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itadakinasu's review
4.0
Money Boy is a brutal, depressing look into the lives of Chinese immigrants in North America. Make no mistake, as painful as this book is to read, it's equally realistic.
Yee captures the mindset of modern China in all its complexity. I was constantly impressed by how saturated this book was by authenticity- I almost felt like I was back in China, myself. By the 33% mark, I had already highlighted over a dozen passages that perfectly encapsulated the generational struggles of Chinese people.
While it wasn't easy for me to relate to Ray, I could sympathize with his struggles. Having lived in China and having met many people similar to him, I could understand a lot of his behavior that confused readers unfamiliar with Chinese culture. Watching his descent into poverty and eventually prostitution was hard to stomach because really it could happen to any of my friends if they were in his position.
Some reviewers disliked Ray. I think a lot of their criticism comes from cultural differences between China and the West. I'll put my explanations here under a spoiler tag to avoid a wall of text for a review, but there are no spoilers here:
Chinese people don't easily share their personal problems with anyone, even their own families. Doing so is shameful and shows a lack of discipline and character, even if it isn't within your control (being poor, being gay, etc).
For Chinese people, being gay isn't just another qualifier like being short or having curly hair. It isn't something that is tolerated, much less embraced. Chinese people still use electroshock "conversion" therapy to zap out the gay. Although some participants successfully sued for damages dues to conversion therapy, these conversion therapists are still being promoted and are allowed to continue "treatment" as of 2019.
Chinese society is brutal to students. They wake up around 6am to study before school, go to cram schools after school, and then spend the majority of their evenings doing homework. Most of my Chinese friends only stopped studying to eat, sleep, or attend lectures. Almost everyone I know from China needs glasses or contact lenses due to eye strain caused by reading. Ray grew up like that.
Then he was forced to go to a foreign country that he doesn't know anything about. He has no friends there and has to live in a strange house with people he doesn't know. In China, a kid from a previous marriage joining the new family is a pretty big taboo. He can't speak the local language but is being constantly harassed and his character measured based on his ability with it. His family in China can't keep in touch with him like they did before, and he feels the gradual loss of his friendships back home. His only escape is through video games, where he can do familiar things with familiar people in a familiar language. Is it such a hard thing to understand?
Looking at the negative reviews, I find myself unsurprised but slightly disappointed. It seems like the message in this book was lost on a lot of people due to the cultural gap.
Yee captures the mindset of modern China in all its complexity. I was constantly impressed by how saturated this book was by authenticity- I almost felt like I was back in China, myself. By the 33% mark, I had already highlighted over a dozen passages that perfectly encapsulated the generational struggles of Chinese people.
While it wasn't easy for me to relate to Ray, I could sympathize with his struggles. Having lived in China and having met many people similar to him, I could understand a lot of his behavior that confused readers unfamiliar with Chinese culture. Watching his descent into poverty and eventually prostitution was hard to stomach because really it could happen to any of my friends if they were in his position.
Some reviewers disliked Ray. I think a lot of their criticism comes from cultural differences between China and the West. I'll put my explanations here under a spoiler tag to avoid a wall of text for a review, but there are no spoilers here:
Spoiler
Chinese people don't easily share their personal problems with anyone, even their own families. Doing so is shameful and shows a lack of discipline and character, even if it isn't within your control (being poor, being gay, etc).
For Chinese people, being gay isn't just another qualifier like being short or having curly hair. It isn't something that is tolerated, much less embraced. Chinese people still use electroshock "conversion" therapy to zap out the gay. Although some participants successfully sued for damages dues to conversion therapy, these conversion therapists are still being promoted and are allowed to continue "treatment" as of 2019.
Chinese society is brutal to students. They wake up around 6am to study before school, go to cram schools after school, and then spend the majority of their evenings doing homework. Most of my Chinese friends only stopped studying to eat, sleep, or attend lectures. Almost everyone I know from China needs glasses or contact lenses due to eye strain caused by reading. Ray grew up like that.
Then he was forced to go to a foreign country that he doesn't know anything about. He has no friends there and has to live in a strange house with people he doesn't know. In China, a kid from a previous marriage joining the new family is a pretty big taboo. He can't speak the local language but is being constantly harassed and his character measured based on his ability with it. His family in China can't keep in touch with him like they did before, and he feels the gradual loss of his friendships back home. His only escape is through video games, where he can do familiar things with familiar people in a familiar language. Is it such a hard thing to understand?
Looking at the negative reviews, I find myself unsurprised but slightly disappointed. It seems like the message in this book was lost on a lot of people due to the cultural gap.
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but didn't love it. I feel that if it had been given a little bit more length and polish time, that it could have been a great book. The book felt rushed, which isn't surprising considering that the book is less than 200 pages (with small dimensions, at that) but tries to encompass not only a teenage coming-of-age story, but the coming-of-age story of a gay young man who is also struggling with biculturalism, immigration and acclimatization and complicated family relationships (overbearing strict father-son, sibling-stepsibling, stepson-stepmother, son-negligent/absent mother). Money Boy also includes the topics of homelessness, the myriad of topics that fall under "gay culture" and racial stereotypes. Any one of these topics could easily have taken up a 350+ page novel, so Money Boy is merely a glimpse into all of these things, and left me wanting more depth. The resolution of the novel zoomed past and made me cry deus ex machina since it seems like, out of nowhere, the main character gathers the fortitude not only to completely come out of the closet to his family and friends, but also venture outside of his comfort zone more frequently to interact with others (both in Boystown and in English). I know that I've seen too many Jillian Michaels workout DVDs, because my brain's response to this was, "Transformation is not a[n]]...event; it's a present activity!" The ending left me feeling like it was too-good-to-be-true, but I did appreciate that the novel had a "happy ending" so that it was hopeful at the end, something that I think should be present in most literature geared toward children and young adults.
In addition to the novel feeling rushed, I could forsee Money Boy's brief snapshop as rubbing people the wrong way because its length and extent of idea development may leave people feeling like some of the ideas are too stereotypical (e.g. overbearing Chinese father who constantly nags about his sons' grades, young gay men turning tricks to make ends meet, religious Chinese girls, online gamers). There is also a bluntness to Paul Yee's writing style that might give people this impression, but, personally, I feel that he chose to write the book in that style to make the narration sound authentically like a conflicted, if sometimes annoyingly self-absorbed, teenage boy. Because these things, and because novel touches upon so many different issues, I think that Money Boy should be taken with a grain of salt; for the same reasons, I think that it would be a very interesting springboard for conversation in a (teenage) book group.
P.S. I don't think that the title "Money Boy" is necessarily fitting, since I wouldn't say that the novel is mainly about Ray being a money boy or money boys in general, which could give the wrong impression (assuming that it is common knowledge what a "money boy" is).
In addition to the novel feeling rushed, I could forsee Money Boy's brief snapshop as rubbing people the wrong way because its length and extent of idea development may leave people feeling like some of the ideas are too stereotypical (e.g. overbearing Chinese father who constantly nags about his sons' grades, young gay men turning tricks to make ends meet, religious Chinese girls, online gamers). There is also a bluntness to Paul Yee's writing style that might give people this impression, but, personally, I feel that he chose to write the book in that style to make the narration sound authentically like a conflicted, if sometimes annoyingly self-absorbed, teenage boy. Because these things, and because novel touches upon so many different issues, I think that Money Boy should be taken with a grain of salt; for the same reasons, I think that it would be a very interesting springboard for conversation in a (teenage) book group.
P.S. I don't think that the title "Money Boy" is necessarily fitting, since I wouldn't say that the novel is mainly about Ray being a money boy or money boys in general, which could give the wrong impression (assuming that it is common knowledge what a "money boy" is).
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
Talk about your Tiger Dad: Ray's Ba is always after him to study, work hard, get good grades (the fact that Ba was in the army and police force helps with the yelling part). The problem is that Ray isn't a good student, much more interested in hanging out and playing Rebel State, an on-line war game. And he's gay. When Ba finds out, he kicks Ray out of the house, forcing Ray onto the Toronto streets. His life of deprivation and making ends meet as a "money boy" (prostitute) only lasts a week, but it's a long week and Ray is a stronger, wiser person at the end.
This is a quick read, highlighting the similarities that gay youth have while also being about a very different culture, that of the Chinese-Canadian immigrant. The ending is a little too pat for my taste, with Ray returning home and finding acceptance from everyone but his father (who, we learn throughout the book, has failed consistently at one career or another). Still, the writing and the themes are what won this a deserved Stonewall Award.
This is a quick read, highlighting the similarities that gay youth have while also being about a very different culture, that of the Chinese-Canadian immigrant. The ending is a little too pat for my taste, with Ray returning home and finding acceptance from everyone but his father (who, we learn throughout the book, has failed consistently at one career or another). Still, the writing and the themes are what won this a deserved Stonewall Award.
katie_luder's review against another edition
4.0
I think this book could have greatly benefited from 50-100 more pages, to expand the story and the characters. However it was an interesting coming of age story about a Chinese-Canadian boy, being kicked out of his home for being gay. Lots of elements going on, and too quickly in such a short book. It was a great read for a single afternoon.
abigailbat's review against another edition
2.0
A Stonewall honor book, this is an important contribution to YA lit because it's unique - a Chinese immigrant teen's experiences when his strict father kicks him out for being gay. But I didn't connect with Paul Yee's writing style and I never really felt like I got to know Ray enough to care very much about his plight. However, I will say that Ray's story is one I won't soon forget.
sunbear98's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting story fairly well told except for a very unrealistic ending.
lleullawgyffes's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I wish Yee had either spent more time on the Rebel State subplot to better integrate it into the story (which would have given its ending more power) or left it out — as it was it felt kind of shoehorned in, distracting. aside from that, though: wow. that was a lot, especially for such a short book. wow.
akweley_mazarae's review against another edition
Rating: 4*
This is actually a really powerful book, as short as it is. I liked that he not only showed the difficulties of being an immigrant, but also growing up to be your own person, especially when you are the child of traditionalists.
This is actually a really powerful book, as short as it is. I liked that he not only showed the difficulties of being an immigrant, but also growing up to be your own person, especially when you are the child of traditionalists.