woolgatherer's review
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism and Sexual content
Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Violence, and Vomit
courtsbooks'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Vomit
zombiezami's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Child death, and Addiction
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Cursing
Minor: Dementia, Gun violence, Animal death, Racism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
wenwanzhao'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
Sathian writes about about a culture familiar to me and many others. The pressure and desire to do well, to fit in and succeed in the world, is immense. If all the edge you needed to win was skimming the gold off of the success of others, would you do it? It's easy to say that I would not. Any drug will hurt more than it helps. The withdrawal effects of the gold drink seemingly never going away. Even still, the question lingers...
The writing in the novel is very satisfying to me. It doesn't try too hard to sound pretentious or smart, and doesn't fall into the trappings of trying to be too modern or relatable either. The narration Neil gives is clearly coloured by his perspective, but leaves room for greater understanding of other characters. The two time periods that the characters reside in are ones that remain distinct in my mind in different ways. Sathian doesn't explicitly drop details about 2006 or 2016, but the little things she does include bring me back to those respective times all the same.
The story detailed to us in Gold Diggers is odd and yet, of perfect sense.
Spoiler
It is about two people still hooked on a golden drug, trying to save the lives of the woman who helped them first. It is also about the lengths people will go to attain the immigrant dream. It is also about a guy figuring out his place in his family and country.Spoiler
It is worthy of endless analysis, critique, and discussion.Sathian has written one of the best books released this year. Gold Diggers is funny, empathetic, and harsh, like the real immigrant experience is.
Moderate: Drug use and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Mental illness