cs_the_librarian's review against another edition
emotional
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? No
2.0
amlagunas's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Felt a little like a YA cliche story in the beginning, but ultimately ended up being a uniquely descriptive story that depicted depression as a true illness and journeyed artfully though grief.
Felt a little like a YA cliche story in the beginning, but ultimately ended up being a uniquely descriptive story that depicted depression as a true illness and journeyed artfully though grief.
pearlagcalo's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ what an incredibly beautifully written story. The colors, the shadows weaved into the characters and their relationships. It’s not a spoiler, but I’ll share that the main character’s mother dies by suicide so tread lightly if that’s a trigger. The author is subtle but the issues of mental health and depression are very profound in the storytelling.
clarissep's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping for. I had such HIGH expectations about this book. It talked about a specific Asian culture and society I was so personally in touch with, but it started going off in too many directions it seemed to have confused itself as to what it really wanted to drive home. It was a big old explosion of colors, but not the best kind.
The concept of this book had so much potential. We get that magical realism element with the phoenix, and the book spends SO LONG building up this phoenix spirit only to have it fizzle out without too much fanfare in the end. I was expecting the symbolism of the phoenix to have more impact than it did, because it was such a central element to the story.
I love that this book is set in Taiwan. I love that it gives a fairly accurate glimpse into the frustrating things Chinese-born kids have to deal with in their lives; particularly, the girls. (Yes, even to this day!) I feel like it’s a cultural (generational?) thing for most Chinese parents to always try to control their kids. It’s in their system. They always assume to know what’s best for their kids in terms of life choices and marriage partner choices, because to them security is more important than happiness. This is the weird way they manifest their love for their kids. And yes, sometimes the kids resort to these kinds of drastic things to “get away.” I totally get this part, so I totally get how someone would feel depressed over the disappointment of having your parents stop you from finding your own happiness. But I felt that seeing Dorie’s depression through Leigh’s immature eyes made it feel so surface-level when it’s such a complex thing. Somehow, the profound effect of Dorie’s decision to leave Taiwan did not feel as HUGE as it should have. Granted, depression is a difficult thing to write about. Also, I want to say I was very frustrated by how Leigh’s dad handled the entire thing.
I wish Pan had stuck with the mother-daughter thread and focused on it more, because inserting all the Leigh and Axel stuff distracted from what I assume was supposed to be the overall theme of the book— grief. In some ways, I could see Pan wanted to show the progression of grief and how it can take on different forms. It had been doing well making me feel the grief through the pages up to a certain point. But then, with all the other distracting stuff inserted between, it became a hodgepodge of things that jumped all over the place. I mean, okay, Leigh deserves happiness and I think her best friends-to-lovers thing is kind of adorable, but it really messed with the flow of the magical phoenix stuff. I wanted Leigh to learn more about herself through her mom and her heritage and spend a little less time pining for Axel. Maybe it’s the sequencing of the events in the book that didn’t work for me. I don’t know anymore.
Another thing: The way the author used colors to describe things appealed to my art-geek side for a couple of chapters. But then she started to overuse them alongside the metaphors, even during the moments they didn’t seem to fit into the flow. It made me cringe. By the end of the book I was rolling my eyes.
‘Guilt cuts through me, chromium oxide green.’
I mean, come on. It’s almost like she’s just showing off her knowledge of watercolor names.
I had to enlist the help of the audiobook for a majority of this book because I really wanted to finish it. And all I can say is, there’s some added value to being able to HEAR the Mandarin spoken by the narrator rather than reading the romanizations on the page. The narrator speaks Mandarin very accurately, and it adds such a great feel to all the Taiwan parts, food and culture and all that. (Or it could just be me, feeling nostalgic about Taiwan every time I hear talk about night markets and Jiufen.) In any case, the reason why I feel sad about this book is because I feel so strongly that it could’ve been better for me. The book felt like it didn’t understand its main focus, I suppose. I’m not saying it’s bad to talk about multiple things, but when these things clash and try to steal the thunder from each other, it just feels like a tangle. And I was totally expecting to be blown away by this, ya know?
The concept of this book had so much potential. We get that magical realism element with the phoenix, and the book spends SO LONG building up this phoenix spirit only to have it fizzle out without too much fanfare in the end. I was expecting the symbolism of the phoenix to have more impact than it did, because it was such a central element to the story.
I love that this book is set in Taiwan. I love that it gives a fairly accurate glimpse into the frustrating things Chinese-born kids have to deal with in their lives; particularly, the girls. (Yes, even to this day!) I feel like it’s a cultural (generational?) thing for most Chinese parents to always try to control their kids. It’s in their system. They always assume to know what’s best for their kids in terms of life choices and marriage partner choices, because to them security is more important than happiness. This is the weird way they manifest their love for their kids. And yes, sometimes the kids resort to these kinds of drastic things to “get away.” I totally get this part, so I totally get how someone would feel depressed over the disappointment of having your parents stop you from finding your own happiness. But I felt that seeing Dorie’s depression through Leigh’s immature eyes made it feel so surface-level when it’s such a complex thing. Somehow, the profound effect of Dorie’s decision to leave Taiwan did not feel as HUGE as it should have. Granted, depression is a difficult thing to write about. Also, I want to say I was very frustrated by how Leigh’s dad handled the entire thing.
I wish Pan had stuck with the mother-daughter thread and focused on it more, because inserting all the Leigh and Axel stuff distracted from what I assume was supposed to be the overall theme of the book— grief. In some ways, I could see Pan wanted to show the progression of grief and how it can take on different forms. It had been doing well making me feel the grief through the pages up to a certain point. But then, with all the other distracting stuff inserted between, it became a hodgepodge of things that jumped all over the place. I mean, okay, Leigh deserves happiness and I think her best friends-to-lovers thing is kind of adorable, but it really messed with the flow of the magical phoenix stuff. I wanted Leigh to learn more about herself through her mom and her heritage and spend a little less time pining for Axel. Maybe it’s the sequencing of the events in the book that didn’t work for me. I don’t know anymore.
Another thing: The way the author used colors to describe things appealed to my art-geek side for a couple of chapters. But then she started to overuse them alongside the metaphors, even during the moments they didn’t seem to fit into the flow. It made me cringe. By the end of the book I was rolling my eyes.
‘Guilt cuts through me, chromium oxide green.’
I mean, come on. It’s almost like she’s just showing off her knowledge of watercolor names.
I had to enlist the help of the audiobook for a majority of this book because I really wanted to finish it. And all I can say is, there’s some added value to being able to HEAR the Mandarin spoken by the narrator rather than reading the romanizations on the page. The narrator speaks Mandarin very accurately, and it adds such a great feel to all the Taiwan parts, food and culture and all that. (Or it could just be me, feeling nostalgic about Taiwan every time I hear talk about night markets and Jiufen.) In any case, the reason why I feel sad about this book is because I feel so strongly that it could’ve been better for me. The book felt like it didn’t understand its main focus, I suppose. I’m not saying it’s bad to talk about multiple things, but when these things clash and try to steal the thunder from each other, it just feels like a tangle. And I was totally expecting to be blown away by this, ya know?
teri_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
sbsreads's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
allithebookgiraffe_'s review against another edition
5.0
I was avoiding this book for a long time because of the subject matter. I lost my dad 6 years ago. However, now that I have read it, it seems ridiculous to avoid. This book is about grief but it isn't too much or too little. It didn't find it triggering.
The culture in this story was so rich and interesting to learn about. I can relate to Leigh in the way of not knowing some of her grandparents. Death does have a way of bringing people together and this book told it very well.
The culture in this story was so rich and interesting to learn about. I can relate to Leigh in the way of not knowing some of her grandparents. Death does have a way of bringing people together and this book told it very well.
ambernicolebromet's review against another edition
4.0
The only way I can think to describe this is beautiful! The writing is lyrical and poetic, and I’ve truly never read anything like it. The last 100 pages were incredible and had my eyes watering a few times. Would 100% recommend! I love that the author provided resources and brought awareness at the end of the book. So well done.
alient0an's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
Absolutely beautiful! The last 50 pages were very emotional, yet full of hope and completion.
Absolutely beautiful! The last 50 pages were very emotional, yet full of hope and completion.
biiaalourenco's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75