nomefriegues 's review for:

Shanghailanders by Juli Min

5.0

---

I feel like I immediately want to go back and read this book again to dig into all the little details. I actually really enjoyed the narrative working backwards; instead of seeing someone's childhood and how that shaped them into an adult, we saw adults and teens and got to solve some of the mystery of what made them this way, how they loved and hurt and shaped one another. The writing is really evocative, and Min did a great job of capturing the different voices that narrated each chapter. There are a lot of story gaps in this book, which is a side effect of the structure and changing narrators, and the fact that I wanted to know more is indicative of how interesting these characters are. I felt big feelings--protective, angry, frustrated, loving--towards the entire Yang family, and wanted to read more about them.

One of the rare books that I feel I need to buy in print so I can revisit it.