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A review by mtngirl4
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
2.0
I wasn't a huge fan of this book. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't really too remarkable either. I think my biggest complaint is that it did not seem to be very well researched and for the time in which this story is set, I think extensive research is necessary to make the story credible. Since starting the book, I have done some of my own research on the topic and it turns out that much of what Ford has written does line up with the historical truth, but his story is so fluffy, and at some points, sloppy, that I still don't really believe it. Were they actually holding sock hops at a Japanese internment camp (p. 252)? I really find that hard to believe. I also don't believe that a 12 year old Chinese boy would be allowed to serve food in a Japanese camp in 1942. And on a personal level, there is no way that a 12 year old would risk his life and the safety of his family because he is "in love". Really? I've been 12 and I am currently raising teenagers, and no 12 year old has any idea what in the world is going on with their emotions. It just doesn't seem plausible. Another Goodreads reviewer said that this is "historical fiction for the Nicholas Sparks set" and I agree.
As for the main characters, Henry and Keiko, I did not feel their relationship was developed enough. I don't know if it is their age or their circumstances, but I just didn't buy into their love story. I didn't feel they had chemistry. Maybe it is because the story goes back and forth between time periods, starting in 1986, when I already knew that Henry is married to Ethel, that made me just dismiss his "first love". Perhaps if it had been written chronologically I would have been more invested.
I found the minor characters more interesting, especially Sheldon and Ms. Beatty, but their stories are left incomplete which I feel is an oversight of the author's. Ms. Beatty is Henry's hero for a whole summer and then all of a sudden we don't hear about her again. And Sheldon, the homeless drifting sax player in 1942, has a wife, kids, and grandchildren in 1986. Where did they all come from? Those characters were too much a part of Henry's life not to wrap things up a little tighter. I don't like loose ends.
Part of the book takes place and then ends in 1986, and some of the technological references I feel are too advanced for the time. Marty sat on his computer for a few hours and finds a person that has been missing for over 40 years (p.280). I was 15 years old in 1986 and I know that the internet was around by then, but I also know that the average family did not own a computer, nor even knew the internet existed let alone how to use it. And I doubt that a couple of hours on 1986's internet would have come up with much of anything for Marty's research. It is fragments like this that makes me doubt the plausibility of Ford's 1942 research. Maybe I am just being too critical.
All in all, I don't think I wasted my time reading this book, but I do wish it could have been more believable and engaging. It seems to be more young adult literature, rather than advanced adult. If anything, it has me listening to podcasts and reading articles about the Japanese plight in America during WWII, so in the spirit of furthering my education, that is good. I also want to reread "Snow Falling on Cedars" which is also a love story in the same setting, and which I read so long ago that I don't remember the details, I just have the nagging feeling it was better than this book. Stay tuned for that review in weeks to come!
As for the main characters, Henry and Keiko, I did not feel their relationship was developed enough. I don't know if it is their age or their circumstances, but I just didn't buy into their love story. I didn't feel they had chemistry. Maybe it is because the story goes back and forth between time periods, starting in 1986, when I already knew that Henry is married to Ethel, that made me just dismiss his "first love". Perhaps if it had been written chronologically I would have been more invested.
I found the minor characters more interesting, especially Sheldon and Ms. Beatty, but their stories are left incomplete which I feel is an oversight of the author's. Ms. Beatty is Henry's hero for a whole summer and then all of a sudden we don't hear about her again. And Sheldon, the homeless drifting sax player in 1942, has a wife, kids, and grandchildren in 1986. Where did they all come from? Those characters were too much a part of Henry's life not to wrap things up a little tighter. I don't like loose ends.
Part of the book takes place and then ends in 1986, and some of the technological references I feel are too advanced for the time. Marty sat on his computer for a few hours and finds a person that has been missing for over 40 years (p.280). I was 15 years old in 1986 and I know that the internet was around by then, but I also know that the average family did not own a computer, nor even knew the internet existed let alone how to use it. And I doubt that a couple of hours on 1986's internet would have come up with much of anything for Marty's research. It is fragments like this that makes me doubt the plausibility of Ford's 1942 research. Maybe I am just being too critical.
All in all, I don't think I wasted my time reading this book, but I do wish it could have been more believable and engaging. It seems to be more young adult literature, rather than advanced adult. If anything, it has me listening to podcasts and reading articles about the Japanese plight in America during WWII, so in the spirit of furthering my education, that is good. I also want to reread "Snow Falling on Cedars" which is also a love story in the same setting, and which I read so long ago that I don't remember the details, I just have the nagging feeling it was better than this book. Stay tuned for that review in weeks to come!