A review by loloreid
Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Part coming-of-age stories, part exploration of the power of friendship, this book winds through time in the lives of Fiona and Jane, friends experiencing growing up Asian-American in Los Angeles.  We see them first as teenagers navigating love and sexuality, family pressures, and identity, and continue through alternating perspectives on individual trajectories and intertwined fates.  The power of their friendship despite periods of distance and absence is a thread that grounds each of the women.  The writing is immediate and fast-paced, but the interrupted and shifting timelines encourage imagination from the reader and avoids a single point of momentum.  
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