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rookjupiter's review
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
pommopsical's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
nievebrown25's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? No
3.25
jmath122's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
milesjmoran's review
4.0
But the cultivation of the written word, the language that sustains thought, is an individual matter, a thing that endlessly changes as it’s propagated inside each person’s head. It’s like planting seeds of language deep inside the heart. It’s simple when you’re young, but with the passing years it can get difficult to dig into the hardened earth. I’m neither young nor very old yet, and my hope is that I can use not only the visual input of reading but the output of writing, however clumsy, till one day a whole forest of language has grown into the soil of my heart.
4.5
Farewell, My Orange is a tender, moving look at friendship, culture, language, and belonging. In a small town in Australia, two women meet at their English language class, one who moved from Japan seven years prior with her husband and baby, the other more recently from Africa who was abandoned by her husband shortly after arriving and left to raise their two sons by herself. Their relationship is explored in a realistic way; they don't immediately become inseparable, and it's mostly in hindsight that they realise how important they were to one another in their times of difficulty. Kei handles the subject of racism brilliantly without permitting it to take centre stage and overshadow her characters - it affects them, it's something they know is going on around them but they thrive anyway, taking pride in their identity and their own story.
I could've easily read another 100 or so pages of this book...I didn't really want it to end. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that I felt like there needed to be a little bit more. The pacing near the end was slightly rushed, in my opinion, and I wanted Kei to slow down a little and let the characters exist for a while longer.
4.5
Farewell, My Orange is a tender, moving look at friendship, culture, language, and belonging. In a small town in Australia, two women meet at their English language class, one who moved from Japan seven years prior with her husband and baby, the other more recently from Africa who was abandoned by her husband shortly after arriving and left to raise their two sons by herself. Their relationship is explored in a realistic way; they don't immediately become inseparable, and it's mostly in hindsight that they realise how important they were to one another in their times of difficulty. Kei handles the subject of racism brilliantly without permitting it to take centre stage and overshadow her characters - it affects them, it's something they know is going on around them but they thrive anyway, taking pride in their identity and their own story.
I could've easily read another 100 or so pages of this book...I didn't really want it to end. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that I felt like there needed to be a little bit more. The pacing near the end was slightly rushed, in my opinion, and I wanted Kei to slow down a little and let the characters exist for a while longer.
erickaonpaper's review
reflective
fast-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? It's complicated
3.75
this was a really beautiful and well-written story that follows the lives of two immigrant, non-English speaking women who move to Australia to lead different lives. i quite enjoyed the overall themes of language, our relationship to English and how that places us, women's friendship and how we lean on each other, etc. this story moved quickly but managed to give depth to both women's stories and handled all the mentioned themes gracefully.
jennms_qkw's review
5.0
Two immigrants to Australia become friends. The novel, originally written in Japanese, shares a variety of immigration stories and focuses on this female friendship in a new and strange land. Family, employment, relationships of all kinds are explored in this small town in rural Australia.
The book description and other reviews are all better than mine. So read those instead.
It brought back those times I was in an immigrant language class. In Sweden especially, so many of my classmates were from interesting places and I was unusual. In Germany, the class was at the University and everyone was in grad school or post-doc, and almost everyone was an EU citizen. There are universal experiences. And there are diverse experience. And the small things add up.
Also less than 200 pages.
The book description and other reviews are all better than mine. So read those instead.
It brought back those times I was in an immigrant language class. In Sweden especially, so many of my classmates were from interesting places and I was unusual. In Germany, the class was at the University and everyone was in grad school or post-doc, and almost everyone was an EU citizen. There are universal experiences. And there are diverse experience. And the small things add up.
Also less than 200 pages.
jaclyn_sixminutesforme's review
5.0
This debut novel comes in at just 135 pages and traverses an immense character study of two migrant women and their experiences settling into life in country-town Australia. While it is a quiet exploration of migration and identity, on a more meta-level it is also a cleverly structured analysis of storytelling.
Farewell, My Orange explores the universality of women’s experiences (quite literally watching the same sunrise, for example) but specifically hones in on the difficulties experienced by migrant women in Australia because of issues like language barriers, racism, and social expectations. While it covers some dark and deep-rooted issues, ultimately this is a story of the triumph of female friendships and the power of women retaining agency in their own narratives.
We follow Salimah and Sayuri, whose paths cross when they attend an English language class together. What is unique about the narrative is the way each of the women have their story told. Salimah’s narrative is in third person perspective, and carries the momentum of the plot, while Sayuri communicates her story in the form of letters she writes to her former creative writing teacher. The alternating perspectives were fascinating in juxtaposition, and in retrospect were essential to what Kei seeks to demonstrate about narratives more broadly. This is a striking and unique read, and one likely to be devoured in a single-sitting!
Farewell, My Orange explores the universality of women’s experiences (quite literally watching the same sunrise, for example) but specifically hones in on the difficulties experienced by migrant women in Australia because of issues like language barriers, racism, and social expectations. While it covers some dark and deep-rooted issues, ultimately this is a story of the triumph of female friendships and the power of women retaining agency in their own narratives.
We follow Salimah and Sayuri, whose paths cross when they attend an English language class together. What is unique about the narrative is the way each of the women have their story told. Salimah’s narrative is in third person perspective, and carries the momentum of the plot, while Sayuri communicates her story in the form of letters she writes to her former creative writing teacher. The alternating perspectives were fascinating in juxtaposition, and in retrospect were essential to what Kei seeks to demonstrate about narratives more broadly. This is a striking and unique read, and one likely to be devoured in a single-sitting!
romeo_juliet_'s review
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death