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carley 's review for:
I Am China
by Xiaolu Guo
I received this book through Goodreads FirstReads.
I've said this before, but I really don't like rating books on a five-star scale. While it makes things easier, I find it really difficult to rate books of all different genres on the same scale. Having said that, a medium-high 3 is probably what I would give this book.
I Am China is a novel that centers around three characters and jumps time and place with each "chapter." Kublai Jian and Mu are a Chinese couple whose lives have diverged and their writings, letters, and diary entries have found their way into Iona's hands. Iona is a young translator of Chinese writings living in London. She begins to translate the writings of these two individuals and becomes deeply invested in their lives.
If you are a fan of books that are organized into letters or found documents, this is a must read for you. The story was interesting, but moved slowly until the end, when if felt a bit rushed. I liked learning about three different characters and, overall, the character development was pretty strong. However, I feel like I spent a lot of the novel getting to know Iona without really getting to know her. She wasn't as well defined a character as Kublai and Mu.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
I've said this before, but I really don't like rating books on a five-star scale. While it makes things easier, I find it really difficult to rate books of all different genres on the same scale. Having said that, a medium-high 3 is probably what I would give this book.
I Am China is a novel that centers around three characters and jumps time and place with each "chapter." Kublai Jian and Mu are a Chinese couple whose lives have diverged and their writings, letters, and diary entries have found their way into Iona's hands. Iona is a young translator of Chinese writings living in London. She begins to translate the writings of these two individuals and becomes deeply invested in their lives.
If you are a fan of books that are organized into letters or found documents, this is a must read for you. The story was interesting, but moved slowly until the end, when if felt a bit rushed. I liked learning about three different characters and, overall, the character development was pretty strong. However, I feel like I spent a lot of the novel getting to know Iona without really getting to know her. She wasn't as well defined a character as Kublai and Mu.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.