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nicolettae 's review for:
Shanghailanders
by Juli Min
Shanghailanders had an interesting concept, following a family living in 2040 and slowly working its way back in time as the book moves forward.
I really enjoyed the prose and writing style of Shanghailanders. It was highly engaging and felt authentic to the characters Min was representing. As the family aged, their mannerisms and the way they interacted shifted in a way that feels all too familiar in any family. There also weren’t any characters that I disliked or didn’t want to hear more from.
One thing that threw me off was that, honestly, without context, you wouldn’t even realize half of this book was meant to be set in the future. The futuristic technology and state of the world take a backseat, with the story focusing more on common family dynamics and challenges that a lot of people deal with today, even though this family is incredibly wealthy. But maybe Min did this on purpose to show just how little we change over time?
Even though the backward timeline storyline felt fresh and unique, it did the book a bit of a disservice because it read more like short, fragmented stories rather than a flowing singular novel. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the stories themselves, but we rarely got closure, and the topics and challenges at each age shifted so dramatically that it felt a little jarring at times.
Despite all that, I still genuinely enjoyed Shanghailanders.
I really enjoyed the prose and writing style of Shanghailanders. It was highly engaging and felt authentic to the characters Min was representing. As the family aged, their mannerisms and the way they interacted shifted in a way that feels all too familiar in any family. There also weren’t any characters that I disliked or didn’t want to hear more from.
One thing that threw me off was that, honestly, without context, you wouldn’t even realize half of this book was meant to be set in the future. The futuristic technology and state of the world take a backseat, with the story focusing more on common family dynamics and challenges that a lot of people deal with today, even though this family is incredibly wealthy. But maybe Min did this on purpose to show just how little we change over time?
Even though the backward timeline storyline felt fresh and unique, it did the book a bit of a disservice because it read more like short, fragmented stories rather than a flowing singular novel. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the stories themselves, but we rarely got closure, and the topics and challenges at each age shifted so dramatically that it felt a little jarring at times.
Despite all that, I still genuinely enjoyed Shanghailanders.