Reviews

Химия by Weike Wang

Only show reviews with written explanations

stationannie's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars, rounded up.

This book really surprised me. Seeing the lower Goodreads rating, I was prepared to be disappointed. Of course, ratings are subjective, but I’m not so sure the community ratings are a fair or accurate assessment, in my opinion.

I was personally hooked on the story from the get-go, which is generally a pretty difficult feat to accomplish. The only other book I can really remember giving me the same feelings of engagement was “Yellowface” by RF Kuang.

I do believe my experience reading this book was certainly enhanced because I could relate to the character as a Chinese-American. It does take a certain understanding of the cultural aspects of the character to fully appreciate what she goes through, which I think many readers, who may have rated on the low end, probably lacked.

These readers likely didn’t experience the same emotional connection because they don’t understand the nuances of what it’s like to be Chinese-American with immigrant parents. What may seem like emotionless behavior is actually a coping mechanism and what we’re taught culturally. It’s unfortunate the audience of the book may not get these cultural cues because they lack the awareness.

While my particular life experiences are completely different from the main character’s, what she felt and did were so relatable and believable to me. I think it’s why I found this book to be so profound. Wang was truly ahead of her time in the Asian-American book space. I wish there had been more books like this when I was younger because I would have felt seen and represented.

I’ve read so many Asian-American authors, but not all excel at writing compelling Asian-American stories that stick. “Chemistry” will absolutely live rent-free in my head for a long time. Character-driven novels can be so hard to write well, but Wang did such a fantastic job. Because I am so impressed with this book, I really want to read her backlist now to see how her other books fare.

ggrillion's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional slow-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? Yes

4.0

julialowebe's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

jenpaul13's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Navigating through the (adult) world is a trying task, but we all have to make an attempt at some point. Chemistry by Weike Wang follows one Ph.D. student's attempt to make sense of her life and what she truly wants.

To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.

Years into her graduate work in chemistry at Boston University, the narrator struggles under the pressures she's facing: her boyfriend wants to marry her and move to Ohio for his job, her parents demand perfection from her, and with her research stalling, she just doesn't know what she wants anymore. As the pressure gets to be too much, she reaches a breaking point and removes herself from the academic world and breaks it off with her boyfriend. While trying to figure out what she wants to do in her future, she recalls and evaluates parts of her past trying to find how she can be happy.

This story is a reflection and cautionary tale of society's demand for us to find a meaningful calling and pursue it wholeheartedly, which typically places undue pressure on us and leaves many feeling like failures when they don't achieve things by a certain age. The language choices and the non-chronological, episodic structure of the narrative helped to convey a strong sense of character for a non-native English speaker and someone whose mind tends toward the logical or scientific side. I found the nameless narrator rather frustrating at times with her inability to act or communicate, but the emotions and situations she struggled through were relatable for young people trying to define themselves.

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

taramarion's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Easily forgettable.

burningupasun's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about this? It's sort of stream-of-consciousness, or almost like a diary, but not quite? I liked it a lot at parts, definitely. The ending felt a bit abrupt, though. It jumps around a bit but that kind of suits the narration, as the unnamed narrator/main character kind of processes her life and such. It felt very real to me, though, as in the narration was so realistic that I almost wondered if it was a memoir. But nope, fiction!