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A review by okiecozyreader
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Taking place over 10 years, from 1935 to 1945, a mother, Cecily looks back over her choices and her role in bringing the Japanese to colonize over the British in Malaya.
The time goes back in forth between the end in 1945 then back 9 years, 8 years, etc and at the same time, the viewpoint of her son, who was taken and put in a camp, as well as other viewpoints.
This is a book to read when you can handle a difficult story. As in many WWII books, there isn’t really anything “good” or happy that happens. At the same time, I found myself thinking about these characters when I wasn’t reading the book.
Many people in the #bookfriendsbookclub really enjoyed the audio for this one - they felt it was well done, so you might consider that if you’re interested in this one.
“…during a war, the only priority was one’s own family.” Ch 1 Cecily
“Isn’t every man a good man and a bad man?” Ch 2 Cecily
“Distance was a deceiver in that way, lulling her into a sense of stability and security,…” ch 15 Cecily
…
“She missed being a woman who cared about something, missed being a woman who was more than just an extension of her house and family.” ch 15 Cecily
“—some women just weren’t made for a peaceful life; she was someone who needed the simmering possibility of chaos.”
Ch 17 Cecily
“When Abel had been taken, their fear and pity had lasted longer. Perhaps it was earlier in the Occupation and people had not yet been cauterized to accept pain as part of existence. Or perhaps, Jujube thought, there was recognition that the first time something like this happened would be the hardest, but subsequent tragedies were supposed to get easier—like a scabbed-over wound that split open—you were already supposed to know how to feel; you did not need the salve of extended sympathy.” Ch 18 Jujube
The time goes back in forth between the end in 1945 then back 9 years, 8 years, etc and at the same time, the viewpoint of her son, who was taken and put in a camp, as well as other viewpoints.
This is a book to read when you can handle a difficult story. As in many WWII books, there isn’t really anything “good” or happy that happens. At the same time, I found myself thinking about these characters when I wasn’t reading the book.
Many people in the #bookfriendsbookclub really enjoyed the audio for this one - they felt it was well done, so you might consider that if you’re interested in this one.
“…during a war, the only priority was one’s own family.” Ch 1 Cecily
“Isn’t every man a good man and a bad man?” Ch 2 Cecily
“Distance was a deceiver in that way, lulling her into a sense of stability and security,…” ch 15 Cecily
…
“She missed being a woman who cared about something, missed being a woman who was more than just an extension of her house and family.” ch 15 Cecily
“—some women just weren’t made for a peaceful life; she was someone who needed the simmering possibility of chaos.”
Ch 17 Cecily
“When Abel had been taken, their fear and pity had lasted longer. Perhaps it was earlier in the Occupation and people had not yet been cauterized to accept pain as part of existence. Or perhaps, Jujube thought, there was recognition that the first time something like this happened would be the hardest, but subsequent tragedies were supposed to get easier—like a scabbed-over wound that split open—you were already supposed to know how to feel; you did not need the salve of extended sympathy.” Ch 18 Jujube
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Abandonment, and Death