Reviews - Free Food for Millionaires

1.7k reviews for:

Free Food for Millionaires

Min Jin Lee

3.9 AVERAGE

shmart_ash's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is like an onion: layered, complex, and occasionally stinging enough to bring tears to your eyes. Some passages are so masterfully written that they unfold with breathtaking emotional depth, while others feel like witnessing a car crash in slow motion—gripping, painful, and impossible to look away from. At times, I felt like an intruder peering into Casey’s world; at others, I was her closest confidante.

That said, this book drags. It’s too long, and some sections could have used a firm editorial hand. You find yourself simultaneously wanting it to end and not wanting it to end, much like a conversation with a beloved but exasperating friend. Casey, as a protagonist, becomes someone you develop a strange, intimate relationship with: you want to shake her, hug her, tell her to stop talking, but you’d never dream of cutting her off.

In the end, Free Food for Millionaires is a commitment, but one that leaves you with plenty to chew on. Sometimes delicious, sometimes tough, but always worth tasting.

rfoley2015's review against another edition

3.75

medium-paced

why is there so much cheating in this book?!

overall I liked this and how complicated the characters and their relationships were. It was messy and inconclusive and showed the struggle of becoming yourself as an adult.

claire_s_stories's review against another edition

4.0

I didn't realize this was published before Pachinko, but it makes sense- while this had a similar sprawling cast, it didn't feel as tightly specific, and sometimes got too bogged in a moment or repeated details about a character. That said, I really felt some tenderness toward everyone in here, and Lee does family and class drama like no one else. This was fun to read while watching White Lotus- very different, but many parallels

km99's review against another edition

5.0

read in spring break (late March) 2019 for a class Ñ also closer to 4.5 than 5. I think this is my favorite Min Jin Lee book (more so than Pachinko!!). Like Pachinko, it starts slow but you are completely entranced by page 100. the characters are written incredibly well, and I don't think there are any clear villains (except one dude). probably the only critique (which I also apply to Jhumpa Lahiri) is please stop making all your characters different versions of Asians @ Ivy League/top 20 schools??? off the top of my head I can think of these schools attended by characters - princeton, columbia, stanford, harvard, dartmouth. there's more. i know the book is kind of completely about ivy league asians in the finance world but still...maybe an asian banker from ohio state university?? or something ?? would be nice. also planning to reread this in 5-10 years. also makes me want to read middlemarch, esp bc it's a huge inspiration for min jin lee!!

persephon_e's review against another edition

4.75

challenging medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

"Free Food For Millionaires" is engaging and exceptionally well-written story by Min Jin Lee. The story is medium paced and written in third person. Every character is portrayed with depth. The main protagonist of the story is Casey Han. It's about the difficulties she faces as she moves from her traditional Korean upbringing to a more contemporary American lifestyle, as well as the complexities of cultural divides, familial pressure, personal identity, and class problems. Reading this book was a lot of fun, so I want to read other books written by Min Jin Lee as well.