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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this! Joan’s voice was funny in places - I may never look at our robot vacuum again without considering it an offspring :)
I also thought the description of the impending pandemic was interesting as was considering how an immigrant’s family experience is different than mine… even in this century
I also thought the description of the impending pandemic was interesting as was considering how an immigrant’s family experience is different than mine… even in this century
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Abandoned it about 75 pages in. The premise is great - the characters are interesting. The writing voice just didn’t grab me
funny
reflective
slow-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:
Complicated
I was looking for books set during the pandemic. It is in the last third of this story. The audiobook is very good. The narrator portrays Joan’s vibes just right. I want to meet Joan. I like her brain.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book reminded me a little of "The Maid" and, in a different way, "The Verifiers," both of which I have recently read. It's also oddly divided into two parts, pre-covid and post-covid, which has nothing to do with those two books.
Joan is obviously on the autism spectrum and she is our narrator, so that part reminded me of "The Maid." She's a doctor who refuses to take time off from the hospital until HR forces her to do so. Her nosy next door neighbor slowly furnishes her house with his cast-offs and finally throws a party for her at her house which she flees to her fancy, rich brother's fancy rich house in Connecticut.
That's the part that reminds me of "The Verifiers." She is at odds with her Asian family because she doesn't feel any attraction to marriage or to their signifiers of success, much like the main character of "The Verifiers." Like that character, she is younger than her older sibling so she was born in the U.S. and therefore got to spend more time with her parents.
Some of the first part of the book is interesting, poignant, quirky and even funny. Then AIDS hits and Joan is called back into the hospital. She deals with covid, anti-Asian prejudice, gets covid herself. She has the excuse of the pandemic to install a deadbolt lock in her apartment and get away from the neighbor. And while it's a realistic portrait of what it would be like to be that character under those circumstances and a realistic depiction of those circumstances, which we have now all lived through in one way or another, it didn't really go anywhere for me. Joan didn't really change. Maybe that's the point, but I was disappointed by it. Weike Wang crafts a sentence well but she doesn't really craft a book well. That was my takeaway.
Joan is obviously on the autism spectrum and she is our narrator, so that part reminded me of "The Maid." She's a doctor who refuses to take time off from the hospital until HR forces her to do so. Her nosy next door neighbor slowly furnishes her house with his cast-offs and finally throws a party for her at her house which she flees to her fancy, rich brother's fancy rich house in Connecticut.
That's the part that reminds me of "The Verifiers." She is at odds with her Asian family because she doesn't feel any attraction to marriage or to their signifiers of success, much like the main character of "The Verifiers." Like that character, she is younger than her older sibling so she was born in the U.S. and therefore got to spend more time with her parents.
Some of the first part of the book is interesting, poignant, quirky and even funny. Then AIDS hits and Joan is called back into the hospital. She deals with covid, anti-Asian prejudice, gets covid herself. She has the excuse of the pandemic to install a deadbolt lock in her apartment and get away from the neighbor. And while it's a realistic portrait of what it would be like to be that character under those circumstances and a realistic depiction of those circumstances, which we have now all lived through in one way or another, it didn't really go anywhere for me. Joan didn't really change. Maybe that's the point, but I was disappointed by it. Weike Wang crafts a sentence well but she doesn't really craft a book well. That was my takeaway.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes