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cindy_f's review
5.0
This book was better than anticipated. Well written with excellent character development. It took us to a world of racial identity and inequality, abandonment, assimilation, and finding oneself. I found this story of a Chinese immigrant and her American born son very moving and important. It will stick with me for quite awhile.
lyndseylibros's review against another edition
I couldn’t with the adoptive parents being such stereotypical @ssholes. Narrator’s voices for them were annoying.
_changingtime's review
4.0
Available at bit.ly/2FcTqia as part of the The Leavers Blog Tour by Dialogue Books and the Little, Brown Book Group UK
julalbert56's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.5
The Leavers was a moving story of survival when the world keeps throwing challenge after challenge at you. I really sympathized with Polly and appreciated that we got to see from her point of view. I understand Deming’s challenging, unjust upbringing, but I was really frustrated with some of his actions. Overall, a very powerful read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Deportation, and Racism
johnchan's review
5.0
heartbreaker of a book that made me reflect on what my own family meant to me. i love you, mom!
timna_wyckoff's review
4.0
Fantastic portrayals of the two protagonists. The four stars (rather than five) are because I found the writing uneven several times; it may have been purposeful (the adoptive parents in particular were not believable to me), but I found it somewhat jarring and distracting.
wcl1's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
qnawal97's review
4.0
Great novel! Very timely and relevant to the current immigration crisis in the United States. I did feel like it was a slow burn, and that I didn't really feel fully engaged till the last third of the book; however, the subtlety in the emotions, the often unsaid feelings, the bittersweet journeys of both Daniel/Deming and Polly/Peilan, really pull the book together at the end. I really felt for Daniel the entire book and wanted for him to finally reach a happy ending after back to back dead ends. I also find it really nice that we finally see the perspective, as the author said, of the adoptee versus the adopting parents. I also think it's important that the novel didn't glaze over or adopt this "white savior" trope as so many stories like this so often can fall into.