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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Listened to the audiobook. Complicated characters and a lot of quiet introspection and empathy.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF. Joan is an autistic-coded ICU doctor at a hospital based on one in Manhattan.
I'm more of a plot person, so if I'm going to stick with something very slow and character-driven, I need to really enjoy being in the main character's head. I got about a third of the way through before Joan's internal monologue became too depressing for me to continue.
Did not assign a star rating because this one just wasn't for me.
I'm more of a plot person, so if I'm going to stick with something very slow and character-driven, I need to really enjoy being in the main character's head. I got about a third of the way through before Joan's internal monologue became too depressing for me to continue.
Did not assign a star rating because this one just wasn't for me.
This book was interesting. The telling was very internal: quotation marks are never used. We're just seeing the world completely through the main character's eyes, almost passively. The character, Joan, does not reveal a lot. And what she does reveal is veiled by a very dry sense of humor. It's hard to get a full sense of her as a character. It feels like she's extremely introverted and may even be perceived as awkward by the people around her.
What keeps the story particularly compelling is that Joan is and Asian American woman in healthcare in New York City in 2019 and 2020. The sense of inevitability and fear for what she might face kept the tension rising, along with the lack of definitive chapter breaks. I felt propelled through this novel. Also, this is the second novel that I've read now that references the COVID-19 pandemic for the story . . . and it is a little surreal? unsettling? disorienting? I suppose this is how people have always felt in history when their life experiences become the past and they're still living.
This would be a good book club novel. There would be plenty of topics to discuss!
What keeps the story particularly compelling is that Joan is and Asian American woman in healthcare in New York City in 2019 and 2020. The sense of inevitability and fear for what she might face kept the tension rising, along with the lack of definitive chapter breaks. I felt propelled through this novel. Also, this is the second novel that I've read now that references the COVID-19 pandemic for the story . . . and it is a little surreal? unsettling? disorienting? I suppose this is how people have always felt in history when their life experiences become the past and they're still living.
This would be a good book club novel. There would be plenty of topics to discuss!
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been meaning to read this for awhile because I loved Chemistry. While I enjoyed this book, I do prefer Chemistry? The narrators are extremely similar in attitude and tone, but Chemistry's narrator felt... sharper? Joan is older and more settled in her accomplishments and identity than Chemistry's narrator, but they both have difficulties with relating to other people and interacting with their families. While Chemistry's narrator was more relatable in her unsure direction for life (and closer to myself in age), I found Joan extremely relatable still and very funny (even if she doesn't intend to be). Wang's dry humor and matter-of-fact narration is something I can always turn to.
Generally, I dislike media that talk about the pandemic- many feel either overdramatic or just out of touch with reality. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. Maybe because this is from the perspective of an ICU doctor? It felt like a love letter to health care workers and essential workers during these times. Their sacrifices coupled with Joan's straightforward voice really captures a sense of "it is what it is" in a way I really appreciated. Idk it just felt like ah this is reality. On that note, I wish we got more on the ending since it felt a little abrupt. I loved the ending scene but it felt a bit like it came from nowhere.
Generally, I dislike media that talk about the pandemic- many feel either overdramatic or just out of touch with reality. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. Maybe because this is from the perspective of an ICU doctor? It felt like a love letter to health care workers and essential workers during these times. Their sacrifices coupled with Joan's straightforward voice really captures a sense of "it is what it is" in a way I really appreciated. Idk it just felt like ah this is reality. On that note, I wish we got more on the ending since it felt a little abrupt. I loved the ending scene but it felt a bit like it came from nowhere.
I enjoyed this book and was saddened when I reached the end since there were so many question I felt were left unanswered but that may have been my curiosity showing. I felt myself relating much to Joan and was invested in her from page 1. The only part that was hard for me to get through was the all too real depiction of the Covid19 pandemic from a doctor's perspective. Overall, this is a book I would recommend to my friends for a quick read.
So I just kind of find myself staring at the closed book wondering…what was this book about? I appreciate learning from an author who writes about the Asian American perspective, what it meant to be an immigrant (this was not a memoir, so all writing was written in fiction form). But the plot of the story, given that this was a work of fiction, was just…lacking and confusing to me.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes