Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Fortunes of Jaded Women

It took a long time to get into this one, and to be honest, I'm not sure I ever did. I persevered just to see how to ended, and then ended up being wildly disappointed.

It was interesting to peak into a culture I know very little about. It's always comforting to read stories that take place in Southern California - it brings a sense of familiarity.

But the writing is not very strong. There are too many characters to keep track of, too many lives to follow, too...much. I really wanted to enjoy it but I just found myself waiting for it to end.

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What an amazing depiction of generational trauma. I don't think I've seen it so well presented before, but this book nails it. Between well meaning mothers, fractured relationships, and quotes and experiences that haunt them and dictate their actions, these characters had a lot to overcome.

There were a lot of characters to keep track of - one grandmother, four sisters, and eight grown children - and while at time it was a bit disorienting keeping track of them all, the author did a great job reiterating who they were and how they fit out in the family, as well as showing their personality and dreams during their chapters. I loved how each one took away something different from their mothers, their lives influenced by moments or parents quotes that haunt them - it really showed how the past really does affect present mentality. It made it easy to understand why they were the way they were and how they were trying to get themselves out of the cycle and break it. I loved everyone's growth through the novel, and I found it amazing that we got to see them all grow and change in such a short time, but also in such a (mostly, helped by a bit of myth and magic) realistic way.

I also love the dynamics within the community - the gossiping, the meddling, the overlapping yelling, but also the "we protect out own" mentality. I adored the little twists and turns of characters surprising us, as well as the absolute chaos of family as they talk over each other and try to one-up on another. Even when everyone was mad, there was always an undercurrent of love and warmth that really sold them as a family.

There is one relationship I wish we had had more closure with, mostly cause it gave me some magical jeebies. IYKYK. Otherwise, I love how all the threads came together in the end and we get to see the fruits of the characters' love for each other and their family as they forge a new story for themselves.

This is definitely one of my favourite reads of the year. Absolutely amazing.

TW: death of a parent, pregnancy, infidelity, racism, micro-agressions, body shaming, fatphobia (Asian-style), medical content, sexual harassment; mentions miscarriage, HP references

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Shoutout to Libro.fm for the ALC of this book. I've been waiting for when I needed a light and fun read to pick it up, since everyone I've seen review it has mentioned that it's a little over the top. I've really been in the mood for escapist reads lately, so lots of fantasy and romance, but then I remembered this contemporary book waiting on my TBR and decided to mix up the escapism a bit.

Generations ago, Oanh left her marriage for true love, and in the ensuing backlash, was cursed by a witch so that her descendants would give birth to only daughters...and would never find true love or happiness. In the present day, three mostly estranged sisters, descendents of Oanh, live in Little Saigon in Orange County, CA: Mai (the oldest and most know-it-all/in charge), Minh (the middle and the mediator of the siblings), and Khuyen (the youngest, who may or may not run Little Saigon's "underground"). Mai is not only estranged from her sisters (and mother), but also on rocky relationship footing with her three daughters as well, whose love lives she cannot seem to stay out of. There is also Minh's daughter and Khuyen's two daughters, all of whom have strained relationships with each other. Plus, there is a half-sister, whose reappearance with her own two daughters a decade ago was the catalyst for the family's current estrangement. When Mai consults a psychic about concerns for her daughters, she is told that this year may be her last chance to repair broken relationships, and thus begins the dramatic tale in these pages, a story of births and deaths and marriages and romances and maybe, just maybe, curse-breaking.

Well alright. This was some phenomenally entertaining full-force family drama storytelling. Like, this is an intergenerational family story of fifteen Vietnamese women, that could easily have been told in a serious and intense way, but instead Huynh gives readers a more lighthearted experience. She makes precision observations about the emotional manipulation and guilt and expectations stereotypical to Asian/immigrant parent child (mother daughter) relationships, but with a sharp and humorous eye. So, while these observations are genuine, the delivery is a darkly humorous tone that fantastically delivers. That tone felt, to me, reminiscent of Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians series, though this book has less of the "rich" and more of the "everyday" style of success and livelihood. There is also a distinct air of soap opera to the overall plot, as it were. With the reality of estrangement and small communities comes the coincidences of overlapping relationships that, when all the family comes together for the "finale" scenes, explodes with spectacle that, yes, is a bit absurd, but also, if you picked up this book with accurate expectations, exactly right in its hilarity.

These characters are all endearing in their dysfunction - there are parts of each of their stories that any reader can see themselves in. That universal, "I'm trying to be better but in reality not *really* learning from my mistakes" is something that everyone has experience with, if they're being honest. Similarly, the way people (in this case, mothers) fight to make things different (better) for future generations, but that overcorrecting can cause its own issues, is so relatable. And seeing all that addressed with such humor makes it easier, legitimately fun, to read about such recognizably human foibles. Plus, setting it within the context for learning about Vietnamese culture, in general and for immigrants to the US, gives lovely added depth and context.

I struggled just a bit with the pacing of the story - not within itself, as it was page-turning from start to finish, but as part of a greater context - as it felt unmoored from anything happening outside the family. There is a chance that was purposefully done, to keep the focus on these women and their lives separately and together, fighting for individuality and cohesion both. And I do understand that bringing in more outside context could have necessitated a more serious tone, versus the "keeping it lighter" vibe that the author was going for. So I tried to just kinda let myself get pulled along and not worry too much about that aspect. So, in the end, I finished listening to this having been fully entertained by these gorgeously messy women, and totally recommend this to anyone looking to simply have a great time reading a book.

“These two souls before them had never dreamt that romantic love could happen at their age, in their lifetime, within this cosmos. The type of love blossoming right now was the very thing that they'd been taught was unattainable. It wasn't pragmatic for people like them because they needed to worry about men with guns, picking a side in the war, putting food on the table, finding work, providing for children, and figuring out how to survive in a foreign country. These things came first.”

“Not like a woman of color, a quiet Asian woman, a dutiful daughter or a model minority. But a desired woman who just wanted a man to look at her the way he did.”

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Fortunes of Jaded Women was a quick but powerful read.

We follow a large, complicated family of Vietnamese women who have been cursed for generations by a witch. Their ancestor Oanh left her marriage for true love – and so her descendants were cursed to never find love or happiness, and to only give birth to daughters.

Now skip ahead to present day, when current descendant Mai feels like her life is falling apart. She’s estranged from her two sisters and deeply worried about her three adult daughters. So she heads to her trusted psychic in Hawaii, who offers her an unusual prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son (!).

The story takes off at lightning speed from there. We alternate between a HUGE cast of characters from chapter to chapter, often hearing one side of the story and then the next. It was a little confusing to keep track at times, but the family tree at the front of the book was helpful. And as I got to know each character a little better, the threads became much clearer.

The storytelling is emotional and chaotic and raw – but also quite funny at times. These women are strong and STUBBORN.

The first half of the book focuses on the generation of mothers. All they want is to do better than their parents and to give their children happiness … but they don’t always know how. In the second portion of the book, we hear more from the daughters. They’re all desperately trying to distance themselves from their mothers in very different ways – but often unknowingly continue the cycles they hope to break.

Slowly but surely, the family is reunited. And all of this chaos culminates in one of the most jaw-droppingly awesome climaxes I’ve ever read. Everything comes together all at once, and I was cracking up at the delightful ridiculousness of it all.

This book covers SO much: navigating love in all of its stages, connecting with your roots and heritage in different ways, dealing with racism and harmful stereotypes, the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, generational trauma, the burden of being an eldest daughter, and so much more. It will make you laugh out loud and then punch you in the gut. It’s a celebration of Vietnamese women and of complicated families who may get into public food fights but ultimately will do anything for each other.

CW: death, grief, racism, toxic relationship, infidelity, body shaming, drug use, mental illness, misogyny, medical content, miscarriage, pregnancy, cultural appropriation, abandonment, colonization, classism

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internationalreads's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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