brock111's review
5.0
This is the second book I've read by Jamie Ford and it was every bit as good as the first. I found the story interesting and there were a number of unexpected twists. I will look forward to reading more of his books.
sonia_reppe's review
4.0
This is the story of Chinese Americans during the 20's and 30's. I really felt for Willow, who lost her family, and was in the clutches of her stepfather. Her story intertwined with the story of her son William; when he is 12, Willow tells him about her past. I really liked this, I just had a hard time believing that William was having romantic love feelings for a girl his age when he is only 12 years old and . But he was written as a very mature, serious boy-- a young man really. I can accept that his circumstances made him grow up fast.
Spoiler
that this 12-year-old blind girl hung herself--that she knew how to do it and was able to execute it.kblincoln's review
4.0
I love learning history from novels..and when I first encountered Ford's Hotel on the corner of bitter sweet I loved how he brought to focus some of the rarely referenced issues California WWII Chinese faced along with Japanese along with a lovely light romance.
I also loved the immersion into Pacific Northwest Chinese culture to be found in Songs of Willow Frost. The main protagonist is the "orphaned" (as often happened during the recession pictured in the novel many times orphans had one or more parents that couldn't afford them) son of a Chinese actress/singer who rediscovers the location of his mother threw her work.
We learn some interesting stuff about early movie studios outside Hollywood, early Asian actors such as Sessue Hayakawa (silent movie actor) and a bit about working class Chinese culture in the Pacific Northwest. No surprise there's some painful racism here that results in women going through complicated childbirth being refused at white hospitals, etc.
This view of Pacific Northwest film and chinese history is mostly super sweet and thoughtful. The main orphans' thoughts are many times quite adult-sounding to me in a way that I didn't always think rang true to the emotional heart of the story. And sometimes, the super-sweetness glossed so far over the reality of what was happening (other than the first abusive episode that results in the conception of the orphan) that I think it weakened some of the emotional impact. (What Willow Frost has to endure after she loses her job hawking music scores, the dark hints of what Charlotte the orphan friend endured from her father, etc).
So while I wanted to give this book 5 stars solely because I think its important to read for the historical parts, sweet and sadly dreamy story-- I did at times get a little bored and I attribute that to the glossing over of the really, heavy-hitting devastating parts of this story and the orphan's philosophical/thoughtful view we get of events.
I also loved the immersion into Pacific Northwest Chinese culture to be found in Songs of Willow Frost. The main protagonist is the "orphaned" (as often happened during the recession pictured in the novel many times orphans had one or more parents that couldn't afford them) son of a Chinese actress/singer who rediscovers the location of his mother threw her work.
We learn some interesting stuff about early movie studios outside Hollywood, early Asian actors such as Sessue Hayakawa (silent movie actor) and a bit about working class Chinese culture in the Pacific Northwest. No surprise there's some painful racism here that results in women going through complicated childbirth being refused at white hospitals, etc.
This view of Pacific Northwest film and chinese history is mostly super sweet and thoughtful. The main orphans' thoughts are many times quite adult-sounding to me in a way that I didn't always think rang true to the emotional heart of the story. And sometimes, the super-sweetness glossed so far over the reality of what was happening (other than the first abusive episode that results in the conception of the orphan) that I think it weakened some of the emotional impact. (What Willow Frost has to endure after she loses her job hawking music scores, the dark hints of what Charlotte the orphan friend endured from her father, etc).
So while I wanted to give this book 5 stars solely because I think its important to read for the historical parts, sweet and sadly dreamy story-- I did at times get a little bored and I attribute that to the glossing over of the really, heavy-hitting devastating parts of this story and the orphan's philosophical/thoughtful view we get of events.
cook_memorial_public_library's review
4.0
Recommended by Trish. Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sall%20fall%20down%20weiner__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
emariegrace's review
3.0
I think I wanted this to be “hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet” the sequel, and it definitely wasn’t. it wasn’t a terrible book but it also wasn’t hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet 😂
froydis's review
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley.com and Ballantine Books for allowing me early access to this novel.
3 1/2 stars - Jamie Ford takes us once again to the yesteryears of Seattle's Chinatown. This is a story of loss, regret, pain, abuse, and eventual reconciliation. I found this book to be less sentimental than "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," and grimmer in many ways. As in his previous book, Ford paints compelling characters. His children are very well done. I had a more difficult time with Willow, although she is a tragic figure who does the best she can in her circumstances. I do think the villains are a bit too black-and-white, but overall this is a great read. It's ending is emotionally satisfying and hopeful. I Recommend this book.
3 1/2 stars - Jamie Ford takes us once again to the yesteryears of Seattle's Chinatown. This is a story of loss, regret, pain, abuse, and eventual reconciliation. I found this book to be less sentimental than "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," and grimmer in many ways. As in his previous book, Ford paints compelling characters. His children are very well done. I had a more difficult time with Willow, although she is a tragic figure who does the best she can in her circumstances. I do think the villains are a bit too black-and-white, but overall this is a great read. It's ending is emotionally satisfying and hopeful. I Recommend this book.