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calicat42'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
emfass'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 also ended up loving the interludes where Lo added chapters from the point of view of Lily's parents and aunt, to give voice to the many ways immigration, racism, and living a life spanning multiple cultures affects people.
I deeply appreciate the way Malinda Lo incorporated so much research as well as inspiration from her own family to create such a realistic, respectful view into San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950s. I also loved reading her Author's Note at the end, which gave historical context to so much of the story.
I listened to this on audio and narrator Emily Woo Zeller was wonderful.
This is going to be one of my favorite reads of 2023.
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Police brutality, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Deportation
Minor: Body horror, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
This isn't just "realizing you're gay and falling in love"; it's "realizing you're gay and falling in love while living in a world where everything else keeps happening."
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Red Scare/Lavender Scareclemrain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The ambition of talking about Chinese immigrants as well as the butch/queer scene of America as well as communism and America all in one novel was high. These three big ideas can coexist but in this novel they were not fully realized. There was too much going on and majority of it had no time to truly be resolved.
The ending was too rushed. The first half of the book took a while to ramp up. But I enjoyed it. It was so deeply researched and written. The intimate and realistic depiction of Lily learning about her queerness accompanied by the harsh reality of being Asian was gorgeous and relatable. But what was set up so carefully in the first part of the book did not pay off with such detail and satisfaction in the last part of the book.
Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Outing, and Classism
Minor: Racial slurs, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War
filipa_maia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Malinda Lo created a story with so many layers that is impossible that you don't feel connected with the characters. The way Lily discovers her sexuality and her love for Kath is so well written that makes you root for them. I spent half of the story rooting for them not to be discovered and the other half just wishing that they could tell the world about their love (and also very worried about the implications of that love for them and Lily's family).
Discovering this "underground world" with Lily was very interesting and such an important and informative reading.
Graphic: Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Outing and Abandonment
Minor: Miscarriage
terrestrial_river'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
Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual content, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
sapphicreaderlucy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Abandonment
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
scrunklyguy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I really liked this book even if the pace is slower than what I usually read. I actually quite enjoyed reading all the little details and even if ever so often I remembered a detail that turned out to not matter all that much story-wise it didn't feel like I wasted my time reading words for nothing.
And if you're like me and you dislike reading spicy scenes this book is great because it barely contains any (explicit that is, there of course are mentions of sex and sometimes it's more than others but overall I didn't feel like it was too difficult to read)
A thing that shocked me was the language use in this book. Many words that today would be considered very offensive were used and at first it made me upset but I later realized it was simply the author trying to stay true to the 50's, so naturally that kind of language was used back then.
This book definitely made me reflect on many things and I really recommend reading this book.
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Minor: Drug use, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
kshertz'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
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Deportation