Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
3.5 stars for me. It seems unfair to give 3 stars to an author who wrote an absolutely beautiful book. However there were two different stories here - Polly’s, which was compelling and heartbreaking and worthy of 4 stars and that of her son Deming, which was equally heartbreaking but just not as compelling to me - I understood his story but just didn’t feel it in the same way. And while I liked the ending enough conceptually, I was hugely let down by the actual last line.
The leavers is Lisa Ko’s debut novel and what a brilliant novel it is.
It is told in 4 parts and told from 2 perspectives – Pelian/Polly and Daniel/Deming.
The leavers, I felt focused more on the following subjects: abandonment, adoption acceptance and belonging.
Daniel throughout his life believes his birth mother abandoned him and this appears to have affected him, more so, in regards to his behaviour, I felt.
The character I felt for the most was Daniel, the feeling of abandonment, torn over what to do etc… just made me want to hug him.
Lisa Ko has definitely delivered this story in a such a beautiful way, that it was hard to put this book down.
This book is one everyone NEEDS to read.
It is told in 4 parts and told from 2 perspectives – Pelian/Polly and Daniel/Deming.
The leavers, I felt focused more on the following subjects: abandonment, adoption acceptance and belonging.
Daniel throughout his life believes his birth mother abandoned him and this appears to have affected him, more so, in regards to his behaviour, I felt.
The character I felt for the most was Daniel, the feeling of abandonment, torn over what to do etc… just made me want to hug him.
Lisa Ko has definitely delivered this story in a such a beautiful way, that it was hard to put this book down.
This book is one everyone NEEDS to read.
Got me a little weepy at the end. Enjoyed all the characters, the complexity, and the kindness. It was a little slow at times, but I still loved it and it was worth it to get to the end.
It was home, a home, but he knew he would have to leave here too.
The Leavers is about a mother and her child - Peilan (Polly) and Deming (Daniel) Guo. Peilan arrives in New York from Fuzhou and tries to make a living for her child, Deming. Then one morning, she disappears.
Its also a story about home and belonging, and what happens when that is denied to a person. Both Deming and Peilan are unmoored, cast painfully adrift. They have been made to live in such a fashion that they're neither here nor there, neither Chinese, Fuzhounese or American, neither poor nor rich, unable to please the ones they love or themselves.
There has never been a better time to read books like this. Its hard to say exactly why without giving the plot away, but as hatred of people who immigrate is stoked all over Europe, America, Brazil and countless other places, and as that in turn fuels the rise of ugly right and far-right nationalism and racism, we need stories like these.
The Leavers is about a mother and her child - Peilan (Polly) and Deming (Daniel) Guo. Peilan arrives in New York from Fuzhou and tries to make a living for her child, Deming. Then one morning, she disappears.
Its also a story about home and belonging, and what happens when that is denied to a person. Both Deming and Peilan are unmoored, cast painfully adrift. They have been made to live in such a fashion that they're neither here nor there, neither Chinese, Fuzhounese or American, neither poor nor rich, unable to please the ones they love or themselves.
There has never been a better time to read books like this. Its hard to say exactly why without giving the plot away, but as hatred of people who immigrate is stoked all over Europe, America, Brazil and countless other places, and as that in turn fuels the rise of ugly right and far-right nationalism and racism, we need stories like these.
https://thequeenreads.wordpress.com/2020/05/31/the-queens-book-talk-the-leavers-by-lisa-ko/
This book really dives deep into the status of an immigrant or first born immigrant. It does with the fact that Daniel was born in NYC to a Chinese mother who was then deported and he was adopted by white parents. The ending really made me feel something, when he was back to china he never really felt at home, he also never felt at home in his adopted parents home in upstate New York. However, he ended up in NYC where he grew up and although it wasn’t truly home he felt, it was is home for now.
More thoughts later but overall, a great book that got me emotionally tied to characters I wasn’t expecting to feel for!
I liked this book because even though I wasn't adopted or anything, I still related to a lot of Deming / Daniel's feelings. Some of his experiences of being Chinese were super accurate. This story made me feel so many different emotions; this story felt so real. I liked how we got different sides of the story, especially Polly's. This was definitely my favorite book out of the three that I had to read for AP Lit!
Great book, liked it a lot. About a kid that may or may not have been abandoned by his Chinese mother in New York City. Some of the book I wish had been expanded (like Mom's time in the detention facility or the time he spent in China--seemed a little rushed), and others I wish were shorter (his "gambling problem" in particular seemed a little hackneyed and forced--I mean, I suppose someone who is adopted and grows up believing his mother abandoned him would have problems, but the gambling problem didn't seem...right somehow; also, I found his adoptive parents' parenting struggles silly and inexplicable).
Overall, touching and good, though.
Overall, touching and good, though.