A review by nehaanna
Wanting by Claire Jia

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is such a beautiful expose into what lies on the other side of our wanting - our desires, longings, worries, and pedantic schedules of life. All of us struggle to want that which we cannot have or that which is placed just barely out of our grasp. The longing for something else does not really go away with time or age, only morphs into other desires or festers into a fetid scar. Almost every aspect of human relationship is explored in this book - friendship, familial, romantic, marriage, in-laws, workplace, all of these aspects of our lives are explored. 

This book reminded me a lot of Sally Rooney’s writing style in that there is a lot of emotional depth and emotional mining into these characters. But this is the supremely better work in my opinion. Where Rooney looks mostly on human relationships of people in their early to late 20s in a romantic lens, Jia looks at all aspects of human relationships and all ages. The story also looks at wanting in every aspect, from human connection, to excitement in one’s life, to success, wealth, accolades, and more. There is not a single character here who is objectively “good” or easy to root for - all are deeply flawed and make a serious of seemingly innocuous decisions throughout time that lead to devastating consequences. In the end it’s undetermined whether everyone learns their lesson or gets what they deserve, but that’s exactly what life is. 

I am so glad I read this book and am even more excited to purchase it once it is finally published. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher, Tin books, for letting me receive an electronic ARC in exchange for a honest review. 
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