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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
This is the sequel to Lisa See's "Shanghai Girls". Pearl follows May, her 20 year old daughter into "closed" China in the late fifties during Mao' s "Great Leap Forward" which resulted among other things in a terrible famine. I love the historic aspect of the book and learned a lot (not too significant as I didn't know too much about these years in China). The story line is interesting, too, and continues the complicated mother-daughter relationship and Chinese immigrant/emigrant subject. As I not only wanted to find out how the story ends, but rooted for the right ending in that love and family overcomes all obstacles, the book is kind of a page turner. Would highly recommend reading both books!
I liked this novel which is the sequel to 'Shanghai Girls'. I re-read it for Book Club. I don't think this is her best novel, but it one that has stuck with me - I randomly think about the events in the book from time to time.
7.5/10
These were both fascinating historical fiction books about China taking place from 1937 to 1960 across both books. I wasn't aware going in that Shanghai girls had a sequel and you will be disappointed if you just end after book 1 because there's no real conclusion until book 2.
Shanghai Girls- this book starts off in Shanghai right before a war with the Japanese in the 1930s. The two sisters leave everything they know to go to America to find their husband's from arranged marriages. Loved learning about Shanghai in this time period and learned so much about Angel Island (the Ellis Island of the West). Some tough truths about how the US treated Chinese people throughout history.
Dreams of Joy - the daughter from book 1 is 18 and runs away to Communist China which she believes is where she belongs in part because of the ideologies. A great in-depth look at the atrocities that happened in the rural villages during this period as well as how Mao's rule was enforced throughout China.
These books were the perfect blend of page-turners plus learning about this time and place in history!
TW: gang rape, death by suicide, starvation, other scenes of violence and death
These were both fascinating historical fiction books about China taking place from 1937 to 1960 across both books. I wasn't aware going in that Shanghai girls had a sequel and you will be disappointed if you just end after book 1 because there's no real conclusion until book 2.
Shanghai Girls- this book starts off in Shanghai right before a war with the Japanese in the 1930s. The two sisters leave everything they know to go to America to find their husband's from arranged marriages. Loved learning about Shanghai in this time period and learned so much about Angel Island (the Ellis Island of the West). Some tough truths about how the US treated Chinese people throughout history.
Dreams of Joy - the daughter from book 1 is 18 and runs away to Communist China which she believes is where she belongs in part because of the ideologies. A great in-depth look at the atrocities that happened in the rural villages during this period as well as how Mao's rule was enforced throughout China.
These books were the perfect blend of page-turners plus learning about this time and place in history!
TW: gang rape, death by suicide, starvation, other scenes of violence and death
I really give it 3.5 stars.. although its the sequel to Shanghai Girls, I enjoyed it more - I thought there was better character development in this book. plus i liked having a concrete ending/conclusion to the story. I think i would have liked shanghai girls more if I had read the books together (both books could've been shortened and combined to form one longer, better book)
I really liked this follow up to Shanghai Girls, just not as much as I liked Shanghai Girls itself. I was glad to see that all of the story lines left hanging in the first book are resolved. This book is written in 4 sections. The first is great, the second is pretty good, the third gets bogged down a little in details for my taste,and the 4th is fantastic and exciting. I am glad I read it and I would recommend it to anyone who has read Shanghai Girls.
I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I did Shanghai Girls. The writing was so much easier to read (none of the pacing and tense issues that I found in Shanghai), and the plot and characters were more complex. The historical aspect was a huge bonus to me as well - it gave me more reason to appreciate Pearl's story.
I haven't read a book yet from Lisa See that I don't like. While, this one was not as good as Shanghai Girls, I still remained very involved in the characters stories.
Another great book by Lisa See. She hasn't failed me yet. Very interesting to learn about the history of China in fiction form.
A gripping sequel. Loved seeing what happened to Joy. I could actually believe the course she took and then the sense she discovered afterwards. Totally believable actions against an unbelievable backdrop.