Reviews with content warning for Racism - Searching for Sylvie Lee

Searching for Sylvie Lee is the story of the Lee family, Chinese immigrants to the US, whose high flying daughter Sylvie goes missing in the Netherlands when she goes to visit the dying grandmother who raised her. With the Dutch police not showing much interest younger sister Amy begins to investigate. Along the way she discovers Sylvie’s life wasn’t as perfect as it appeared, unearths a whole lot of family secrets, and finds strength and capabilities she didn’t know she had. This felt a bit flat for me and I often struggled to distinguish Sylvie’s and Amy’s storylines. Ma was the only character whose voice stood out. Still I was invested in finding out exactly happened.

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lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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

3.0

Although this has a lot of things I like in books, something was missing for me to fully enjoy it.

This is a story about a Chinese American woman, Sylvie, who travels to the Netherlands where part of her family lives and where she spent the first 9 years of her life. She goes there because her grandma is dying, and she wants to see her again before it's too late. But after the funeral, Sylvie disappears. Her younger sister Amy travels to the Netherlands to retrace her footsteps and find her.

The story is told from 3 different point of views (Sylvie, Amy and their mom) which I really enjoyed. You get glimpses of family dynamics, secrets but also microaggressions against Asians not only in the US but also in the Netherlands. Some themes hit a little too close to home and got me all emotional. Others were not my thing, but I get why they were there.
The way the Netherlands were described, from an American point of view, was a little weird. Especially when you're European and live this close to the Netherlands, some observations the American characters made about life here were... kind of funny but also interesting.

Although I think the ending was very emotional, I just didn't like this one main twists at the very end. I guessed it at some point, and it's been done so many times. I also think it was unnecessary. You could have ruined all those lives and broken all those hearts with another secret, in my opinion.

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jamesflint's review against another edition

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2.0

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stlkatiek's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Part mystery and part family drama, this story centers around a missing Chinese-American woman who returns to Holland (where she spent her childhood) and goes missing. The story is told in three perspectives, with flashbacks from the missing woman, present day events from her sister who went to Holland to find her, and a mix of both from her mother. It dragged in places and the ending was a bit much, but overall it was a good enough read.

Read it Because:
It had been on my TBR forever

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bookishcori's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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emilyhawk's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The mystery that unfolded throughout this book was downright gripping. It was eerie, and the author did an excellent job of revealing information in little drips and scraps to maintain suspense. The setting in Amsterdam added to this vibe and was described really well. I was hooked, and I was wholly committed to seeing this book through.

Yet, the characterization was a major flaw for me here - despite being committed to the story, I didn't find any of the characters particularly likable or interesting. Amy, our main narrator, felt underdeveloped and her personality quirks seemed incongruent. Sylvie, our main emotional interest, was an enigma and her primary romantic interest -- which undergirded the whole plot -- was a bit unsettling and inappropriate for me. Ma, the third narrator, was even less developed and only appeared in brief flashes of anguish which didn't really add to the story -- I was eager to get back to Amy and Sylvie's accounts whenever Ma's chapter came into play. So while I enjoyed the ride of the narrative as a whole, I was left a bit underwhelmed by the many figures who took me on that ride.

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tessanikole's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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emgulph's review

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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