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A review by katrod
Paper Names by Susie Luo
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had a love/hate experience reading this book. It was an immigrant story I’ve not read yet, so in that way, it was really engaging. There were also some really beautiful passages and phrases that stuck with me. I liked most of the characters’ complexities (though some were completely unforgivable in my opinion).
But what threw me off most about this book was the pacing. First, for 3/4 of the book, I didn’t really understand why the reader should be there. It wasn’t clear what message the author was trying to get across… just seemed to be a collection of anecdotes from a few different lives.
Second, time jumped around all over the place and I often doing myself getting lost and confused and not knowing where we were in the timeline. And these time swaps didn’t seem to serve a purpose for the reader. It was just confusing.
That being said, I certainly had moments where I felt so swept away in the story and felt it’s poignancy. I truly loved it at times, but the pacing just didn’t work for me.
But what threw me off most about this book was the pacing. First, for 3/4 of the book, I didn’t really understand why the reader should be there. It wasn’t clear what message the author was trying to get across… just seemed to be a collection of anecdotes from a few different lives.
Second, time jumped around all over the place and I often doing myself getting lost and confused and not knowing where we were in the timeline. And these time swaps didn’t seem to serve a purpose for the reader. It was just confusing.
That being said, I certainly had moments where I felt so swept away in the story and felt it’s poignancy. I truly loved it at times, but the pacing just didn’t work for me.