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taysbooktalk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Alcohol
alexsadventuresintheatreland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcoholism and Pregnancy
yhteunice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is a heavily plot-driven story about a mother, Frida Liu, who has a terrible day and made a mistake that led her to be separated from her child, later be part of a system the government made for bad mothers. The main themes of the story is the struggle of motherhood and her "coming-to-be" of her Chinese roots. The way society created a structured and constrictive system of the high standards and expectations of how mothers should be. Creating an unjust perspective that mothers have to be a robot to their children.
It is frustrating to see the instances of it and reading it makes my blood boil (which means the book did a good job expressing the unethical & suffocating standards a mother should pursue). However, the pacing of the book is unnecessarily long. The point has been stated, and it keeps being repeated, making the growth seems rushed and difficult to understand. The transitioning of one scenario to another is not smooth and does not give the reader (or me lol) time to take in a particular arc or chapter.
Over all, the premise of the book and the theme are interesting and great for today's society. It's just that the execution was confusing, and it does not sit right with me. However, since it is the first book Ms. Chan has even written. I give more understanding towards it.
I rated this book 2.5/5 stars (2/5 stars since it's the only option lol). Would I recommend it to someone? Yes, /only/ if they'd want to understand the difficulties of motherhood. And it is also great for group readings to have many discussions. But other than that, this book does not give me the spark to necessarily recommend it directly. Do I think it could be written better? Absolutely.
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sadiaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I think this is a story that would resonate with anyone, it's interesting how she included many different issues not only racism and sexism, but also the treatment of father's and how there is a double standard when it comes to parenting and the punishments they are given.
All in all I would recommend this book.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism
mpop's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Most of it was set in the school, where the mothers are assigned tasks with impossible standards by cruel instructors, then fail the tasks - over and over and over. While the tasks varied, this part of the book felt repetitive. I didn't feel like there was much character development for anyone, other than Frida internalizing the message that she's a bad mother. She does take agency at the very end by
There are huge differences between how the fathers and mothers are treated in their schools, but there's no real explanation for this - I understand that it's to magnify the different expectations that society has for fathers and mothers, but there wasn't an internal logic for it in the book-world (other than fathers always getting phone privileges because it's important for fathers to be in their children's lives), so rather than highlighting society's flaws, it felt like more arbitrary cruelty. This example illustrates how I felt about the book generally - not quite explained enough, but sad.
I enjoyed the parts where Frida discusses her Chinese-American identity, relationships with her parents, and the experiences she had as a Chinese-American girl/woman the most. That resonated and made her seem more like a real person, with complex experiences and feelings, rather than the flat "bad mother" who's just berated over and over.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
alliecrosson203's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
isleoflinds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol
ressicajicks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
alisonvh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Rape, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol
pelevolcana's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy