Reviews

American Panda by Gloria Chao

bookish_4life's review

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emotional 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? Yes

5.0

readerlatte's review

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4.0

My Review: This was such a cute little book. I loved it so much but did have a few issues with it. I have to say that it was a little off putting to read about a set of parents that didn't get their daughter the glasses she needed. Many times during the story Mei talked about how she couldn't see something because of her bad eyes. If this is the real way this culture is for those families that are I fear for these children. How are they supposed to get this amazing education if they can't even see right?

Ok so my rage for glasses is now over. Other than that these parents were so in this story that it kind of makes up for all the other stories out there where the parents are not there. The other characters were great to. I really wished that Mei would have taken a hold of her own life and just told her parents how she really felt. There comes a time at an age where you just need to do what you want. You are almost an adult or you are one and its time to cut the cord.

The story itself was really good. There were a few parts that were kind of stagnate and I think this one could have been a little shorter. But all in all it was still a very cute story.



Go Into This One Knowing: Slight Child Abuse, Family Relationships, Overbearing Parents, Light Insta-Love

sparksofember's review against another edition

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2.0

This was okay but also kind of odd and bland. The love interest was too perfect and we didn't really get to know him (I spent over half the book expecting to discover he had approached her on a dare or as a part of a sorority initiation since she kept treating him like a yoyo but nope, he really was just that sweet and understanding.). The medical scenes were a little gross - the point was to show why Mei wasn't a good med-school candidate but I'm not one either and really didn't need to know - I ended up fast-forwarding through most of the gross anatomy scene. I liked how the story wrapped up with things evolving but not in a perfect bow.

Also, I had a big question that never seemed to come up in the book. Did the grandmother & aunt still live in Taiwan or had they moved to the US? I was confused because the book mentions taking them to the airport after a visit, but then later the aunt shows up suddenly.
SpoilerDid they fly from Taiwan planning to crash the brother's wedding? Or did they live close enough for the aunt to rush over mere hours after the grandmother's death? But if they lived that close, why the earlier flight? Or did they live close enough that the aunt literally hopped in a plane for a couple hours just to come scream at them? I'm guessing not, since the funeral was local. If they had come all the way from Taiwan, you would think Mei and her brother would have been like, "Why were they in the US? Were they planning to crash the wedding?"


Regarding the audio narration, I had issues with the volume being too soft and then suddenly too loud and blaring. I had to keep the volume very high and suddenly turn it down constantly. I also thought a lot of the pauses mid-sentence were awkward and didn't flow well. It wasn't enough to make the book a pain to listen to, it was just a little off and distracting.

thepaige_turner's review

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3.0

I did like the overall plot/story but the pacing was just so off and wild that it took something away from the overall reading experience.

christiana's review

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3.0

3.5 stars. I really liked reading this right after Crazy Rich Asians since there's a few Taiwanese customs that rang familiar to me and it was fun learning about the secret ritual type things that MIT students teach each other.

uwucuthuwu's review

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5.0

An amazing contemporary about being your true self with an exceptional cultural background!

I was in need of a light contemporary since I've been reading many intense books recently...and, not going to lie, Lady Midnight left me in a reading slump ~.~. I saw this in the recent releases here in Goodreads and decided to buy it and oh my God, I am so happy I did. What makes this book so good it's that it's such a simple story line, yet Ms. Chao is able to make it more complex with different factors. It kept me interested the whole way and it made me feel so much.

Firstly, I want to mention how much I loved the cultural integration to this novel. I learned so much about Chinese culture, I knew some of it but now I feel like I looked at it in much more detail. This is actually one of the factors that made it a very good book, it's like learning but outside of the classroom! I also learned A LOT about the clash of cultures when someone is half x-half y; I knew about it but I never truly understood it until now. I learned many things about Chinese culture (both good and bad) which made it a much more interesting story.

American Panda made me feel SO MUCH...from sadness to happiness this book is a roller-coaster of emotions XD. I couldn't stop rooting for Mei and hating her bitch mom and asshole dad and WTF family, seriously WTF is wrong with them. I honestly admire Mei and Xing after everything they went through, I wish I could be as brave as they are. Although I did like the ending, slightly bittersweet but at least it didn't end up in pure hatred.

P.S. The romance was ON POINTTT. I squealed everytime a scene happened >3<

If you want a light-hearted book with a Chinese background, this is definitely for you!

caitlinxreads's review

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4.0

This book got me out of a 2ish week reading slump! Yay!

I actually quite enjoyed this. I learned a lot about Taiwanese culture and MIT.

This is a really good contemporary with less romance than I had expected and more 'finding oneself'.

Overall a good read with interesting characters and cultural differences.

books4susie's review against another edition

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5.0

I definitely enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and found that I had a hard time putting it down. Mei is a seventeen-year-old freshman at MIT and is a first-generation Chinese-American. With that comes the strict expectations to do as her family wishes. As Mei begins to spread her wings, she begins to free herself and a surprising character from their gilded cage of Chinese traditions. I really love how the story showcased Mei's growth. A worthwhile read.

rachcannoli's review

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4.0

Books that have deeply religious characters, even if they're just the parents, usually really annoy me because I just find it hard to relate. I'm not from a religious family and while my parents had their strict moments, they were always extremely supportive of my dreams no matter how ridiculous they might have been. So I expected to get very frustrated very quickly with this one because a third of the way through it was starting to grate on me that Mei wouldn't just gain a damn backbone and stand up for herself. But she goes through the necessary changes that her character needed and that come with age so I ended up really enjoying myself. She's a very likable character and even though I'm not Asian, I can still understand and empathize with a lot of her plights. It's obviously not groundbreaking and I basically predicted everything that happened, but still a super fun read and even if it's a predictable YA book, at least it has a fresh perspective.

sophiedeo's review

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3.0

This kinda dragged for me. It took me nearly a week to read this which is pretty long for a YA contemporary. I liked the diversity, and the portrayal of a Chinese-American life. I'm half Chinese so I could relate, but thankfully my parents aren't as strict as Mei's are. I really liked the college setting but it felt a bit underutilised at times, but maybe that's because of Mei's culture.

I'm struggling with my thoughts on this novel. It is basically about Mei choosing between her over-protective, traditional parents who want her to lead a very specific life, and her desire to follow her dreams. And I'm not trying to be harsh, but that's a really basic plot and isn't that original. However, this is an experience that I assume is nearly universal in those who are first, second, third generation immigrants if not more. I have experienced this myself, so I'm not trying to dismiss it. I guess my point is, can plot lines or other aspects of books be elevated just because they are diverse? I read a review that considered the parental storyline to be a trope and I get it. A trope has such negative connotations so do we expect authors to completely remove this kind of storyline when it's so endemic to certain cultures?

I dunno, my take on diversity in YA at the moment is that it's important to get quantity out to the public first than worry about quality. Obviously you expect a certain level of quality, but that can be dealt with later. It's so powerful to be able to relate to characters in books, so I would rather excuse a few mistakes.

Anyways, YA contemporary is not the genre for me, so I would consider a 3 star to be pretty good. And I'm so impressed that Chao left her job as a dentist to become a writer. Kudos.