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oakleighirish's review against another edition
5.0
What a brilliant novel! S.L Lim's narrative style is energetic and engaging, she has a story to tell and it is forceful and compelling. I'm a fan of Korean cinema and I could see similar moral dichotomies, the strong exploiting the weak, and privilege versus disadvantage. Lim also does a brilliant job setting up fascinating family dynamics alongside her brother in childhood with poor Malaysian parents and then later in Sydney with Shan, his wife and teenage daughter in the locus of luxury and wealth. The gender inequalities of traditional parenting styles are ruthlessly exposed as Yannie's impoverished parents mortgage their meagre assets, putting less intelligent older brother, Shan, through local university and Oxford on the back of his smarter sister, Yannie, working in the family shop, for free. I thought the story ran out of steam a little in the last third, but otherwise a enjoyable story told with wit, dynamism and skill.
mkcully's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
amarisb's review against another edition
3.0
Very thought provoking, the protagonist is someone I could very much see living in todays society. Very emotional too. I am on the border of three or four stars.
zhang's review against another edition
the first part was incredibly strong and compelling, but it tapered off a bit for me afterwards :'(
grubbytoes's review against another edition
3.0
I think this is a book I will need to process for a while to decide how I feel about it.
Was it good? - yes. Did I enjoy it? -not really, no. What do I think of it? - I don't yet know, but it will stick with me for quite a while.
Was it good? - yes. Did I enjoy it? -not really, no. What do I think of it? - I don't yet know, but it will stick with me for quite a while.
samsearle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
cmoo053's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0