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: Domestic abuse and Child abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Grief, Kidnapping, Eating disorder, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Death, Dementia, Dysphoria, Infidelity, and Injury/injury detail
jtouchard23's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Physical abuse
menacebibliotheque'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Child abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Injury/injury detail, Pregnancy, and Medical content
em216's review
- 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
4.5
Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence
raychel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Grief
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Racial slurs
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
Spoiler
kidnapping Harriet in an ill-conceived plot,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: Kidnapping, Self harm, Mental illness, Abandonment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/injury detail, and Infidelity
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Eating disorder
auudrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Racism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Suicide, and Torture
Minor: Pedophilia
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: Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Confinement, Infidelity, and Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment and Addiction
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
roguesaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse
redhothabanero's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Suicide, Confinement, Abandonment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization