Reviews

Welcome Me to the Kingdom by Mai Nardone

jenniferszhu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

kleonard's review against another edition

4.0

This collection of intertwined short stories about Thailand is a brutal and unflinching examination of the country's poverty, power structures, sex work, white sex tourism, education system, and the utter disaster that is its social safety net. Here, you'll meet child athletes, workers, and sex workers; unwanted children and orphans; women forced to give up their own lives in order to support their parents; and an unrelenting environmental background of death and harm: mining, dilapidated shantytowns, barren fields and farms. Written with clarity and verve, this is ideal for book clubs and discussion groups.

vlwelser's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.0

cubergirl420's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

danapr's review against another edition

1.0

This loosely connected collection of short stories describes various aspects of life in Thailand, from the sex trade, orphaned “strayboys”, cock fighting, drug use, ambulance chasing, corruption, tourism and ex-pats.
I found this book very difficult to read and get interested in. I know several reviewers enjoyed it but I found it to be very disjointed and hard to follow. Even trying to follow some of the main characters over time had me lost. And I guess the book is realistic but it’s very depressing and paints a grim picture of Bangkok. Even if a book is written more as literary fiction without much plot, I enjoy good character development but this book just didn’t have anything for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishers for the Advanced Reader Copy.

laviskrg's review against another edition

2.0

Starts strong, promises a lot but dries up in one of the most boring collections of irrelevant moments in the lives of irrelevant people. If this is supposed to be street level Bangkok, I am not impressed. Very few people still control the ability to write about the ugly, the poor, the broken and the unfortunate.

plaidpladd's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

 This book's format is odd, and I'm not sure it totally worked but it did keep me interested till the end. I usually love interconnected short stories, but I think it would have been more satisfying if each section actually was a short story--most of them just ended abruptly and wouldn't really stand on its own. I enjoyed reading it, but it's been a little less than a month and I've already forgotten much of it. 

lizzyvh's review against another edition

tense slow-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

hayleyrhiannon's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

kaileehaong's review against another edition

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