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roseleaf24's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful storytelling. I love how much Yang is able to pack into the few words of a graphic novel. I missed his illustrations, though.
coleycole's review against another edition
3.0
Good, solid, but not as transcendently awesome as Yang's American Born Chinese or The Eternal Smile. Still, pretty satisfying.
sparklethenpop's review
3.0
This was a quick read. It was a great exploration of life and parental expectations, not quite as good as American Born Chinese though.
wrentheblurry's review
4.0
So far I have yet to read a book by Gene Luen Yang that I don't like. I was drawn to this one not only because he is the author, but the old-school Gameboy cover and video game premise intrigued me. I read this as a bedtime story to my sons (Warren, 12 and Trev, 10) over several nights. We all had some good laugh-out-loud moments, though I was the only one that shed any tears. Trev says he would give it a 3: "I wasn't really into the whole storyline. I liked that it had humor and it was written well."
The story centers around a young man (Dennis) who is trying to find his place in the world. When a group of odd angels show up and announce that his destiny is to enter medical school and specialize in gastroenterology, that's just what he does. Yet Dennis has some father issues to sort through, and just when everything feels like it's going great (he's got friends, he's got a crush, he's rockin' school), he has to make some decisions about his life, and his future.
Better for teens (and close to teens) than tweens, great for late high-schoolers and kids in college, and just fine for adults!
The story centers around a young man (Dennis) who is trying to find his place in the world. When a group of odd angels show up and announce that his destiny is to enter medical school and specialize in gastroenterology, that's just what he does. Yet Dennis has some father issues to sort through, and just when everything feels like it's going great (he's got friends, he's got a crush, he's rockin' school), he has to make some decisions about his life, and his future.
Better for teens (and close to teens) than tweens, great for late high-schoolers and kids in college, and just fine for adults!
kingtess's review
5.0
An incredible graphic novel about the expectations placed upon a young man by his parents. I was especially drawn to his inner turmoil because (surprise!) I recognize and empathize. I didn't expect such a short book to provoke so much thought, but I'll definitely be chewing over the concepts presented for a good while.
lannthacker's review against another edition
3.0
Not as compelling as American Born Chinese, but an enjoyable read. The angels were a bit of an odd device but I went with it.
magpienicky's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
j45rpm's review against another edition
5.0
Thien Pham's artwork is lovely, and Gene Luen Yang's writing is really powerful. It sneaks up on you--I wasn't expecting to be moved, but I was.
whitneymouse's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like [b:American Born Chinese|118944|American Born Chinese|Gene Luen Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317066615l/118944._SX50_.jpg|114515], but I saw this at my local library and thought I'd give Yang another chance. I didn't like this either, so it may just be a mismatch between me and this author.
This was a strange, kind of incoherent story. My issues with American Born Chinese was that the stories didn't all come together until the very end and it felt very slapped together. I had a similar issue with this. The ending was more cohesive with this, where he found he could combine his studies with his passion, but it still was...kind of a let down.
The story is strange. I didn't understand the angel/pac-man ghosts. They were very aggressive and the explanation given for their appearance wasn't satisfactory to me. I also didn't like that there was this dichotomy for most of the book between playing games and succeeding academically. You can do both at the same time, but this presents it as a one or the other choice. I also didn't understand the choice of the character to continue in a field of medicine that clearly made him queasy and uncomfortable.
Overall, it wasn't the right book for me. I'm sure someone will enjoy this, but it felt disjointed and wasn't a book I was super into.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This was a strange, kind of incoherent story. My issues with American Born Chinese was that the stories didn't all come together until the very end and it felt very slapped together. I had a similar issue with this. The ending was more cohesive with this, where he found he could combine his studies with his passion, but it still was...kind of a let down.
The story is strange. I didn't understand the angel/pac-man ghosts. They were very aggressive and the explanation given for their appearance wasn't satisfactory to me. I also didn't like that there was this dichotomy for most of the book between playing games and succeeding academically. You can do both at the same time, but this presents it as a one or the other choice. I also didn't understand the choice of the character to continue in a field of medicine that clearly made him queasy and uncomfortable.
Overall, it wasn't the right book for me. I'm sure someone will enjoy this, but it felt disjointed and wasn't a book I was super into.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5