Reviews

Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

nadzieja2004's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

hannahinpages's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

I wish there was more of Fiona and Jane, considering the novel was literally named after them and their friendship, but I liked the themes it explored nonetheless!
Edited review to round down as after a day I'm forgetting nearly everything that happened.

klizzie333's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

mdarceyhall's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 stars. I was really looking forward to this book and, while it starts strong, it quickly loses steam and fizzles out by the final two chapters/stories. The idea of interlinked short stories going back and forth between two friends is an interesting concept but it ultimately doesn’t work. The jumps in time and lack of character development left me wondering why I should care about the lives or experiences of Fiona or Jane.

lateresita27's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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

4.75

kruplinger's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars! kind of lost steam towards the end

justinecass's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

Really wanted to love this book, but felt kind of flat in a few ways. This is a very character driven book, so if you like a dense plot, you probably won't enjoy this one. The characters didn't go as deep as I wish they had - would love to see a bit more development of the characters. 

My biggest challenge with this book was the pacing and jumping of time accompanied with shifting perspectives and narration. It was really tough to interpret where we were at in the timeline because it jumps all over. Overall, a nice story of friendship, grief, loss, and really, what it means to be human, but missed the mark for me in a few ways! 

julianananana's review against another edition

3.5

I wasn't planning on reading this book because the cover makes it look like a romance novel, which I don't gravitate towards, but it's not romcomy at all and I'm glad I ended up picking it up. We love a QWOC novel, and this one was easy to read, comforting and relatable and vulnerable. I loved reading about these women's lives over time, and how they interacted with each other. My biggest gripe is that I wanted to go deeper into both characters by the end, but especially the Jane character -- I wanted more, more, more of her and her relationships and psyche!!! 

jgruman's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

heidi920's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0