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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
Too long, but I enjoyed the insight into the life of an Asian-American family and the challenges of dealing with a declining parent.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
i wanted to enjoy this more than i did. it felt like a lot of build up for little pay off, and ultimately many of the characters were unlikeable in a way that was not enjoyable.
i wished we were given more interactions within the family and MUCH less of the mindless business jargon that didn't add much to anything. i really zoned out any time we turned to Fred's "business" meetings or Kate's weird company that sounded too Elon-musk for my liking.
i really thought Linda's storyline was so interesting but it completely fizzled toward the end. It could have been explored so much further. 100 pages of Fred's nonsense could have been cut and replaced with more from Linda and the book would be vastly improved.
ultimately i was hoping for more FAMILY in this family drama, and it unfortunately lost itself in the business mechanics of it all.
also, the racism... SO much racism... I mean, I understand this is supposed to be satire, but it was extremely uncomfortable to read. It really made it difficult to root for any character. They were all either extremely racist or misogynistic or both. ick.
i wished we were given more interactions within the family and MUCH less of the mindless business jargon that didn't add much to anything. i really zoned out any time we turned to Fred's "business" meetings or Kate's weird company that sounded too Elon-musk for my liking.
i really thought Linda's storyline was so interesting but it completely fizzled toward the end. It could have been explored so much further. 100 pages of Fred's nonsense could have been cut and replaced with more from Linda and the book would be vastly improved.
ultimately i was hoping for more FAMILY in this family drama, and it unfortunately lost itself in the business mechanics of it all.
also, the racism... SO much racism... I mean, I understand this is supposed to be satire, but it was extremely uncomfortable to read. It really made it difficult to root for any character. They were all either extremely racist or misogynistic or both. ick.
This book was pretty decent. It didn’t necessarily keep me on my toes but it wasn’t super emotional either. I wanted to see the story through. I kind of want some more actually. I feel this delves into how a family functions when they all share a common history and how each member could be dealing with things that are unknown to the rest.
I love books about family relationships, no matter how dysfunctional, and this book gave me just that. Most of the characters were not like-able, there were bad choices made, and there were unresolved problems - just like in real life.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ugh, this was so boring… 2.5 stars at most.
LIKES:
1) diverse book and story. I will always try and give non white authors the benefit of the doubt and pick up their books. Their stories need to be told
2) pretty accurate family fiction
DISLIKES:
1) where this was well written the characters didn’t really do anything of substance except be awful to each other. I struggled to find one character that I liked and if I don’t like the characters I tend to not like the books.
2) cheating spouses… no thank you. Hate this trope
3) on a more personal note: dying parents, especially dad, hit too close to home. the description of his hospice at home setting was what my mom went through and it was too much for me.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for this edition in exchange for an honest review!
LIKES:
1) diverse book and story. I will always try and give non white authors the benefit of the doubt and pick up their books. Their stories need to be told
2) pretty accurate family fiction
DISLIKES:
1) where this was well written the characters didn’t really do anything of substance except be awful to each other. I struggled to find one character that I liked and if I don’t like the characters I tend to not like the books.
2) cheating spouses… no thank you. Hate this trope
3) on a more personal note: dying parents, especially dad, hit too close to home. the description of his hospice at home setting was what my mom went through and it was too much for me.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for this edition in exchange for an honest review!
I was really disappointed in this book. I thought it would be a fun filled book, albeit a little dark, about the family dynamics & drama about a family dealing with the death of the patriarch. The whole book is discussing who gets what inheritance then nothing is really revealed at the end! Yes, it’s mentioned Stanley was not good with his money & spend it all but how much it ended up being & what happened to his new wife Mary was completely omitted. This book was a chore to read at times, particularly the Fred chapters. So much unnecessary venture capital jargon that added almost nothing to the story. I didn’t expect this book to be so classist without acknowledgement.
The first ~100 pages are rough. I couldn’t follow the sentences without rereading a few times, felt like I was crazy or missed entire words. The writing did mellow out and concluded in what was ultimately an easy entertaining story.