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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
A specific character study, Wang's latest explores themes of ethnicity, immigration, family, and self through the truly distinct character of Joan. A 30-something doctor in a New York City ICU, Joan lives and breathes her job; in essence, it IS her identity. After her father dies unexpectedly, she travels to China--over a mere weekend--to attend his funeral. While there she interacts with her mother, who emigrated to the United States to give Joan and her brother Fang a chance at the American Dream. Once those paths were secured, she went right back to China.
After returning from the funeral, Joan's personality starts to be revealed. Stoic and obtuse in social situations, she has a sparsely furnished apartment, no social life, and would rather work than not. She has trouble understanding her mother and brother, and seems lost about just how to grieve her father. When she's forced to take a 6-week break from work just as the pandemic is exploding in China and beyond, the issues she's been struggling with--her mother, her grief, her sense of self as a Chinese-American--come to the fore and force her to address them.
It's a credit to Wang that the book doesn't take the expected route of Joan completely changing her personality; she opens up in some ways and stays true to her rigidity in others. She's a refreshingly unique, very specific character, whose story is mostly compelling. Some sections do plod along and I did, at times, wonder if Joan could really be such an emotionally connected doctor to her patients (which we don't see on the page, aside from her struggling with an iPad during a Covid call), yet still so bereft of emotion in her family/social life. Yet even these minor quibbles didn't take away from the bits of humor and heart this book offers.
Much thanks to @NetGalley and @RandomHouse for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
After returning from the funeral, Joan's personality starts to be revealed. Stoic and obtuse in social situations, she has a sparsely furnished apartment, no social life, and would rather work than not. She has trouble understanding her mother and brother, and seems lost about just how to grieve her father. When she's forced to take a 6-week break from work just as the pandemic is exploding in China and beyond, the issues she's been struggling with--her mother, her grief, her sense of self as a Chinese-American--come to the fore and force her to address them.
It's a credit to Wang that the book doesn't take the expected route of Joan completely changing her personality; she opens up in some ways and stays true to her rigidity in others. She's a refreshingly unique, very specific character, whose story is mostly compelling. Some sections do plod along and I did, at times, wonder if Joan could really be such an emotionally connected doctor to her patients (which we don't see on the page, aside from her struggling with an iPad during a Covid call), yet still so bereft of emotion in her family/social life. Yet even these minor quibbles didn't take away from the bits of humor and heart this book offers.
Much thanks to @NetGalley and @RandomHouse for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wang has a unique voice, and I loved getting to know Joan. She is an ICU doctor who appears to be straightforward and single-minded, focusing solely on her work, while those around her want to redefine her in terms of their definitions of success.
A complicated novel with numerous interwoven themes, this was a compelling read even with the unique and odd writing style. No actual dialog, written in the first person, with a flat affect mirroring the narrator's, it took me a bit to get used to it. But the immigrant story, the universality of family and fitting in and the choices we make, and Joan's commentary on all this and the world around her were so thoughtful, wry, and interesting, I ended up not being able to put it down.
Second book in a row that covers some of Covid. Both were well done and though I had convinced myself I wasn't yet ready to read about the virus, apparently I was wrong.
Second book in a row that covers some of Covid. Both were well done and though I had convinced myself I wasn't yet ready to read about the virus, apparently I was wrong.
I enjoyed the sparse writing and voice for Joan. I also enjoyed this book as a character study for an Asian woman reconciling her job, her place in her family and culture, etc with her authentic self. I’m not sure if this book was supposed to be a character study without any character growth/realization, or if I just missed it, but ultimately this book felt a bit empty.
This novel is okay. It didn't really say a lot. Kind of like its protagonist, Joan, a doctor in New York who's by most metrics, a success. Joan and her brother, Fang, grew up with immigrant parents who scraped by, unable to find their way in the so-called American Dream. Experiencing poverty in childhood has shaped the siblings and their adult relationship: Fang fervently chases financial wealth and enjoys a materialistic lifestyle; Joan keeps her head down, happy to be a cog in the machine, quietly resisting the pressures from her family, colleagues, and neighbours to fit into their expectations of her. I'm not sure if the author intended to write Joan as neurodivergent, but her interactions seem to imply so. Overall, this novel had a lot of potential to highlight Joan's experience as a doctor in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, to go in-depth into the sibling and parental family dynamics, but ultimately, felt flat and uninspired.
Edit: The reason I can't enjoy this novel more is that Joan is, to me, such a fundamentally frustrating character because of her passivity. Even in rejecting the norms that are pushed upon her, she never once advocates for herself, just letting herself be berated and belittled, even as she questions the idea of the "model minority".
Edit: The reason I can't enjoy this novel more is that Joan is, to me, such a fundamentally frustrating character because of her passivity. Even in rejecting the norms that are pushed upon her, she never once advocates for herself, just letting herself be berated and belittled, even as she questions the idea of the "model minority".
A short book that packs an emotional punch!
Joan is a first-Gen Chinese American. She is a distinguished ICU attending physician at a NYC hospital. When her father dies, Joan has to navigate her grief before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. People in her life don't understand her, and are urging her to cultivate more of a fulfilling existence outside of her career. Throughout it all, Joan remains unapologeticly herself.
There was so much to love about Joan as a character. She was funny and awkward and all around lovable. Joan reminded me of a more polished mash up of Molly the maid (THE MAID by Nita Prose) and Maddie (MAAME by Jessica George). I loved Joan's voice, and I was okay (get it) with the plot taking a backseat to the character study here.
If anything, I wanted more of Joan's perspective of being an ICU physician during the early days of the pandemic.
Joan is a first-Gen Chinese American. She is a distinguished ICU attending physician at a NYC hospital. When her father dies, Joan has to navigate her grief before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. People in her life don't understand her, and are urging her to cultivate more of a fulfilling existence outside of her career. Throughout it all, Joan remains unapologeticly herself.
There was so much to love about Joan as a character. She was funny and awkward and all around lovable. Joan reminded me of a more polished mash up of Molly the maid (THE MAID by Nita Prose) and Maddie (MAAME by Jessica George). I loved Joan's voice, and I was okay (get it) with the plot taking a backseat to the character study here.
If anything, I wanted more of Joan's perspective of being an ICU physician during the early days of the pandemic.
It was probably my bad for listening to the audiobook. Joan is neurodiverse, and her thoughts are often quickly jumping to adjacent topics, which I’m sure would’ve been fine to read but was hard to follow in audiobook format as a fellow neurodiverse person.
Quick and quirky, but says a lot. If you liked Chemistry, you’ll like this.
"Joan Is Okay" touches on timely and relevant matters, including how Asian Americans are treated in America today, being a woman in a male-dominated workplace, and on remaining independent within a family and society that expects women to act and behave in certain ways. Joan certainly seems to be on the spectrum, exhibiting behavioral challenges associated with autism spectrum disorder or, perhaps, Asperger syndrome. She is unable to correctly read simple verbal or physical cues but is exceptionally intelligent and highly adept in her role as a lead ICU doctor and mentor. Deceptively simple, this novel cleverly weaves together important ideas and insights that take on added meaning in a world grappling with the pandemic.