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art_sent_mia 's review for:
Yolk
by Mary H.K. Choi
(Some small spoilers, but not many.)
Yolk is one of those books I always pass in Barnes and Noble and promise myself that I'll buy it as soon as I get my next paycheck. I finally treated myself and bought it soon after I quit my job. The cover is just so cool. I've never seen a book where the cover art will continue on the actual pages instead of the spine.
Okay, now I'll actually talk about the book. To anyone who thinks it sounds interesting, I recommend checking it out. However, I want people to know that despite the warnings, it isn't just about eating disorders. Eating disorders are an important theme, but Yolk discusses sensitive topics other than bulimia. Yolk is a novel about Jayne, a little sister who struggles to cope with her self destructive habbits, her older sister's illness, and the horny men of New York City. Seriously heed the warnings, though. There are descriptions of Jayne's binging and purging that can trigger people who struggle with eating disorders like bulimia, anorexia, or BED.
The characterization gave me a lot of mixed feelings. Everyone is morally gray. They're all bad people. While this humanizes them, I struggled to feel sympathy for anyone besides Jayne--and that's mainly because she's the main character. June was just unbearable ("...we both know that you're sicker than me," IS CRAZY????), Jeremy was disgusting, and Ivy annoyed me. It was only until the end that everyone started communicating like decent people. I wish their development started earlier.
However, I liked seeing how Jayne's daily life is affected by her mental illness in little ways I wouldn't think twice about in my own life. She doesn't get her period, constantly compares her body to other people, has to eat at certain times, and has crippling anxiety over food. I also really liked how Choi handles her disorder in the end. Jayne has a bad binge before realizing she desperately needs to get better. She doesn't recover magically by the end of the novel--which is much more realistic than other novels I've read. I also really liked that after her ED meeting, Jayne recognizes her hunger cue and responds to it. That scene where she just sits down and enjoys her soup made me unreasonably happy for a fictional character.
Now onto my icks! For some reason I really enjoyed the beginning, disliked a lot of the middle, and really liked the ending. I was between giving this 2/5 stars or 5/5 stars.
Now, unpopular opinion, but I didn't like Patrick. His relationship issues just rubbed me the wrong way. Jayne really doesn't need another guy who conveniently forgets to mention that he has a girlfriend during a makeout session with other woman. The polyamorous excuse was... weird. Jayne already had a bad relationship with poly relationships before reconnecting with Patrick. She deserves better tbh.
However, despite my innate (and, quite frankly, illogical) dislike towards men, I can appreciate Patrick as a character. Asian-Americans are often stereotyped as intelligent, yet shy. The underdog who worked their way up from being a broke immigrant to a respectable side character. I respect Choi's choice to not only write her characters like actual people, but also commentate on how society perceives and treats Asian-Americans. Patrick is intelligent, but he's so much more than a nerdy Asian kid. Jayne and June both simutaneously fit (i.e. they're intelligent and hardworking) yet defy (i.e. they're bursting with personality and, especially June, aren't afraid to self-advocate) Korean-American stereotypes. Authors have a tendency to ignore the "American" part of "Asian-American"--unless, of course, the author is Asian-American themselves. (Take this analysis with a grain of salt, though, given I'm a white latina who was born in the US :P)
Hmm I hope I addressed everything. Maybe I addressed too much lol. I wish I was one of those aesthetic girlies who sectioned off and labeled the different parts of my review.
I want to check out Choi's other books since I really liked certain parts of Yolk. I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't my favorite. I had high expectations i guess.
Yolk is one of those books I always pass in Barnes and Noble and promise myself that I'll buy it as soon as I get my next paycheck. I finally treated myself and bought it soon after I quit my job. The cover is just so cool. I've never seen a book where the cover art will continue on the actual pages instead of the spine.
Okay, now I'll actually talk about the book. To anyone who thinks it sounds interesting, I recommend checking it out. However, I want people to know that despite the warnings, it isn't just about eating disorders. Eating disorders are an important theme, but Yolk discusses sensitive topics other than bulimia. Yolk is a novel about Jayne, a little sister who struggles to cope with her self destructive habbits, her older sister's illness, and the horny men of New York City. Seriously heed the warnings, though. There are descriptions of Jayne's binging and purging that can trigger people who struggle with eating disorders like bulimia, anorexia, or BED.
The characterization gave me a lot of mixed feelings. Everyone is morally gray. They're all bad people. While this humanizes them, I struggled to feel sympathy for anyone besides Jayne--and that's mainly because she's the main character. June was just unbearable ("...we both know that you're sicker than me," IS CRAZY????), Jeremy was disgusting, and Ivy annoyed me. It was only until the end that everyone started communicating like decent people. I wish their development started earlier.
However, I liked seeing how Jayne's daily life is affected by her mental illness in little ways I wouldn't think twice about in my own life. She doesn't get her period, constantly compares her body to other people, has to eat at certain times, and has crippling anxiety over food. I also really liked how Choi handles her disorder in the end. Jayne has a bad binge before realizing she desperately needs to get better. She doesn't recover magically by the end of the novel--which is much more realistic than other novels I've read. I also really liked that after her ED meeting, Jayne recognizes her hunger cue and responds to it. That scene where she just sits down and enjoys her soup made me unreasonably happy for a fictional character.
Now onto my icks! For some reason I really enjoyed the beginning, disliked a lot of the middle, and really liked the ending. I was between giving this 2/5 stars or 5/5 stars.
Now, unpopular opinion, but I didn't like Patrick. His relationship issues just rubbed me the wrong way. Jayne really doesn't need another guy who conveniently forgets to mention that he has a girlfriend during a makeout session with other woman. The polyamorous excuse was... weird. Jayne already had a bad relationship with poly relationships before reconnecting with Patrick. She deserves better tbh.
However, despite my innate (and, quite frankly, illogical) dislike towards men, I can appreciate Patrick as a character. Asian-Americans are often stereotyped as intelligent, yet shy. The underdog who worked their way up from being a broke immigrant to a respectable side character. I respect Choi's choice to not only write her characters like actual people, but also commentate on how society perceives and treats Asian-Americans. Patrick is intelligent, but he's so much more than a nerdy Asian kid. Jayne and June both simutaneously fit (i.e. they're intelligent and hardworking) yet defy (i.e. they're bursting with personality and, especially June, aren't afraid to self-advocate) Korean-American stereotypes. Authors have a tendency to ignore the "American" part of "Asian-American"--unless, of course, the author is Asian-American themselves. (Take this analysis with a grain of salt, though, given I'm a white latina who was born in the US :P)
Hmm I hope I addressed everything. Maybe I addressed too much lol. I wish I was one of those aesthetic girlies who sectioned off and labeled the different parts of my review.
I want to check out Choi's other books since I really liked certain parts of Yolk. I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't my favorite. I had high expectations i guess.