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carolynrasp's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I will read anything PRK writes, so I've had his backlist books on my TBR, and this one was no exception to the excellence of narrative non-fiction he provides. I had no clue about the Chinese human smuggling trade, and this was a WILD story that had me going "what!?!?!" multiple times. It was a lot of people to keep track of, and I lost my way a bit in the middle, but overall, an excellent telling of a dramatic immigration story and some critique on policy.
cayleigh's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Patrick Radden Keefe is has quickly become one of my favourite nonfiction writers. Like any good one, he always situates the specific instance he writes about within the larger narrative and makes it clear just why this story is important. Although this one wasn't my favourite of his (to be fair, I've rated two of his books 5 stars), it was a worthwhile read and I learned a great deal about this specific incident and broader experiences of Chinese Americans.
litlineup's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.0
clondonk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
cnnr876's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
4.0
having read most of his bibliography, this is definitely my least favorite patrick radden keefe books. and yet, it's still really good lol. his writing is terrific, and his understanding of structure and pacing are unmatched in narrative nonfiction. worth a read!