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A review by chantal550
Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
4.0
3.5 stars
This book tackled important themes of immigration and loss but it fell flat for me. Maybe it was all the other Asian books I read for the Asian readathon that handled these topics better that made me not like this one as much. I didn't like this one that much and I am very sad about this. Pie in the Sky was highly recommended to me by lots of reviewers I trust.
This book was not cohesive it felt like a series of vignettes that were strung together poorly. It was repetitive, Jingwen struggles with school in the same way so he bakes a cake rinse and repeat.
I did love the few comics sprinkled throughout the book, the art style was not my favorite but they were enjoyable to read. I love that the audiobook had martian sounds whenever someone would speak English to Jingwen and he didn't understand it.
I did somewhat connect to Jingwen's feelings of alienation from his peers and family. I deeply connected to the scene when he sees everyone as a martian but realizes that's how everyone sees him. How he had to take care of his little brother even though he was still a kid himself and his punishments for messing up were way harsher and worse than for his little brother.
I did enjoy some parts of this book but was left mostly disappointed. Other books that tackle similar topics that I liked better are Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, and Almost American Girl by Robin Ha.
This book tackled important themes of immigration and loss but it fell flat for me. Maybe it was all the other Asian books I read for the Asian readathon that handled these topics better that made me not like this one as much. I didn't like this one that much and I am very sad about this. Pie in the Sky was highly recommended to me by lots of reviewers I trust.
This book was not cohesive it felt like a series of vignettes that were strung together poorly. It was repetitive, Jingwen struggles with school in the same way so he bakes a cake rinse and repeat.
I did love the few comics sprinkled throughout the book, the art style was not my favorite but they were enjoyable to read. I love that the audiobook had martian sounds whenever someone would speak English to Jingwen and he didn't understand it.
I did somewhat connect to Jingwen's feelings of alienation from his peers and family. I deeply connected to the scene when he sees everyone as a martian but realizes that's how everyone sees him. How he had to take care of his little brother even though he was still a kid himself and his punishments for messing up were way harsher and worse than for his little brother.
I did enjoy some parts of this book but was left mostly disappointed. Other books that tackle similar topics that I liked better are Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, and Almost American Girl by Robin Ha.