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A review by starrysea98
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
5.0
first of all, i did not know that during reconstruction, chinese people were imported to america to replace black people as slaves. why isn't this more common knowledge?
stacey lee has written a beautiful and heart-wrenching story. jo is a brilliant character, someone whose eyes i definitely enjoyed seeing the world through. she is whiplash smart and brave - i love her wordplay so much! her miss sweetie columns are definitely incredibly entertaining and clever. the rest of the characters are wonderful as well - i love the camaraderie between jo and noemi and also old gin and jo's bond. ("Parent always recognises child's voice." I TEARED UP).
i did see the twist coming but the way it went down was quite emotional and sad so i didn't feel it was too predictable. i think the way the loose ends of the story are tied together is very good - the legend old gin tells jo is a perfect analogy for the ending scenes of the book.
i also think this is one of the first novels that i read where the author doesn't make a big deal that the main character is chinese. sure, there are a few references to chinese culture here and there (turtle egg still makes me crack up; it definitely sounds better in chinese) but there isn't anything else to show jo is chinese. which makes sense because she is born in america but also because CHINESE PEOPLE ARE JUST ORDINARY PEOPLE. i've read too many books where the author basically tries to remind you the character is not white every few sentences that it just gets tiring. plus, you don't see a white main character being forced to explain themselves at all. also, i'm glad there aren't any (typical chinese) stereotypes of strict parenting or parents forcing their daughters to be seen and not heard. old gin doesn't restrict jo from doing whatever she wants or stop her from writing her miss sweetie articles. i found this really meaningful because not all chinese people are portrayed as they really are in popular media.
the racism/segregation in the book drives me mad not only because it's really unfair to those who aren't white but also because... these things are still pretty relevant in today's society! how depressing is it that we're only marginally better than those who lived a little over a century ago? of course, i admit this book is historical fiction and not all of it is fact but the streetcar segregation act is real and existed up till 1964. that's only 50 years ago! kudos to stacey lee for including this in her book because as a non-american, i admit i have no clue about most of american history (actually, most history but well) and i think it's the mark of a good historical fiction novel when i actually get up and go research the events that happened in the book which is what happened here. there is also a brief summary of historical events in the author's note at the back of the book which i found interesting as well.
i really enjoyed this book and i'm looking forward to any other books the author has written!
stacey lee has written a beautiful and heart-wrenching story. jo is a brilliant character, someone whose eyes i definitely enjoyed seeing the world through. she is whiplash smart and brave - i love her wordplay so much! her miss sweetie columns are definitely incredibly entertaining and clever. the rest of the characters are wonderful as well - i love the camaraderie between jo and noemi and also old gin and jo's bond. ("Parent always recognises child's voice." I TEARED UP).
i did see the twist coming but the way it went down was quite emotional and sad so i didn't feel it was too predictable. i think the way the loose ends of the story are tied together is very good - the legend old gin tells jo is a perfect analogy for the ending scenes of the book.
i also think this is one of the first novels that i read where the author doesn't make a big deal that the main character is chinese. sure, there are a few references to chinese culture here and there (turtle egg still makes me crack up; it definitely sounds better in chinese) but there isn't anything else to show jo is chinese. which makes sense because she is born in america but also because CHINESE PEOPLE ARE JUST ORDINARY PEOPLE. i've read too many books where the author basically tries to remind you the character is not white every few sentences that it just gets tiring. plus, you don't see a white main character being forced to explain themselves at all. also, i'm glad there aren't any (typical chinese) stereotypes of strict parenting or parents forcing their daughters to be seen and not heard. old gin doesn't restrict jo from doing whatever she wants or stop her from writing her miss sweetie articles. i found this really meaningful because not all chinese people are portrayed as they really are in popular media.
the racism/segregation in the book drives me mad not only because it's really unfair to those who aren't white but also because... these things are still pretty relevant in today's society! how depressing is it that we're only marginally better than those who lived a little over a century ago? of course, i admit this book is historical fiction and not all of it is fact but the streetcar segregation act is real and existed up till 1964. that's only 50 years ago! kudos to stacey lee for including this in her book because as a non-american, i admit i have no clue about most of american history (actually, most history but well) and i think it's the mark of a good historical fiction novel when i actually get up and go research the events that happened in the book which is what happened here. there is also a brief summary of historical events in the author's note at the back of the book which i found interesting as well.
i really enjoyed this book and i'm looking forward to any other books the author has written!