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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Joan is a 30-something ICU doctor in a New York hospital and a second-generation Chinese immigrant. The book is set in the months leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic. Readers follow Joan shuttle between her work, her apartment and her brother’s house in Connecticut. Not much happened at a glance, but a lot of things brewing under the surface: mother-daughter, father-daughter relationships, sibling relationship, immigration experiences, racial tensions, women’s place in the world, etc, etc... The shy, lonely Joan possesses a clear-eyed observation and a sharp-tongued wit.
The immigration experience in this novel is highly relatable.
The immigration experience in this novel is highly relatable.
I really enjoyed this book! The writing style is unique and illustrates the protagonist, Joan, well. The somewhat plain writing style stands in contrast to the many things going on in Joan’s life (and mostly, in her head). As usual, I wish there would have been a bit more conclusion to the end of the book, but I also feel that the abrupt ending suited the writing style and the main character.
Joan is a first generation Chinese American, middle 30s ICU doctor living and working in New York City. The way in which she lives her life is lauded by her boss, off putting by her brother and his wife, her coworkers and HR, and a science project for her new neighbor. The story follows Joan through a death of a family member, through the beginning of the covid pandemic and her journey to make sense of the world around her.
What I love about Wang’s writing is everything I love in a book: clever, insightful, and concise. Her ability to capture nuance with wit is superb.
What I love about Wang’s writing is everything I love in a book: clever, insightful, and concise. Her ability to capture nuance with wit is superb.
This book was written in a unique way and gave insight to a Chinese American perspective. Unfortunately I never connected w the book and had to force myself to power through.
I loved Joan, a 30-something Chinese-American ICU doctor who begins this novel (which spans the six months before the onset of Covid-19 in the US) as she learns her beloved father has died unexpectedly and takes a weekend off of work to attend his funeral in China. That Joan loathes flying first class and downgrades her return ticket to coach speaks volumes about this unassuming character.
Joan, the only member of her immediate family born in the US, is often the odd person. Mom and Dad returned to China once Joan and her older, conspicuously successful brother Fang were college-aged. Joan remembers the many moves, her mother cleaning houses, and her father's many labor-heavy jobs as her parents attempted to achieve the American dream. She and Fang managed to do well for themselves though her brother and mother don't show the same respect for Joan's successful career trajectory at the hospital. The hospital is the closest thing to a home for Joan. Her parents moved around. Fang, though older, didn't join them in the US until they were a bit more settled.
Now a successful woman in a lovely NYC apartment, Joan is the very definition of minimalist until her new, more extroverted neighbor Mark starts giving her cast-off furniture, food, and even a television. The coming of Covid-19 is handled well and coincides with bereavement leave the hospital insists Joan take. Similarly, her mother endures an extended stay at Fang's house as airline travel is restricted.
Joan's witty, detached, and super serious narration reveal she saw every humiliation her parents experienced in trying to make a success in a country in which they weren't made to feel welcome. Her parents demonstrated resiliency no matter what the adversity. These are traits Joan uses in her career as a doctor. I loved this novel.
Joan, the only member of her immediate family born in the US, is often the odd person. Mom and Dad returned to China once Joan and her older, conspicuously successful brother Fang were college-aged. Joan remembers the many moves, her mother cleaning houses, and her father's many labor-heavy jobs as her parents attempted to achieve the American dream. She and Fang managed to do well for themselves though her brother and mother don't show the same respect for Joan's successful career trajectory at the hospital. The hospital is the closest thing to a home for Joan. Her parents moved around. Fang, though older, didn't join them in the US until they were a bit more settled.
Now a successful woman in a lovely NYC apartment, Joan is the very definition of minimalist until her new, more extroverted neighbor Mark starts giving her cast-off furniture, food, and even a television. The coming of Covid-19 is handled well and coincides with bereavement leave the hospital insists Joan take. Similarly, her mother endures an extended stay at Fang's house as airline travel is restricted.
Joan's witty, detached, and super serious narration reveal she saw every humiliation her parents experienced in trying to make a success in a country in which they weren't made to feel welcome. Her parents demonstrated resiliency no matter what the adversity. These are traits Joan uses in her career as a doctor. I loved this novel.
I loved this portrait of a neurodiverse doctor managing her life in New York as the Covid-19 pandemic hits hard and fast. Joan's pandemic days take on the mind-numbing monotony that everyone's did in the early days of Covid, but she's well-suited to the repetitive nature of her work and relatively isolated life. She's direct, honest, and doesn't always communicate in ways that make sense to those around her. When she's forced to take time off however, she's forced to acknowledge some of her negative behavior patterns.
I loved this book, but not everyone will enjoy her very literal first-person narrative style. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.
I loved this book, but not everyone will enjoy her very literal first-person narrative style. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.
A difficult to describe book, maybe an in-depth character study of a contemporary picture of a daughter of Chinese immigrants. The writing is fun to get lost in, after finishing the book I wonder if Joan really is okay?
Joan has always been completely comfortable being herself — a straightforward person with simple desires. But everyone else seems to want her to be someone else, like in her job as an ICU doctor, where everyone always wants more of her, and her Chinese family, who demand she fit their expectations. But when her father dies and her mother is determined to grow closer to her children, Joan is pushed from her comfort zone. And then there’s a global pandemic that will completely change every aspect of Joan’s life.
To be honest, I've been really avoiding reading books that deal directly with Covid because it feels too soon. But it was only in like the last third of this book, and reading it through Joan's honest, no-nonsense perspective actually made it okay. And beyond that, it was a unique and intriguing slice of life narrative that I fully enjoyed from beginning to end. NO ONE EVER ASK JOAN TO CHANGE. SHE'S JUST PERFECT AS SHE IS.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
To be honest, I've been really avoiding reading books that deal directly with Covid because it feels too soon. But it was only in like the last third of this book, and reading it through Joan's honest, no-nonsense perspective actually made it okay. And beyond that, it was a unique and intriguing slice of life narrative that I fully enjoyed from beginning to end. NO ONE EVER ASK JOAN TO CHANGE. SHE'S JUST PERFECT AS SHE IS.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I loved this book. I love this author's writing. Somehow I didn't realize this book was going to address the pandemic until fairly far in, and I thought it did it well. I was already totally captivated by the main character and her mix of matter-of-factness and deadpan nature. Plus it integrated grief over death of a parent in a nuanced manner. And it was funny! An excellent book.
Joan is witty, funny, endearing, relatable, and felt like a real person to me. Reads like a memoir though apparently it’s fiction — is this what representation feels like?!
Besides Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (also a novel but also felt autobiographical), most books I’ve read from Asian American writers are nonfiction/memoirs. I saw myself in Joan, I saw my friends in Joan, though Joan is much funnier, :) So refreshing to see more and more writers of color, especially Asian American writers, in fiction, introducing characters I can both relate to and learn from.
Besides Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (also a novel but also felt autobiographical), most books I’ve read from Asian American writers are nonfiction/memoirs. I saw myself in Joan, I saw my friends in Joan, though Joan is much funnier, :) So refreshing to see more and more writers of color, especially Asian American writers, in fiction, introducing characters I can both relate to and learn from.