Take a photo of a barcode or cover
onmalsshelf 's review for:
A Quitter's Paradise
by Elysha Chang
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
Above all, the writing for this one is amazing. I would love to read another book from Chang just from her writing alone.
This is dual timeline, literary fiction that unspools and splits like a skein of yarn. In one timeline we follow Eleanor, whose life has honestly derailed a little bit. Her mom just died and she's dropped out of her PhD program and is now working as a lab tech in her husband's lab. She's done some illegal mini lab side projects on her own and done a few more things that she shouldn't have.
In the second timeline, we follow her parents immigrating from Taiwan to start their lives in America and what follows in a relationship with no love.
Ultimately, when the timelines came together I was left confused. It hit like a bang and was finished so quickly I'm still unsure what happened?
I think ultimately the way that Eleanor's perspective and life just kept unraveling made this plot seem like it was rolling down a mountain like a boulder not being able to stop until it combusts, which I really enjoyed.
However, it is so hard for me to enjoy this new 2023 theme in publishing where women in STEM are so messy and weak. That made it knock it down though I ultimately enjoyed the story as a whole. Another reason I knocked it down is Eleanor's actions (drinking or eluding to drinking) while pregnant. A neuroscience PhD is going to drink while pregnant?
I'd recommend this one to lovers of meandering literary fiction, but I'm not sure if it's going to be a hit for summer reading. I think it should've been released earlier in the spring or maybe early fall.
Above all, the writing for this one is amazing. I would love to read another book from Chang just from her writing alone.
This is dual timeline, literary fiction that unspools and splits like a skein of yarn. In one timeline we follow Eleanor, whose life has honestly derailed a little bit. Her mom just died and she's dropped out of her PhD program and is now working as a lab tech in her husband's lab. She's done some illegal mini lab side projects on her own and done a few more things that she shouldn't have.
In the second timeline, we follow her parents immigrating from Taiwan to start their lives in America and what follows in a relationship with no love.
Ultimately, when the timelines came together I was left confused. It hit like a bang and was finished so quickly I'm still unsure what happened?
I think ultimately the way that Eleanor's perspective and life just kept unraveling made this plot seem like it was rolling down a mountain like a boulder not being able to stop until it combusts, which I really enjoyed.
However, it is so hard for me to enjoy this new 2023 theme in publishing where women in STEM are so messy and weak. That made it knock it down though I ultimately enjoyed the story as a whole. Another reason I knocked it down is Eleanor's actions (drinking or eluding to drinking) while pregnant. A neuroscience PhD is going to drink while pregnant?
I'd recommend this one to lovers of meandering literary fiction, but I'm not sure if it's going to be a hit for summer reading. I think it should've been released earlier in the spring or maybe early fall.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Abortion, Abandonment