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egnolan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: War
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
novella42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Misogyny
Minor: War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Gaslighting, and Miscarriage
gilnean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Racism, Colonisation, Alcohol, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Sexism, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Miscarriage, and Blood
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Drug use, Classism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Excrement, War, Gore, and Adult/minor relationship
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Outing, Hate crime, Grief, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, War, Medical content, Violence, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, and Infertility
megelizabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Graphic: War, Child abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
spookily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Classism, Deportation, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Miscarriage
Minor: Gore, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, and Pregnancy
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Lesbophobia, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Deportation, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Confinement
Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy
Pedophilia warning is just in case, for an adult woman behaving flirtatiously towards the teenage protagonist.rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved the mixing of the personal coming of age story with the wider historical and social context of the time. It was also so interesting to see how the author explored the different aspects of Lily's identity, how being both Asian-American and lesbian affected her.
Above all, I was stunned by how the words on the page provoked so many emotions within me. There were so many passages that really struck a chord with me and left me on the floor, knocked out, completely destroyed.
Lily and Kath's relationship was so beautifully developed, it felt raw and tender and hopeful, in spite of all adversities.
Graphic: Racism and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, War, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide, Drug use, Sexual harassment, and Forced institutionalization
whatannikareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
i just felt it was a bit dry the first 100-200 pages, but then it picked up after that. the ending was fine for me, not WOW but not bad. plus i didn’t really connect the flashbacks of the family members to the core plot of the story since they’re not really brought back to light in the present-day plot. also i just didn’t care for shirley as much as she was mentioned in the book lmao the chinatown pageant was just kinda miscellaneous for me. i think the author attempted to shed light on a lot of different social issues at the time: being asian american, being queer, communism, women in STEM, and i think if the plot was a little more focused it would’ve made it a lot stronger.
but i appreciate the research that went into making the fiction fairly accurate for the time period it’s presented in. also i love san francisco :)
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, War, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Miscarriage and Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use