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emfass's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I also ended up loving the interludes where Lo added chapters from the point of view of Lily's parents and aunt, to give voice to the many ways immigration, racism, and living a life spanning multiple cultures affects people.
I deeply appreciate the way Malinda Lo incorporated so much research as well as inspiration from her own family to create such a realistic, respectful view into San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950s. I also loved reading her Author's Note at the end, which gave historical context to so much of the story.
I listened to this on audio and narrator Emily Woo Zeller was wonderful.
This is going to be one of my favorite reads of 2023.
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Police brutality, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Deportation
Minor: Body horror, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization
lolajh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Lily Hu. What a fantastic character. A Chinese American lesbian dealing with not just racism and lesbiphobia separately, but as overlapping things that create much more of an impact than one of these things by themselves. The portrayal of Lily’s lesbianism was portrayed a bit iffy in some parts, such as describing her intense focus on other girls’ bodies, but for the most part was described as more than skin-deep.
Lily’s love for Kath, a butch lesbian, was so bittersweet, and a lovely depiction of lesbian love. Their relationship transitions so seamlessly from friends to lovers, and despite the context they are in, neither have internalised homophobia about their lesbianism, and there are never any moments of shame between them after they show affection, which is something quite prominent in a lot of queer books done even in present context. Seeing Lily’s love for butches in this book where the butch is the love interest and femme as the mc was lovely, because I got to see Lily’s admiration for butch lesbians and for Kath. I can clearly see Lily as a femme, whilst it isn’t stated as clearly as Kath being butch, because of how she expresses her femininity in no way for a man, and because of her true love for butch lesbians. They are clearly Lily’s type; her love for butches was just so beautiful to see, and so different from traditionally feminine (but not femme) lesbian stories.
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, War, and Deportation
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So I was excited when I learned that Malinda Lo’s new book was getting critical acclaim. I hoped that she had grown as a writer and that I would be able to love this new book the way I couldn’t quite love her earlier stuff.
And I do! This book absolutely delivered. The writing is clear and compelling. Lily is a strong, interesting protagonist who feels exactly like someone I would meet now while also having these problems that are so specific to her own place and time.
I loved the focus on queer community. I loved seeing Lily’s growth into her lesbian identity. I loved the way that this book filled in a piece of queer history that is missing from the usual story we get told.
But it was also too historically accurate for its own good. We don’t know what’s going to age poorly in the future, but we DO know what HAS ALREADY aged poorly, especially when that language wasn’t great to begin with. I don’t fault Lo for including derogatory language against Asian characters, especially since it’s mostly just in dialogue (Asian readers, feel free to disagree with me on this one), but I DO fault her for choosing to use outdated and derogatory language to refer to black people in this book, especially since there are no named black characters (a single mention of Gladys Bentley doesn’t count).
I still highly recommend this book, but I think that’s something to be aware of, and I think that Lo made a bad call to stick to historical language as closely as she did.
That being said, I loved that she didn’t Anglicize the Chinese dialogue (it’s translated in footnotes instead).
This book has completed what Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café started and Taylor Jenkins Reid has been continuing: I like historical fiction now. I just hated the type of historical fiction that’s about white cishet teenage boys living through world-changing events. Those are the books I was forced to read in middle school, and they were all awful.
Be aware that racism and homophobia are main parts of the story and that romance is present but not the main focus. Nothing too awful happens, but don’t read this book expecting a fluffy romance or anything cause it’s very much not one.
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Body horror and Miscarriage