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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
For some reason I had a very hard time getting into this book. It was super predictable and I found the first half boring. Liked the last half better, and I loved our food at bookclub! Shanghai Garden...yum!
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ugh: Can you say predictable? I skip read the whole last half. Chinese chick lit, in all the negative connotations that go with that--and she has the never to mock Amy Tan, who can, at least, write! Stilted dialogue and high melodrama abound!
Definitely not literature, but mildly entertaining all the same.
Hmmmm. At the beginning as the struggling new york writer is fired and makes her way to Beijing to live with her sister I was interested. As she learns about her sister and finds a job as afoot critic there were a few snappy moments. Then it just turns into a typical trite live story with a sinophile angle. Sort of Bridget Jones Diary done up Chinese American style.
I liked the idea and setting of this book much more than I liked the book itself. It turned out to be basically chick-lit, but set in Beijing. Not even clever or funny chick-lit at that.
This book made me want to do a culinary tour of China. Or at least to go out for dim sum in Oakland sometime.
Really enjoyable, light read.
Really enjoyable, light read.
I really wanted to like this book, but it felt so forced and contrived and predictable at times. I did really love the food descriptions and there was some surprising character development, yet I can't get over this whole book feeling a little...hollow.
3.5 stars. Good, not great. A nice, light “beach” read which was welcome after two heavy topics in a row. Familiar story of young thirty-something losing her way and then finding it, complete with all the romantic and professional hurdles and stumbles. A “happy” ending for all characters you want to matter. I enjoyed the Chinese perspective and it definitely made me miss Beijing.