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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
A bit slower than Shanghai Girls, but the historical aspect was rich. I enjoyed it for that alone.
Every year when my kids head back to school I read a book to distract myself. This was my book for this year. I thought it was interesting, although I always wonder how accurate these portrayals of other cultures are.
4.5 stars- What I consider to be a good book is able to do all of the following: spark some type of emotion (maybe more than one), develop the characters in a way that makes me feel I know them personally and am invested in them and lastly, encourage me to learn more about a subject I don't know much about already. This book did all three. I thought I was going to regret not going back to Shanghai Girls but I didn't need to in the end. I couldn't wait to find out what happened and was able to imagine several scenes, even some of the most painful ones because of her descriptions. I am so glad this was for a book club and can't wait for the conversation. Would not mind owning this one and would be able to recommend this to others.
Beautifully picks up where Shanghai Girls left off. The pacing is just as swift and the voices and setting feel vivid and genuine. See's ability to integrate her research in a really effortless way is magic. My only complaint is that the character of May has little to no voice in this piece. I semi-understand why; it's a mother daughter story, but that omission seems glaring.
This sequel to Shanghai Girls is very well written and continues the story of Pearl, May and Joy as well as the changes that took place in China during the 20th century. Again, the story is told from two different characters viewpoints: Joy, the daughter runs from Los Angeles to China in the early days of Communism and her mother Pearl who goes after her to try and bring her back home. Lisa See describes the landscape and surroundings with such detail. She also manages to convey the fear and ignorance which surround a closed society like the People's Republic of China.
I really enjoyed Shanghai Girls but I’m abandoning this one on page 129. It might be because I’ve read a few “escape from my Communist situation” books recently (set in Korea and East Germany, respectively) or because Joy chose to go to China. It seems like the arc of this story will be another escape from Shanghai/China but they both volunteered to go there. I don’t know....I’m just not feeling it.
I read See’s end notes and apparently a famine is going to occur as well. My other two recent reads also had this aspect, which seem to be a typical tactic of political control for these countries. The Korean book was set during the Korean War so it was not just a political decision.
I like See’s work but it’s never anything that is “easy” to read, for example a gripping page turner, although Shanghai Girls was more of one. I have a mountain of books waiting for me so I’m going to keeping moving.
I read See’s end notes and apparently a famine is going to occur as well. My other two recent reads also had this aspect, which seem to be a typical tactic of political control for these countries. The Korean book was set during the Korean War so it was not just a political decision.
I like See’s work but it’s never anything that is “easy” to read, for example a gripping page turner, although Shanghai Girls was more of one. I have a mountain of books waiting for me so I’m going to keeping moving.
medium-paced
I loved this book, and I am very thankful that I wasn't born in China!
As a sequel to Lisa See's, "Shanghai Girls," this book is phenomenal. It is an eye-opening piece of fiction inspired by true stories of people who lived in China during the fifties.
I didn't like Joy in the first book and continued not to like her in this one. I kept reading because I liked the other characters and the plot was OK. Also, I was hoping to see Joy mature. She did but took the hardest road possible to get there. It wasn't until the last few chapters that I was eager to read what happened next. Overall, just OK.