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A review by jewelathompson
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
2.0
I met Mary H.K. Choi two years ago and she was a lovely person, I just happened to not like her book. I think she probably makes a great feature writer, but sometimes different types of writing don't translate. You can be a great copywriter and then suck a fiction. I think Choi has a lot of developing to do with her fiction before it's any good.
I didn't hate this book, but my feelings toward it are so lackluster that writing this review almost seems pointless. To say it simply, Emergency Contact tries to be something it isn't. It tries to be introspective with its characters but fails to paint a solid and engaging relationship between Penny and Sam.
A large portion of the book focuses on Penny and her mom's complicated relationship that isn't even complicated at all: Penny simply hates her mom. I, personally, could not get behind this vapid, onesided disgust that Penny had toward Celeste. It would have been different if their relationship was more complex, but Choi failed to make their relationship interesting. Slut-shaming your mom doesn't make you a feminist Penny Lee.
Easy two stars for this book. I have a copy of it so if you'd like to read it, someone can take it off my hands. The cover is really pretty and probably the main reason I bought it.
I didn't hate this book, but my feelings toward it are so lackluster that writing this review almost seems pointless. To say it simply, Emergency Contact tries to be something it isn't. It tries to be introspective with its characters but fails to paint a solid and engaging relationship between Penny and Sam.
A large portion of the book focuses on Penny and her mom's complicated relationship that isn't even complicated at all: Penny simply hates her mom. I, personally, could not get behind this vapid, onesided disgust that Penny had toward Celeste. It would have been different if their relationship was more complex, but Choi failed to make their relationship interesting. Slut-shaming your mom doesn't make you a feminist Penny Lee.
Easy two stars for this book. I have a copy of it so if you'd like to read it, someone can take it off my hands. The cover is really pretty and probably the main reason I bought it.