Reviews

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

hanvin's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.5

mandyfish's review against another edition

5.0

Best quality book! If you're a mother or a daughter, you must read this. It transcends being a book about China (which it is) and touches on the common nerve of all mother-daughter relationships. "Your mother is in your bones!"

graceh6068's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

brownbagbargainbooks's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad

4.0

tea_anne4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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

4.75

lememories's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? No

4.0

i loved the depth to each character. but honestly not what i was expecting in a mid way? like i enjoyed it but some parts were def hard to follow. i wished she’d stuck to 1 pov. 

ikoh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

4.0

latashman's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

3.5

I liked that each chapter was its own story. I understand they connect as all part of the Joy Luck Club and their families, but the stories were hard to keep straight and figure out the connections. I found several of the chapters to be quite touching. 

yegua_blanca's review against another edition

3.0

Revisiting this book that I read for high school sophomore English class. I remember being deeply moved the first time I read it, and I still found myself invested in the relationships between each mother and daughter. There is something so fundamental at the core of Tan’s straightforward writing here that is human and moving. However, the many narrators/narratives of this book (4 daughters, 3 mothers) can sometimes blend together into a general tale of the immigrant experience, which I find particularly disappointing because so often the stories of immigrants are already dismissed or homogenized. I feel some more attention to the characters, particularly differentiating the mothers from each other, would have been needed. And now that I read this being a bit older, I saw some more dated cultural aspects that I hadn’t recognized before. The fact that the Chinese-American daughters only end up with white men. Humor that sometimes relies on the reader identifying with an American perspective and laughing at the “superstitions/quirks” of the Chinese mothers. Some tired East/West binaries that go unchallenged. Still, I really appreciated that Tan did take the time to probe the mothers’ experiences, especially the chapters about their lives as older women, since I find that these perspectives are so rarely discussed in media. This book is a beautiful exploration of the love and loss passed down from mothers to their daughters.

pmrichard1's review against another edition

4.0

Probably 3.5ish! Really enjoyed but did myself a disservice by reading in bitty parts so it took me a while to get to grips with who everyone was in each chapter. But always love multi generational books like this and the writing is obviously extremely good!!