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robinks's review
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
I really enjoyed reading through these little blips of Fiona & Jane’s lives, the ebbs and flows of their friendship over many years. I didn’t like that some of the stories seemed to be out of chronological order. Also, I sometimes could not understand Jane’s actions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, and Cancer
Moderate: Grief, Racism, and Fatphobia
Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Homophobia
lily1304's review
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
Sweet slice-of-life stories, and I love the structure, of jumping through time with two best friends. Sad but ultimately hopeful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, and Outing
kt419's review
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
loloreid's review
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? It's complicated
3.5
Part coming-of-age stories, part exploration of the power of friendship, this book winds through time in the lives of Fiona and Jane, friends experiencing growing up Asian-American in Los Angeles. We see them first as teenagers navigating love and sexuality, family pressures, and identity, and continue through alternating perspectives on individual trajectories and intertwined fates. The power of their friendship despite periods of distance and absence is a thread that grounds each of the women. The writing is immediate and fast-paced, but the interrupted and shifting timelines encourage imagination from the reader and avoids a single point of momentum.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
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
3.75
Fiona and Jane - Fiona and Jane, both Taiwanese American, met in second grade. This short story collection follows them for more than two decades. I liked the way it showed the ebb and flow of friendship and it’s exploration of sexual identity. The format was one story from Jane’s perspective then one from Fiona’s but I often struggled to tell them apart. An enjoyable read but not one that will stick with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide
Minor: Cancer
null4444's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
ceedy's review
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Outing, Homophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism and Abortion
bites_of_books's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
There's an idea about friendship that is romanticized that does not exactly fit what a lot of people experience in their lives. As someone who has moved a lot in her life, from childhood to adulthood, I've made plenty of friends in the many places I've been. Some of those friends have slowly become acquaintances while others have endured. With some I have deep conversations for hours on the times that we can make time to see each other or schedule a Skype call, with others it's sending each other memes or funny videos we find that remind us of the times we spent together.
In Fiona and Jane we get to read short stories from both Fiona and Jane's perspectives from their shared childhood to their adulthood. They come in and out of each other's lives, each wondering why they haven't reached out to the other, thinking about what the other would say in such and such situations. There's a longing, a sense of nostalgia, of loneliness that permeates the pages, and which I felt deep in my core. These slices of their lives are at times very difficult to read, from dealing with mental health issues, sexual identity, and family relationships, the stories touched some aspects of my life that I hadn't expected.
Overall, if you like non-linear stories that are told via short stories from multiple perspectives and deal with difficult themes of identity, mental health, and family relationships, then this one is definitely for you. If anything, this book delivers a sense of perspective on life that I haven't read in other places, specifically regarding friendship. It's not about the usual tropes around friendship, it's about what happens to friendships when people are simply living their lives. One I'll definitely remember for a while to come!
In Fiona and Jane we get to read short stories from both Fiona and Jane's perspectives from their shared childhood to their adulthood. They come in and out of each other's lives, each wondering why they haven't reached out to the other, thinking about what the other would say in such and such situations. There's a longing, a sense of nostalgia, of loneliness that permeates the pages, and which I felt deep in my core. These slices of their lives are at times very difficult to read, from dealing with mental health issues, sexual identity, and family relationships, the stories touched some aspects of my life that I hadn't expected.
Overall, if you like non-linear stories that are told via short stories from multiple perspectives and deal with difficult themes of identity, mental health, and family relationships, then this one is definitely for you. If anything, this book delivers a sense of perspective on life that I haven't read in other places, specifically regarding friendship. It's not about the usual tropes around friendship, it's about what happens to friendships when people are simply living their lives. One I'll definitely remember for a while to come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
siriface's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
jnlundy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Outing