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A review by alexiacambaling
Want by Cindy Pon
5.0
Warning: Mild spoilers
Want is a book I’ve been wanting to get my hands on for some time now, but have not been able to. I couldn’t find it in local bookstores or my college library so I was delighted to see it in Scribd. When I finally got my hands on it, it was the very definition of a book you can’t put down. It’s that good. It’s unfortunate I don’t see many people talking about it and it seems pretty underrated.
Want is set in a futuristic Taipei, an undefined number of years into the future. Here, pollution is so bad the mei (have-nots) would be lucky to live to forty, while the you (haves) stay in enclosed regulated spaces or wear special suits that supply them with good air and regulates their body temperature when outside.
Jason Zhou (his Chinese name never gets revealed) and his friends Victor, Arun, Lingyi, and Iris are mei. When Arun’s mom is killed, they become galvanized to take action against Jin Corporation, the company which manufactures the suits- and maybe even the pollution that makes the suits necessary for survival. In doing so, Jason kidnaps Daiyu, his daughter and uses the ransom money to disguise himself as a you and destroy the corporation from the inside.
I am in love with this book. Like, I’ve been obsessing with it since I finished it and while theoretically, you can read it as a standalone, I knew there was a sequel going into it and I now have this need for it. Want is such an incredibly satisfying sci-fi read and it’s so beautifully well-written, diverse, and fast-paced that I don’t know why it’s so relatively underrated on Goodreads.
Jason Zhou is a fascinating and complex character. He’s stubborn and loyal, he sticks to his convictions but there are moments when he can get conflicted. Especially when it comes to Daiyu. I’m not a big fan of the romance as it can feel a bit like insta-love but I didn’t mind it too much here as I’ve read worse. Jason sticks to his mission and carries it out, despite his romantic feelings. I honestly really admire that and despite the things he learned along the way, he doesn’t really get sidetracked.
His group of friends are also wonderfully written and characterized. From Victor, the suave grifter, to Arun, the genius scientist, Lingyi the boss and hacker, to Iris, they are all so layered and loyal to each other. I’ve become a fan of the found family trope lately and this book delivers. The found family between this group of friends is wonderful and they are all diverse as well. Iris’ specific ethnicity is unknown (but she is Asian) I think but Zhou and Lingyi are Chinese, Arun is South Asian, I think, while Victor is Filipino.
Each of them has a part to play in their mission and no one is really a wasted character. Everyone is vital without whom the rest would fail. Each of their parts were set-up and executed well and really, I’m down for a great friend group in books.
I really liked the world-building in this book. It’s fleshed out nicely and it’s so easy to imagine and get lost in this futuristic Taipei. Cindy Pon’s writing is beautiful and she paints images with words. Reading this book felt like watching a very immersive movie set in some near-to-distant cyberpunk future.
I think one of the many reasons I love this book is because it addresses pollution and climate change. At the start of the book, the group of friends basically state their reason as wanting to sea blue skies again. Pollution has become a big problem apparent in major Asian cities lately- partly due to the large population- and I liked that Cindy Pon tackles the issue and also talks about the corporations profiting of the corruption while the rich living in their bubbles shrug it off. It was really well done and I enjoyed how it really lives up to being cyberpunk (i.e. underdogs taking on the rich and powerful).
Want is such a fast-paced and enthralling read. I don’t think I can overstate how hard it was to put down. I started it one night and finished the book the morning after. There are no lulls, no boring stretches, only a mission with an end that everyone wants to see through. It was great and satisfying.
Overall, I can highly recommend Want to just about anybody. It’s wonderful, it’s diverse, it has a great and satisfying plot, the characters are compelling, and it has rich and descriptive worldbuilding. Honestly, it has everything I can ask for in a science fiction book. While I do think you can read this as a standalone, I will be definitely picking up the next one. It does leave you wanting more.
This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer
Want is a book I’ve been wanting to get my hands on for some time now, but have not been able to. I couldn’t find it in local bookstores or my college library so I was delighted to see it in Scribd. When I finally got my hands on it, it was the very definition of a book you can’t put down. It’s that good. It’s unfortunate I don’t see many people talking about it and it seems pretty underrated.
Want is set in a futuristic Taipei, an undefined number of years into the future. Here, pollution is so bad the mei (have-nots) would be lucky to live to forty, while the you (haves) stay in enclosed regulated spaces or wear special suits that supply them with good air and regulates their body temperature when outside.
Jason Zhou (his Chinese name never gets revealed) and his friends Victor, Arun, Lingyi, and Iris are mei. When Arun’s mom is killed, they become galvanized to take action against Jin Corporation, the company which manufactures the suits- and maybe even the pollution that makes the suits necessary for survival. In doing so, Jason kidnaps Daiyu, his daughter and uses the ransom money to disguise himself as a you and destroy the corporation from the inside.
I am in love with this book. Like, I’ve been obsessing with it since I finished it and while theoretically, you can read it as a standalone, I knew there was a sequel going into it and I now have this need for it. Want is such an incredibly satisfying sci-fi read and it’s so beautifully well-written, diverse, and fast-paced that I don’t know why it’s so relatively underrated on Goodreads.
Jason Zhou is a fascinating and complex character. He’s stubborn and loyal, he sticks to his convictions but there are moments when he can get conflicted. Especially when it comes to Daiyu. I’m not a big fan of the romance as it can feel a bit like insta-love but I didn’t mind it too much here as I’ve read worse. Jason sticks to his mission and carries it out, despite his romantic feelings. I honestly really admire that and despite the things he learned along the way, he doesn’t really get sidetracked.
His group of friends are also wonderfully written and characterized. From Victor, the suave grifter, to Arun, the genius scientist, Lingyi the boss and hacker, to Iris, they are all so layered and loyal to each other. I’ve become a fan of the found family trope lately and this book delivers. The found family between this group of friends is wonderful and they are all diverse as well. Iris’ specific ethnicity is unknown (but she is Asian) I think but Zhou and Lingyi are Chinese, Arun is South Asian, I think, while Victor is Filipino.
Each of them has a part to play in their mission and no one is really a wasted character. Everyone is vital without whom the rest would fail. Each of their parts were set-up and executed well and really, I’m down for a great friend group in books.
I really liked the world-building in this book. It’s fleshed out nicely and it’s so easy to imagine and get lost in this futuristic Taipei. Cindy Pon’s writing is beautiful and she paints images with words. Reading this book felt like watching a very immersive movie set in some near-to-distant cyberpunk future.
I think one of the many reasons I love this book is because it addresses pollution and climate change. At the start of the book, the group of friends basically state their reason as wanting to sea blue skies again. Pollution has become a big problem apparent in major Asian cities lately- partly due to the large population- and I liked that Cindy Pon tackles the issue and also talks about the corporations profiting of the corruption while the rich living in their bubbles shrug it off. It was really well done and I enjoyed how it really lives up to being cyberpunk (i.e. underdogs taking on the rich and powerful).
Want is such a fast-paced and enthralling read. I don’t think I can overstate how hard it was to put down. I started it one night and finished the book the morning after. There are no lulls, no boring stretches, only a mission with an end that everyone wants to see through. It was great and satisfying.
Overall, I can highly recommend Want to just about anybody. It’s wonderful, it’s diverse, it has a great and satisfying plot, the characters are compelling, and it has rich and descriptive worldbuilding. Honestly, it has everything I can ask for in a science fiction book. While I do think you can read this as a standalone, I will be definitely picking up the next one. It does leave you wanting more.
This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer