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transparent_tea 's review for:
Shanghailanders
by Juli Min
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Reading debut novels has been refreshing, mostly on books that contain topics that I'm fond of. I recall Shanghailanders being a part of a giveaway on Storygraph (which I did not win). I also saw the same novel featured on Indiebound (a newsletter I sometimes pick up at my local bookstore, to see what new novels are out there and if novels are interesting enough to be on my TBR).
What interested me about this novel is how the structure is set up; it's going in a backward-linear, the first chapter starts in the "present" (circa 2040) and the story goes backward to 2014. In addition, each chapter features a specific character, whether Yumi, Yoko or Kiko, Eko or Leo, or another character integrated into the lives of the Yangs (like their driver or a live-in nanny). What ties all the chapters together is a tiny little detail that showcases the butterfly effect, whether it's Yumi's first ex-boyfriend, a cabin in the woods, or Ai-Yi (an auntie) that one of the kids recalls. From my perspective, the way the author puts the story together gives the reader an understanding of something in the past triggered this current event that's happening, but instead of showing the past to the present, the author tells you about the present, and for the reader to figure out in the next chapter how things are linked.
As the jacket states, this linkage shows the strong bonds between family, and everyone has their past secrets that trigger what happens in the present. (Example would be in Rouge Allure, two later chapters explain a bit more between the conversations of Eko and Yoko.)
What interested me about this novel is how the structure is set up; it's going in a backward-linear, the first chapter starts in the "present" (circa 2040) and the story goes backward to 2014. In addition, each chapter features a specific character, whether Yumi, Yoko or Kiko, Eko or Leo, or another character integrated into the lives of the Yangs (like their driver or a live-in nanny). What ties all the chapters together is a tiny little detail that showcases the butterfly effect, whether it's Yumi's first ex-boyfriend, a cabin in the woods, or Ai-Yi (an auntie) that one of the kids recalls. From my perspective, the way the author puts the story together gives the reader an understanding of something in the past triggered this current event that's happening, but instead of showing the past to the present, the author tells you about the present, and for the reader to figure out in the next chapter how things are linked.
As the jacket states, this linkage shows the strong bonds between family, and everyone has their past secrets that trigger what happens in the present. (Example would be in Rouge Allure, two later chapters explain a bit more between the conversations of Eko and Yoko.)