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A review by thepaperreels
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim
3.0
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First of all, lets all just admire the very catchy title and cute cover of this book. I really had high expectations from this novel, I'm not going to lie. And although it DID deliver, I have some minor issues that kept me from REALLY loving it as a whole.
Our story focuses on Anna and her family who manages a Chinese restaurant at Sydney, Australia. Anna has A LOT on her plate, with an important essay that she needs to re-write, a father that she wants to help, siblings that she need to take care of and a mother who she's trying to understand better. It's overwhelming. While reading, I often have to put the book down because not only do I feel so bad for Anna, it can be so frustrating to read.
The book tackles mental health and as a reader who is not unfamiliar with mental illness and has a personal experience regarding it, I am always wary about how it can be portrayed through media. I can say that Wai Chim really wrote authentic characters that are unaware about mental health issues. The thing is, it hurts to read it sometimes. The way they unconsciously ignore and passively dismiss signs and symptoms. However, its important to remember that this is real. This happens in real world and people such as Anna and her father and especially her mother, exists. I love how realistic everything was. The struggle of Anna and her internal thoughts towards whats happening around her. There are some times that I want to shake her and knock some sense into her but I just had to wait and see her character development unfold in front of me.
I really adore Wai Chim's writing. Its very simple and readable and most of all, relatable. Anna as an asian rep was absolutely refreshing, I love that she points out her flaws and that she is open to correct them and learn from people around her such as Rory. As an Asian myself, it was so fun to read things that I related so much whether its regarding asian food or customs and painful at times when it comes to internalized racism and micro-aggressions. But Wai Chim was able to pen all of these in a relatable and non condescending way.
Now, unfortunately though Anna is the only character that I kinda connected with. Although I think that her father was also realistically written, I really wished that there was more depth. Especially with Anna's mother. I wasn't a huge fan of the romance aspect as well. Its something that I think will not affect the book whether its there or not.
Overall, I would still recommend The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling for every reader out there. Mental illness has always been a tough subject in asian households and its amazing that we have books such as this to read about it.
blog || instagram || twitter
First of all, lets all just admire the very catchy title and cute cover of this book. I really had high expectations from this novel, I'm not going to lie. And although it DID deliver, I have some minor issues that kept me from REALLY loving it as a whole.
Our story focuses on Anna and her family who manages a Chinese restaurant at Sydney, Australia. Anna has A LOT on her plate, with an important essay that she needs to re-write, a father that she wants to help, siblings that she need to take care of and a mother who she's trying to understand better. It's overwhelming. While reading, I often have to put the book down because not only do I feel so bad for Anna, it can be so frustrating to read.
The book tackles mental health and as a reader who is not unfamiliar with mental illness and has a personal experience regarding it, I am always wary about how it can be portrayed through media. I can say that Wai Chim really wrote authentic characters that are unaware about mental health issues. The thing is, it hurts to read it sometimes. The way they unconsciously ignore and passively dismiss signs and symptoms. However, its important to remember that this is real. This happens in real world and people such as Anna and her father and especially her mother, exists. I love how realistic everything was. The struggle of Anna and her internal thoughts towards whats happening around her. There are some times that I want to shake her and knock some sense into her but I just had to wait and see her character development unfold in front of me.
I really adore Wai Chim's writing. Its very simple and readable and most of all, relatable. Anna as an asian rep was absolutely refreshing, I love that she points out her flaws and that she is open to correct them and learn from people around her such as Rory. As an Asian myself, it was so fun to read things that I related so much whether its regarding asian food or customs and painful at times when it comes to internalized racism and micro-aggressions. But Wai Chim was able to pen all of these in a relatable and non condescending way.
Now, unfortunately though Anna is the only character that I kinda connected with. Although I think that her father was also realistically written, I really wished that there was more depth. Especially with Anna's mother. I wasn't a huge fan of the romance aspect as well. Its something that I think will not affect the book whether its there or not.
Overall, I would still recommend The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling for every reader out there. Mental illness has always been a tough subject in asian households and its amazing that we have books such as this to read about it.