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thepaige_turner's review against another edition
3.0
I did like the overall plot/story but the pacing was just so off and wild that it took something away from the overall reading experience.
christiana's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I really liked reading this right after Crazy Rich Asians since there's a few Taiwanese customs that rang familiar to me and it was fun learning about the secret ritual type things that MIT students teach each other.
uwucuthuwu's review against another edition
5.0
An amazing contemporary about being your true self with an exceptional cultural background!
I was in need of a light contemporary since I've been reading many intense books recently...and, not going to lie, Lady Midnight left me in a reading slump ~.~. I saw this in the recent releases here in Goodreads and decided to buy it and oh my God, I am so happy I did. What makes this book so good it's that it's such a simple story line, yet Ms. Chao is able to make it more complex with different factors. It kept me interested the whole way and it made me feel so much.
Firstly, I want to mention how much I loved the cultural integration to this novel. I learned so much about Chinese culture, I knew some of it but now I feel like I looked at it in much more detail. This is actually one of the factors that made it a very good book, it's like learning but outside of the classroom! I also learned A LOT about the clash of cultures when someone is half x-half y; I knew about it but I never truly understood it until now. I learned many things about Chinese culture (both good and bad) which made it a much more interesting story.
American Panda made me feel SO MUCH...from sadness to happiness this book is a roller-coaster of emotions XD. I couldn't stop rooting for Mei and hating her bitch mom and asshole dad and WTF family, seriously WTF is wrong with them. I honestly admire Mei and Xing after everything they went through, I wish I could be as brave as they are. Although I did like the ending, slightly bittersweet but at least it didn't end up in pure hatred.
P.S. The romance was ON POINTTT. I squealed everytime a scene happened >3<
If you want a light-hearted book with a Chinese background, this is definitely for you!
I was in need of a light contemporary since I've been reading many intense books recently...and, not going to lie, Lady Midnight left me in a reading slump ~.~. I saw this in the recent releases here in Goodreads and decided to buy it and oh my God, I am so happy I did. What makes this book so good it's that it's such a simple story line, yet Ms. Chao is able to make it more complex with different factors. It kept me interested the whole way and it made me feel so much.
Firstly, I want to mention how much I loved the cultural integration to this novel. I learned so much about Chinese culture, I knew some of it but now I feel like I looked at it in much more detail. This is actually one of the factors that made it a very good book, it's like learning but outside of the classroom! I also learned A LOT about the clash of cultures when someone is half x-half y; I knew about it but I never truly understood it until now. I learned many things about Chinese culture (both good and bad) which made it a much more interesting story.
American Panda made me feel SO MUCH...from sadness to happiness this book is a roller-coaster of emotions XD. I couldn't stop rooting for Mei and hating her bitch mom and asshole dad and WTF family, seriously WTF is wrong with them. I honestly admire Mei and Xing after everything they went through, I wish I could be as brave as they are. Although I did like the ending, slightly bittersweet but at least it didn't end up in pure hatred.
P.S. The romance was ON POINTTT. I squealed everytime a scene happened >3<
If you want a light-hearted book with a Chinese background, this is definitely for you!
caitlinxreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book got me out of a 2ish week reading slump! Yay!
I actually quite enjoyed this. I learned a lot about Taiwanese culture and MIT.
This is a really good contemporary with less romance than I had expected and more 'finding oneself'.
Overall a good read with interesting characters and cultural differences.
I actually quite enjoyed this. I learned a lot about Taiwanese culture and MIT.
This is a really good contemporary with less romance than I had expected and more 'finding oneself'.
Overall a good read with interesting characters and cultural differences.
books4susie's review
5.0
I definitely enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and found that I had a hard time putting it down. Mei is a seventeen-year-old freshman at MIT and is a first-generation Chinese-American. With that comes the strict expectations to do as her family wishes. As Mei begins to spread her wings, she begins to free herself and a surprising character from their gilded cage of Chinese traditions. I really love how the story showcased Mei's growth. A worthwhile read.
rachcannoli's review against another edition
4.0
Books that have deeply religious characters, even if they're just the parents, usually really annoy me because I just find it hard to relate. I'm not from a religious family and while my parents had their strict moments, they were always extremely supportive of my dreams no matter how ridiculous they might have been. So I expected to get very frustrated very quickly with this one because a third of the way through it was starting to grate on me that Mei wouldn't just gain a damn backbone and stand up for herself. But she goes through the necessary changes that her character needed and that come with age so I ended up really enjoying myself. She's a very likable character and even though I'm not Asian, I can still understand and empathize with a lot of her plights. It's obviously not groundbreaking and I basically predicted everything that happened, but still a super fun read and even if it's a predictable YA book, at least it has a fresh perspective.
sophiedeo's review against another edition
3.0
This kinda dragged for me. It took me nearly a week to read this which is pretty long for a YA contemporary. I liked the diversity, and the portrayal of a Chinese-American life. I'm half Chinese so I could relate, but thankfully my parents aren't as strict as Mei's are. I really liked the college setting but it felt a bit underutilised at times, but maybe that's because of Mei's culture.
I'm struggling with my thoughts on this novel. It is basically about Mei choosing between her over-protective, traditional parents who want her to lead a very specific life, and her desire to follow her dreams. And I'm not trying to be harsh, but that's a really basic plot and isn't that original. However, this is an experience that I assume is nearly universal in those who are first, second, third generation immigrants if not more. I have experienced this myself, so I'm not trying to dismiss it. I guess my point is, can plot lines or other aspects of books be elevated just because they are diverse? I read a review that considered the parental storyline to be a trope and I get it. A trope has such negative connotations so do we expect authors to completely remove this kind of storyline when it's so endemic to certain cultures?
I dunno, my take on diversity in YA at the moment is that it's important to get quantity out to the public first than worry about quality. Obviously you expect a certain level of quality, but that can be dealt with later. It's so powerful to be able to relate to characters in books, so I would rather excuse a few mistakes.
Anyways, YA contemporary is not the genre for me, so I would consider a 3 star to be pretty good. And I'm so impressed that Chao left her job as a dentist to become a writer. Kudos.
I'm struggling with my thoughts on this novel. It is basically about Mei choosing between her over-protective, traditional parents who want her to lead a very specific life, and her desire to follow her dreams. And I'm not trying to be harsh, but that's a really basic plot and isn't that original. However, this is an experience that I assume is nearly universal in those who are first, second, third generation immigrants if not more. I have experienced this myself, so I'm not trying to dismiss it. I guess my point is, can plot lines or other aspects of books be elevated just because they are diverse? I read a review that considered the parental storyline to be a trope and I get it. A trope has such negative connotations so do we expect authors to completely remove this kind of storyline when it's so endemic to certain cultures?
I dunno, my take on diversity in YA at the moment is that it's important to get quantity out to the public first than worry about quality. Obviously you expect a certain level of quality, but that can be dealt with later. It's so powerful to be able to relate to characters in books, so I would rather excuse a few mistakes.
Anyways, YA contemporary is not the genre for me, so I would consider a 3 star to be pretty good. And I'm so impressed that Chao left her job as a dentist to become a writer. Kudos.
radarocco's review against another edition
3.0
more like 3.5 stars. it was fun, interesting and i liked it (full review to come)
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
4.5/5 Stars
American Panda is a truly authentic exploration of the cultural clash that happens for many young Asian Americans whose parents hold tight to their roots. The book is obviously deeply personal, and it resonates with the reader because of that.
What Fed My Addiction:
Cultural ties.
As I said in my intro, this book presents the issue of growing up in America, surrounded by American culture and values, and how that can be difficult with first-generation parents who were raised with a completely different set of values and cultural mores. Mei has always been a "good girl." She has tried hard to please her parents, and she sees the value in their deeply seeded Taiwanese culture. At the same time, she struggles to find herself when her parents' expectations start to clash with her own wants and needs. She has to decide if she will live for her parents or live for herself---a question that might seem simple from an outside perspective, but is anything but. Seeing the world through Mei's eyes, you can't help but sympathize with her and understand the struggle that she goes through daily to fit into two very different worlds.
Family ties.
Mei's relationships with her family truly take center stage in this book, and those ties are complicated, to say the least. Her brother has been cut off from the family for years, and Mei's feelings about that are difficult to parse. On the one hand, she was relatively young when it happened and she didn't feel like she had much control over the situation (not to mention the fact that the only perspective she got was her parents'). But now that Mei is older, she sees her brother and her family's banishment of him very differently. Mei's relationship with her mother is also a key component of the book, and it was beautiful to see that relationship transform as the book went on.
All the feels.
This book is funny, but it's also so much more than that---Mei's personal journey isn't always easy, and you can expect to get wrapped up in it in a hundred different ways!
What Left Me Hungry for More:
Not much focus on the romance.
The romance is actually much less a focus of the book than I thought it would be (which is fine but just surprised me). I just never completely felt a connection between Darren and Mei, but they were cute together! I also felt like the plot itself was a bit lacking in the middle of the book---it's more of a character-centric story than a plot-based one---but that was minor.
This is one of those books that I would encourage everyone to read because it gives such insight into a cultural perspective many of us might not otherwise experience, and it gives many YA readers who have experienced this cultural clash a glimpse of themselves on the page. I look forward to reading more by Gloria Chao! I went back and forth on my rating for this one a bit, but ended up settling at 4.5/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
4.5/5 Stars
American Panda is a truly authentic exploration of the cultural clash that happens for many young Asian Americans whose parents hold tight to their roots. The book is obviously deeply personal, and it resonates with the reader because of that.
What Fed My Addiction:
Cultural ties.
As I said in my intro, this book presents the issue of growing up in America, surrounded by American culture and values, and how that can be difficult with first-generation parents who were raised with a completely different set of values and cultural mores. Mei has always been a "good girl." She has tried hard to please her parents, and she sees the value in their deeply seeded Taiwanese culture. At the same time, she struggles to find herself when her parents' expectations start to clash with her own wants and needs. She has to decide if she will live for her parents or live for herself---a question that might seem simple from an outside perspective, but is anything but. Seeing the world through Mei's eyes, you can't help but sympathize with her and understand the struggle that she goes through daily to fit into two very different worlds.
Family ties.
Mei's relationships with her family truly take center stage in this book, and those ties are complicated, to say the least. Her brother has been cut off from the family for years, and Mei's feelings about that are difficult to parse. On the one hand, she was relatively young when it happened and she didn't feel like she had much control over the situation (not to mention the fact that the only perspective she got was her parents'). But now that Mei is older, she sees her brother and her family's banishment of him very differently. Mei's relationship with her mother is also a key component of the book, and it was beautiful to see that relationship transform as the book went on.
All the feels.
This book is funny, but it's also so much more than that---Mei's personal journey isn't always easy, and you can expect to get wrapped up in it in a hundred different ways!
What Left Me Hungry for More:
Not much focus on the romance.
The romance is actually much less a focus of the book than I thought it would be (which is fine but just surprised me). I just never completely felt a connection between Darren and Mei, but they were cute together! I also felt like the plot itself was a bit lacking in the middle of the book---it's more of a character-centric story than a plot-based one---but that was minor.
This is one of those books that I would encourage everyone to read because it gives such insight into a cultural perspective many of us might not otherwise experience, and it gives many YA readers who have experienced this cultural clash a glimpse of themselves on the page. I look forward to reading more by Gloria Chao! I went back and forth on my rating for this one a bit, but ended up settling at 4.5/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
missbookiverse's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Ich liebe Bücher über Figuren, die zwischen zwei Kulturen stecken. Ich glaube, weil ich neugierig auf mir unbekannte Kulturen bin, mich mit der westlichen Seite aber besser identifiziere, so dass ich neue Luft schnuppern kann ohne den Boden komplett unter den Füßen zu verlieren. Gleichzeitig finde ich es megaspannend zu verfolgen, wie Kinder von Einwanderern.innen diese zwei Welten unter einen Hut bekommen.
Meis Mutter macht mit ihren ständigen Kontrollanrufen und besorgten Tipps (den Teebeutel nicht mehr als zweimal benutzen, aber auch nicht seltener, das wäre Verschwendung) erst mal einen amüsanten Eindruck, aber wer wie Mei regelmäßig ernst gemeinten Aussagen wie “Iss nicht so viel, mach mehr Sport, dein zukünftiger Ehemann wird keine dicke Frau wollen!” ausgesetzt ist, merkt schnell, dass Tipps wie 300 Mal am Tag die Arme hin und her zu schwingen, um Kalorien zu verbrennen alles andere als lustig sind. Dennoch schafft Mei es wieder und wieder auch das Gute in ihren Eltern zu sehen und deren ständige Zurechtweisungen als Besorgnis um ihr Wohlergehen und ihre Zukunft zu deuten.
Neben den innerfamiliären Konflikten lernt Mei auch andere Varianten ihrer eigenen Kultur kennen. Nicht alle taiwanesischen Einwanderer.innen nehmen die alten Traditionen so ernst wie Meis Eltern und nicht alle Kinder mit dem gleichen Migrationshintergrund fühlen sich Mei automatisch verbündet, ganz im Gegenteil. Zusätzlich werden kleine Teile japanischer Kultur erwähnt, besonders in Zusammenhang mit dem historischen Konflikt zwischen Taiwan und Japan, der es Mei laut ihren Eltern nicht erlaubt mit japanischstämmigen Jungs auszugehen.
Trotz Meis ständiger innerer Zerrissenheit, würde ich das Buch eher als “easy listening/reading” bezeichnen. Es hat zahlreiche niedliche und lustige Momente, die vor allem die Eskalation im letzten Drittel auflockern. Aufgrund dessen löst sich am Ende vielleicht alles auch einen Ticken zu schnell und einfach, aber insgesamt gefällt mir diese Mischung aus Leichtigkeit und Tiefgang.
Ich liebe Bücher über Figuren, die zwischen zwei Kulturen stecken. Ich glaube, weil ich neugierig auf mir unbekannte Kulturen bin, mich mit der westlichen Seite aber besser identifiziere, so dass ich neue Luft schnuppern kann ohne den Boden komplett unter den Füßen zu verlieren. Gleichzeitig finde ich es megaspannend zu verfolgen, wie Kinder von Einwanderern.innen diese zwei Welten unter einen Hut bekommen.
Meis Mutter macht mit ihren ständigen Kontrollanrufen und besorgten Tipps (den Teebeutel nicht mehr als zweimal benutzen, aber auch nicht seltener, das wäre Verschwendung) erst mal einen amüsanten Eindruck, aber wer wie Mei regelmäßig ernst gemeinten Aussagen wie “Iss nicht so viel, mach mehr Sport, dein zukünftiger Ehemann wird keine dicke Frau wollen!” ausgesetzt ist, merkt schnell, dass Tipps wie 300 Mal am Tag die Arme hin und her zu schwingen, um Kalorien zu verbrennen alles andere als lustig sind. Dennoch schafft Mei es wieder und wieder auch das Gute in ihren Eltern zu sehen und deren ständige Zurechtweisungen als Besorgnis um ihr Wohlergehen und ihre Zukunft zu deuten.
Neben den innerfamiliären Konflikten lernt Mei auch andere Varianten ihrer eigenen Kultur kennen. Nicht alle taiwanesischen Einwanderer.innen nehmen die alten Traditionen so ernst wie Meis Eltern und nicht alle Kinder mit dem gleichen Migrationshintergrund fühlen sich Mei automatisch verbündet, ganz im Gegenteil. Zusätzlich werden kleine Teile japanischer Kultur erwähnt, besonders in Zusammenhang mit dem historischen Konflikt zwischen Taiwan und Japan, der es Mei laut ihren Eltern nicht erlaubt mit japanischstämmigen Jungs auszugehen.
Trotz Meis ständiger innerer Zerrissenheit, würde ich das Buch eher als “easy listening/reading” bezeichnen. Es hat zahlreiche niedliche und lustige Momente, die vor allem die Eskalation im letzten Drittel auflockern. Aufgrund dessen löst sich am Ende vielleicht alles auch einen Ticken zu schnell und einfach, aber insgesamt gefällt mir diese Mischung aus Leichtigkeit und Tiefgang.