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amysbrittain's review
I can't. Modern-day voices felt hollow and irritated me. Liked the story itself, but can't see this one through.
travelsaurus_rex's review
2.0
The first 60% of this book is absolutely HORRENDOUS; I wanted to stop reading time after time after time, but I knew it just *had* to get better because of the high community rating. Although I’m glad I stuck it out, it wasn’t worth the torture of the first several hours of reading. If the author were able to publish a second edition with MUCH better high school dialogue, sharpened military terminology, and some concept (really any) of modern teens, it might actually turn out to be a good book. As of now though, if I were to recommend the book in any way, I’d say to read the WWII timeline chapters from the beginning. Meanwhile, I’d skip the contemporary main character’s chapters until about 50%.
balletbookworm's review
4.0
Lots of good historical information about Okinawa history and religious practice that I had zero clues about so I learned a ton. This is a part of Japan that is certainly never brought up in history class. The plotting felt uneven at the beginning trying to balance the two 1st person POVs (and one was occasionally 2 POV at once, so yeah) but it smoothed out after 50p or so.
Apparently the author was an AFB military brat so I'm assuming those sections are pretty accurate.
Apparently the author was an AFB military brat so I'm assuming those sections are pretty accurate.
denakg's review
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. About halfway through I was getting bored. I started skimming the present day chapters. I was thinking I could have done without that whole storyline. But then I read the last chapter and the 2 story lines really came together and I actually cried. Books don't usually make me cry. So, in the end I did enjoy the book.
gilmoreguide's review
4.0
How has he not had it drummed into him that brats don’t whine? We don’t plead. We don’t need. We require nothing. Not even real roots. We’re air ferns.
In Sarah Bird's new novel Above the East China Sea the island of Okinawa is the centerpiece of a multi-generational drama that plays out during World War II and modern times. Tamiko is a native of the island in the 1940s when it is considered an outpost of Japan. She wants only to be like her older sister, Hatsuko, who attends the Princess Lily high school, meaning she has a chance at a life beyond being a maid or shop clerk but can move into the lower rungs of Japanese society. Luz is her contemporary counterpart, living on the island because her mother is stationed there. As a military brat she feels no ties to anyone or anything—a trait compounded by the fact that her sister Codie was recently killed in Afghanistan. Losing this only tie to love has hardened her to the point of foolish risks and being utterly closed off to people of any kind. Bird takes these two young girls and by blending the past and the present pulls the reader into a story of love, war, heritage, and devotion.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://wp.me/p2B7gG-Ln
In Sarah Bird's new novel Above the East China Sea the island of Okinawa is the centerpiece of a multi-generational drama that plays out during World War II and modern times. Tamiko is a native of the island in the 1940s when it is considered an outpost of Japan. She wants only to be like her older sister, Hatsuko, who attends the Princess Lily high school, meaning she has a chance at a life beyond being a maid or shop clerk but can move into the lower rungs of Japanese society. Luz is her contemporary counterpart, living on the island because her mother is stationed there. As a military brat she feels no ties to anyone or anything—a trait compounded by the fact that her sister Codie was recently killed in Afghanistan. Losing this only tie to love has hardened her to the point of foolish risks and being utterly closed off to people of any kind. Bird takes these two young girls and by blending the past and the present pulls the reader into a story of love, war, heritage, and devotion.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://wp.me/p2B7gG-Ln
zen_chick's review
5.0
I'm not going to write a summary, because you can read the summary yourself. This book was one of the best I've read. The kind where you're desperate to continue the story, but can't bear to finish the last chapters because you don't want it to end. I love the 2 intersecting lives. Great characters, rich detail. I can't pick up another for awhile, I'm going to need to grieve the end of this book! For God sake, go get it!!!
bookswithbette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
3.0
katykat3's review against another edition
3.0
Okay so giving this a generous 2.5 stars rounded up to three. I think writing a fiction book that deals with the Okinawan people and specifically the hardships they endured before and after WWII was a fascinating subject, and one that I feel most Americans are woefully unaware of. But I don’t think Bird was the best author to accomplish this goal. I’m normally game for a dual perspective novel, but this one was just a little weird on both ends. I didn’t really enjoy Luz’s perspective; might have been okay herself, but her sections were really difficult to get into in the beginning, and all of her friends were extremely two-dimensional (so sorry ). I did enjoy Tamiko’s sections much more, but some plot elements seemed too good to be true in her story (ex immediately finding someone to help her find her sister in the big city of Shuri), and Tamiko’s view of the Japanese seemed to change very quickly without much internal thought as to how she actually decided to change. I’m also not sure if the sections from Hatsuko or Mitsue were written in the most flattering light. Language was also weird in some places: some girl’s ponytail was actually described as “squirting out” from underneath a baseball cap (whyyyyyyy). There were some other strange descriptions that also interrupted my reading. The ending for big sections was also very weird—not enough closure from Luz’s perspective, but TOO MUCH closure from Tamiko’s. Overall, would probably suggest people finding a different book on this subject (I’m sure one exists), or turning to nonfiction.
Spoiler
Jake, king of the info dump. You deserved betterjpmindful50's review
4.0
This was a very interesting book. I knew nothing about Okinawa, or the battles that took place there during World War II. The characters were interesting, but it took a while for the part of the book set in the past to pick up for me. I thought Luz was a very realistic teen character, and the book was very well written, with a lot of beautiful descriptions. I also enjoyed the aspect of coming home, and finding a spiritual connection in an unexpected way. A different and unusual book, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys World War II era stories, and any adult who enjoys teen fiction (though it's definitely not a teen book).