Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

14 reviews

aunticles's review

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funny 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. The structure is unusual: a collection of short stories rather than a novel, about the 2 friends and the twists and turns their lives take, together and apart, alternating their points of view. It's full of pain and regret, but also funny at times and easy to read. A fascinating,  wry and poignant view of relationships: romantic, sexual, family, friendships. 

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jaynovara's review

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5


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leanne_miron's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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claudia_bow's review

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emotional 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? Yes

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toofondofbooks_'s review

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emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

"π’˜π’† π’˜π’†π’“π’† 𝒔𝒐 π’Šπ’π’π’π’„π’†π’π’• - π’Šπ’•π’” π’π’˜π’ π’Œπ’Šπ’π’… 𝒐𝒇 π’‘π’π’˜π’†π’“ - 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’ˆπ’π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’”, 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒅 π’Šπ’• π’ˆπ’“π’π’˜π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒖𝒑. π’˜π’† π’•π’‰π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰π’• π’˜π’† π’Œπ’π’†π’˜ π’Šπ’• 𝒂𝒍𝒍, π’…π’Šπ’…π’'𝒕 π’˜π’†?"

This book of short stories chronicles the lives and friendship of Fiona and Jane, two Tawainese women who grew up together and are now trying to find themselves out in the world. They navigate their friendship, relationships, sexuality and family dynamics along the way.

I don't usually have a great relationship with books of short stories, but I liked this one. I think that the stories actually being related and tying into one another really helped. The first story, right off the bat, broke my heart, and I was both scared and excited to read the rest. The stories were all very engaging, but my favorite was "Cold Turkey," which occurs around the halfway mark. I also liked that the side characters who fleshed out the worlds of Fiona & Jane felt complete and real, for better and for worse.

The only reason why this didn't end up getting rated higher for me was - for it being a book about friendship, I didn't see a whole lot of....well, friendship. Fiona & Jane are supposed to be best friends, but in some stories, they don't interact at all or seldom mention each other. When they do. have scenes together, you can tell that there is love there, but it doesn't feel like they should even still be friends - the chemistry wasn't really there for me. However, overall, I did enjoy this read!

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stevie's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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sydneybedell'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

4.0


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meishallaneous's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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hayleyvharrington's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

5.0


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whatannikareads's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I thought it was ok! I think the book is less friendship-oriented than advertised; rather we follow fiona and Jane as individual people whose relationship sometimes intersects with the situation of each chapter of their lives. So if you’re looking for something along those lines, I can understand why you’d be disappointed. I think the writing itself is very nice and provides distinct imagery, and I enjoyed the dialogue and diversity of characters. The ending is a little corny tbh and kinda just left me feeling like…..ok this is over I guess.

I’ve bumped it up to four stars bc I enjoy how diverse the Asian characters are, who are obviously written from experience. These are definitely the types of people I grew up with, and paints Asian American characters in particular as complex people. And I also enjoyed this bc the author really represented SoCal/our hometown (go Cerritos lmao) and it’s the most represented I’ve ever felt in a book; that literally could’ve been me in the story, so I appreciate that!

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