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linnea1801'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
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Deportation
Minor: Forced institutionalization and War
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: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Death, Drug use, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
indeedithappens'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Deportation
Minor: Violence, Colonisation, and War
bruhbruh'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
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, War, and Deportation
Minor: Religious bigotry
bookshelfhannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and War
kyrstin_p1989'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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
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: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual harassment
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: Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
katherine_kelley'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
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Emotional abuse
marialenov'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, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and War