reading. I think it should've been released earlier in the spring or maybe early fall.
Above all, the writing for this one is amazing. I would love to read another book from Chang just from her writing alone.
This is dual timeline, literary fiction that unspools and splits like a skein of yarn. In one timeline we follow Eleanor, whose life has honestly derailed a little bit. Her mom just died and she's dropped out of her PhD program and is now working as a lab tech in her husband's lab. She's done some illegal mini lab side projects on her own and done a few more things that she shouldn't have.
In the second timeline, we follow her parents immigrating from Taiwan to start their lives in America and what follows in a relationship with no love.
Ultimately, when the timelines came together I was left confused. It hit like a bang and was finished so quickly I'm still unsure what happened?
I think ultimately the way that Eleanor's perspective and life just kept unraveling made this plot seem like it was rolling down a mountain like a boulder not being able to stop until it combusts, which I really enjoyed.
However, it is so hard for me to enjoy this new 2023 theme in publishing where women in STEM are so messy and weak. That made it knock it down though I ultimately enjoyed the story as a whole. Another reason I knocked it down is Eleanor's actions (drinking or eluding to drinking) while pregnant. A neuroscience PhD is going to drink while pregnant?
I'd recommend this one to lovers of meandering literary fiction, but I'm not sure if it's going to be a hit for summer reading. I think it should've been released earlier in the spring or maybe early fall.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Abortion, Abandonment
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Eleanor has always gone with the flow happily following the guidance of those around, including her mother, her older sister, her husband, etc.
After her mother’s death and quitting her phd program she finds herself less than happy with where she is but seems to have no motivation to make changes.
Here and there we also get perks at her parents’ past and how it’s influenced her present.
This one fell a little flat for me. Even with Eleanor being the narrator I don’t feel like I got to really hear what she was thinking or feeling. Maybe this was intentional to highlight her personal disconnect. Not for me but maybe for you.
After her mother’s death and quitting her phd program she finds herself less than happy with where she is but seems to have no motivation to make changes.
Here and there we also get perks at her parents’ past and how it’s influenced her present.
This one fell a little flat for me. Even with Eleanor being the narrator I don’t feel like I got to really hear what she was thinking or feeling. Maybe this was intentional to highlight her personal disconnect. Not for me but maybe for you.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A Quitter's Paradise is a debut novel by Elysha Chang that is charting dual storylines. In the present, Eleanor has dropped out of her graduate school program and has pivoted to working as an assistant in her husband's lab while still performing some experiments on the side. To put it mildly, she is making some poor decisions that have consequences in both her personal and professional life. The other storyline is about her mother Rita and father Jing and their history together. They immigrate to the US and sell goods from Taiwan. They have two daughters- Narissa and Eleanor who are quite different. Eleanor's relationship to her mother is interesting, and one can pick apart the threads of why each woman makes certain decisions. Chang is a talented writer and the themes in this book are intriguing, but I found it to be disjointed and had a difficult time following where she was going in the end. This would not dissuade me from reading what she write next.
Thank you to Zando Projects via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
Thank you to Zando Projects via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and SJP Lit/Zando for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Eleanor Liu is fine. She is doing great, actually. Her life is falling apart and her mother is dead but like, honestly, she couldn't be better, even if she's having an affair and dropped out of her PhD program and can't seem to properly grieve. She's fine. She's super duper fine.
I liked A Quitter's Paradise and I think that Chang is an excellent writer whose work I will keep an eye out for, but I found this novel to be a little bit muddled. This is a story with dual timelines: one in the present, where Eleanor is rapidly unraveling in front of us, and one in the past, which encompasses her parents meeting and her childhood up until she leaves for undergrad. While it was nice to get these peeks into the events that shaped the Eleanor we're introduced to, I'm not entirely certain they worked for me. I did generally like Eleanor's character arc—a lot of her feelings hit maybe a smidgen to close to home, especially when it comes to imposter syndrome in science—but at times she did truly baffling and outrageous things. I did like that there was a lot of room in this novel for the reader to draw their own conclusions and I like that Eleanor's self-destructive tendencies were handled in a way that felt true to adults, especially adults who really don't feel like they have it all together. There were a handful of times I couldn't fully suspend my disbelief at what she got away with, but I did think this was very enjoyable and a well-written portrait of a woman who is really Going Through It.
Eleanor Liu is fine. She is doing great, actually. Her life is falling apart and her mother is dead but like, honestly, she couldn't be better, even if she's having an affair and dropped out of her PhD program and can't seem to properly grieve. She's fine. She's super duper fine.
I liked A Quitter's Paradise and I think that Chang is an excellent writer whose work I will keep an eye out for, but I found this novel to be a little bit muddled. This is a story with dual timelines: one in the present, where Eleanor is rapidly unraveling in front of us, and one in the past, which encompasses her parents meeting and her childhood up until she leaves for undergrad. While it was nice to get these peeks into the events that shaped the Eleanor we're introduced to, I'm not entirely certain they worked for me. I did generally like Eleanor's character arc—a lot of her feelings hit maybe a smidgen to close to home, especially when it comes to imposter syndrome in science—but at times she did truly baffling and outrageous things. I did like that there was a lot of room in this novel for the reader to draw their own conclusions and I like that Eleanor's self-destructive tendencies were handled in a way that felt true to adults, especially adults who really don't feel like they have it all together. There were a handful of times I couldn't fully suspend my disbelief at what she got away with, but I did think this was very enjoyable and a well-written portrait of a woman who is really Going Through It.
funny
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A Quitter's Paradise was a struggle for me. It confused me as a reader more than gave me satisfaction of reading. Although the writing style was lovely and the prose was intriguing, the non linear timeline and the way the chapters jumped sporadically, left me not connecting to the characters or to the story. I enjoy reading diverse books and I think this did well in giving an insiders glimpse to the culture and experience of Chinese immigrants living in America. I would have been happier if more focus was placed on the present day timeline and the domestic drama in Elysha's life. Overall an okay read. I think folks that love meandering literary novels and great prose will find enjoyment between the pages of A Quitter's Paradise.
Writing style: A
Characters: C+
Plot: B
Execution: C
My enjoyment: C-
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.
Writing style: A
Characters: C+
Plot: B
Execution: C
My enjoyment: C-
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.