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A review by kerameia
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
3.0
I would like to leave some thoughts about this book from the perspective of one who picked it up as a suggested read-alike for Rainbow Rowell's "Fan Girl" (one of my favourite books).
In sum, I liked the idea behind the story, and Sam's character. I had issues, as a reader, with Penny's character, their relationship, and the side-plot of Penny's creative writing project.
I thought Sam's personality, his mannerisms, his whole look, etc. was fleshed-out to give the reader a good sense of him (because of the cover art, I thought Sam was Eurasian to some even though it clearly says in the book that Sam is of German-no-Asian descent!).
I couldn't get into Penny's character, partly because I found her motivations and mannerisms confusing and partly because her personality seemed so contrary -- contrary as in unfriendly, hostile. I understand the image of the character for which the author was striving, but I don't think it translated smoothly into the written story; sometimes her witticisms and Penny-istic way of speaking seemed more for show than authentic spouts of bottled up creativity and intelligence. She is a very negative person, period. I understand the motivations for some of her reactions, but she consistently has a dry, cutting perspective on life and the world around her. I couldn't believe the turnaround attitude she has towards Jude, Mallory, and her mom. To compare, Cather from "Fan Girl" is a little stand-offish with some eccentricities, but not outright prickly.
I wanted to, but couldn't, buy into the authenticity of Sam and Penny's relationship. Not because of the medium; I think that a relationship communicated through text is a hilarious, workable, awesome rom-com concept. I just didn't get a sense of the development of their relationship, of the substance that was supposedly there behind the texts and occasional calls. I know that they shared serious personal stuff, that Sam found certain Penny-isms adorable and visa versa, so I guess it boils down to written chemistry...something was missing to make me believe that Sam really fell for her (from when they first start texting to when he actually yearns for her physical presence). Also, the way it ends? "..." describes my reaction.
The other big thing with which I didn't get on board was the side-story of Penny's writing project (and generally speaking, her gift with words as a budding author). Granted, I dove into this story as an absolute fan of "Fan Girl", so maybe I shouldn't have expected the protagonist to be as passionate about writing as Cather is. However, in some parts it feels like Penny's writing is supposed to fuel the story (ex. it is the driving force behind her developing friendship with Andy). I think the references to Penny's writing lack personal connection to serve as story fuel. Was this -- the project, the class, writing in general -- a passion, or just something she does because she's good at it (I think at some point the author does tell us something about Penny's gift for writing, but I as a reader want more!)? Why does she really care about the Anima in her story so much, beyond it's neat idea (and possibly a metaphor for her life experience to this point)? Going back, I realize that we do catch more glimpses of Penny's writing experience (setting up the story, reasoning out her characters' motivations, feverish attempts at writing in the early morning) but it doesn't feel like a strong part of Penny's experience. Again, I could be comparing her lack of personal investment with Cather's very personal investment in fanfiction writing.
Two things I really love (besides descriptions of Sam's hair and tattoos :P ) are Andy's character, and some instances of the author's writing style. One of my favourite scenes is probably when Penny meets up with Andy to go jogging/walking, and their greeting is as follows:
"Jesus, you look like someone we'd send to repopulate a new galaxy." She yawned. "What is this outfit?" Andy stretched his arms above his head. "There's an optimal set of clothes for every activity," he said. "this is my running ensemble."" (pg. 262).
An example of the kinda quirky, young adult persona writing style that got me laughing is, "Then she Wikipedia'd it since that's the first order of business when you don't know what the hell you're doing" (p. 168)
I'd recommend it, but I admit that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.
In sum, I liked the idea behind the story, and Sam's character. I had issues, as a reader, with Penny's character, their relationship, and the side-plot of Penny's creative writing project.
I thought Sam's personality, his mannerisms, his whole look, etc. was fleshed-out to give the reader a good sense of him (because of the cover art, I thought Sam was Eurasian to some even though it clearly says in the book that Sam is of German-no-Asian descent!).
I couldn't get into Penny's character, partly because I found her motivations and mannerisms confusing and partly because her personality seemed so contrary -- contrary as in unfriendly, hostile. I understand the image of the character for which the author was striving, but I don't think it translated smoothly into the written story; sometimes her witticisms and Penny-istic way of speaking seemed more for show than authentic spouts of bottled up creativity and intelligence. She is a very negative person, period. I understand the motivations for some of her reactions, but she consistently has a dry, cutting perspective on life and the world around her. I couldn't believe the turnaround attitude she has towards Jude, Mallory, and her mom. To compare, Cather from "Fan Girl" is a little stand-offish with some eccentricities, but not outright prickly.
I wanted to, but couldn't, buy into the authenticity of Sam and Penny's relationship. Not because of the medium; I think that a relationship communicated through text is a hilarious, workable, awesome rom-com concept. I just didn't get a sense of the development of their relationship, of the substance that was supposedly there behind the texts and occasional calls. I know that they shared serious personal stuff, that Sam found certain Penny-isms adorable and visa versa, so I guess it boils down to written chemistry...something was missing to make me believe that Sam really fell for her (from when they first start texting to when he actually yearns for her physical presence). Also, the way it ends? "..." describes my reaction.
The other big thing with which I didn't get on board was the side-story of Penny's writing project (and generally speaking, her gift with words as a budding author). Granted, I dove into this story as an absolute fan of "Fan Girl", so maybe I shouldn't have expected the protagonist to be as passionate about writing as Cather is. However, in some parts it feels like Penny's writing is supposed to fuel the story (ex. it is the driving force behind her developing friendship with Andy). I think the references to Penny's writing lack personal connection to serve as story fuel. Was this -- the project, the class, writing in general -- a passion, or just something she does because she's good at it (I think at some point the author does tell us something about Penny's gift for writing, but I as a reader want more!)? Why does she really care about the Anima in her story so much, beyond it's neat idea (and possibly a metaphor for her life experience to this point)? Going back, I realize that we do catch more glimpses of Penny's writing experience (setting up the story, reasoning out her characters' motivations, feverish attempts at writing in the early morning) but it doesn't feel like a strong part of Penny's experience. Again, I could be comparing her lack of personal investment with Cather's very personal investment in fanfiction writing.
Two things I really love (besides descriptions of Sam's hair and tattoos :P ) are Andy's character, and some instances of the author's writing style. One of my favourite scenes is probably when Penny meets up with Andy to go jogging/walking, and their greeting is as follows:
"Jesus, you look like someone we'd send to repopulate a new galaxy." She yawned. "What is this outfit?" Andy stretched his arms above his head. "There's an optimal set of clothes for every activity," he said. "this is my running ensemble."" (pg. 262).
An example of the kinda quirky, young adult persona writing style that got me laughing is, "Then she Wikipedia'd it since that's the first order of business when you don't know what the hell you're doing" (p. 168)
I'd recommend it, but I admit that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.