A review by kate2tog
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

5.0

This started out as a 3-star book for me. I enjoyed listening, but kept comparing it to the Joy Luck Club, and not enjoying it as much. But then the most amazing thing happened. As Kimberly grows up, the style of the book grows with her. The writing becomes more beautiful, more mature, deeper and more thoughtful. You fall in love with the characters, you ache with their pain, you feel their excitement. The plot develops, too - the beginning is many short "point a to point b" type stories; by the end the book mirrors the randomness of life so accurately I was almost disturbed by the strong reminder that not everything in life follows a cause-and-effect type path. I can't give this anything less than 5 stars!