Reviews

Which Side Are You On by Ryan Lee Wong

mbfox's review

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emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

hellarachel's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

ek_aoyama's review

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funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

neyonte's review

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emotional funny hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

melbplease's review

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4.0

I’m glad I picked this book up at folio! One of the cover reviews describes it as “salty and sincere”, and I liked it. I will recommend to friends.

shuggylay's review

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reflective

3.25

victoriathuyvi's review

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4.0

I loved the intergenerational discussion of politics from the perspective of an Asian American family - so often unspoken of. The depiction of a college student's wide-eyed activism was so realistic and the conversations with his parents rang true to my own life (in general). A lot of growth from both the son and the parents.

ridgewaygirl's review

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4.0

Reed returns to his parents' house in LA after a year at Columbia ready to tell them he's dropping out to devote himself to activism. But even with politically active parents, it's not so easy to get their approval and his modern, twitter-friendly activism isn't entirely compatible with his parents', and especially his mother's, way of working for change.

Set in Los Angeles' Korean community, this book is an exploration of left-wing political activism, both current and in the past, specifically in aftermath of the unrest in the early nineties. This is a debut novel and it often leans too heavily into a caricature of twitter activism, with Reed often unable to think or speak outside of a narrow idea of what is right, but even as he behaves like a stereo-type, he's still somehow likable. And his parents are remarkable, especially his mother, who worked to improve relations between the Korean and Black communities during a time of high tension.

In addition to the discussions about how to work towards change, this novel is a picture of an Asian American family and of the Korean community in Los Angeles. It also provides another viewpoint on the LA riots of 1992 and the murder of Latasha Harlins. While it often felt ham-handed, it was well-written, and the setting and subject matter were fascinating enough to offset that flaw.

maralyons's review

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5.0

Which Side Are You On is a sharply written and succinct novel about an idealistic young man on the precipice of a major life change. Reed attends university at Columbia and has become involved with left-wing activists. He plans to leave school to organize in his community and help the movement.

We first meet him when he's visiting his family in Los Angeles to visit his dying grandmother. His mother is Korean, and his father is Chinese and met while pursuing social justice causes in the 1970s. I especially loved the dialogue between Reed and his mother. Though she has a background in activism, she is wary of his plans to drop out of his school. She is whipsmart and cynical. His father is a thoughtful intellectual. The generational differences between parents and son were so well-written. I really enjoyed this novel and its characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

balkeyeston's review

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4.0

3.5, but rounded up for the ending

If I could have one more chance to ask my parents and grandparents about their lives before me, I don’t think I’d be a writer today. I feel that same conviction from the author when reading Which Side are You On. There is so much thought meandering through this book about what it means to be an activist when it feels as if nothing has changed and the generations before us had to abandon the cause because the system of oppression from the generation before could not be broken.

If you are interested in reading a deeply introspective novel that changes how you pursue activism and systemic liberation, this is the one for you.