loveisnotatriangle 's review for:

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

3.0

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I waffled between a 2 and a 3 star review. Overall, I would say I enjoyed learning about the lives of two Chinese girls, from Shanghai to Los Angeles, beginning in the 1930s and going through the 1950s. They survive the war with Japan and World World II, and at the end of the book are living through the Communist scare of America. The historical information portrayed through the personal account of Pearl and May (written almost as a "memoir" by Pearl) is interesting. However, I felt like the author was trying to get through too much information - and not miss any historical detail, and got bogged down in descriptive paragraphs, sprinkled with small sections of dialogue and action. I was also very disappointed in the end - because the book doesn't resolve at all. After working to get through so much, I was frustrated that the book ends so abruptly. It's like it needed another 100 more pages, or an additional novel (not that I'd really want to read either). I read and really liked Snowflower and the Secret Fan , so I had great expectations for this novel, which weren't met.