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etrot28's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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
3.5
loriluo's review against another edition
3.0
At 28 years of age, Audrey Zhou is finally returning to her quiet hometown of Hickory Grove, Illinois for the first time since leaving home for college. And it's not entirely by her own will; her newest engagement to her fiancé Ben forces them to leave their familiar world of New York City, and means that Audrey has to return to a place that she thought she'd already escaped. When Aubrey arrives, she's immediately confronted with memories of her past - her demanding, never satisfied mother; her demure father who needs to undergo an endoscopy; her childhood friend and secret crush, Kyle; and her then-best-friend who she hasn't spoken to in years, Kristen.
Told from Aubrey's first person perspective, we watch as her current life as a successful professional in NYC clashes with her past life, despite her best attempts to keep the two apart. She struggles to reconcile with her former childhood friends and classmates, to come to terms with her immigrant parents, and to realize the truth about herself - both in the past and in the present.
Speaking purely from a personal perspective, this book hit home for me in a lot of places. The complicated relationship I had with my own immigrant Asian parents, the pressure to do well and leave your hometown, living and working NYC as a young professional, navigating the complicated world of dating and friendships as an adult - these were all themes and struggles that Audrey experiences and describes, oftentimes in very subtle and nuanced ways. Her desire to adopt a brand new identity and abandon the person who she was before (and all the mistakes she made as a child or teen) drives a lot of her present behavior and motivations, which is also a feeling I can empathize with. Aubrey also has to come to terms with the fact that the people who know her in the present may not accept who she was (and still is) - and that underlying conflict is what drives the bulk of the novel.
On the other hand, I can understand that this book is not for everyone. Cai has written about some very specific, nuanced situations and characters and the novel is very character-driven versus plot-driven; not that much actually happens throughout the novel. The pacing can feel slow at times, and the jumps across time periods can also be frustrating and difficult to follow. I personally feel like this novel would have been more impactful if written from a third person perspective, or even across alternating perspectives as Aubrey's mother stays fairly one-dimensional and negative until the final few pages of the novel.
For a debut novel, I think Cai has written a nuanced, character-driven story that clearly pulls from many of her own personal experiences, and will be appreciated by others who have had a similar upbringing.
Thank you Random House Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!
Told from Aubrey's first person perspective, we watch as her current life as a successful professional in NYC clashes with her past life, despite her best attempts to keep the two apart. She struggles to reconcile with her former childhood friends and classmates, to come to terms with her immigrant parents, and to realize the truth about herself - both in the past and in the present.
Speaking purely from a personal perspective, this book hit home for me in a lot of places. The complicated relationship I had with my own immigrant Asian parents, the pressure to do well and leave your hometown, living and working NYC as a young professional, navigating the complicated world of dating and friendships as an adult - these were all themes and struggles that Audrey experiences and describes, oftentimes in very subtle and nuanced ways. Her desire to adopt a brand new identity and abandon the person who she was before (and all the mistakes she made as a child or teen) drives a lot of her present behavior and motivations, which is also a feeling I can empathize with. Aubrey also has to come to terms with the fact that the people who know her in the present may not accept who she was (and still is) - and that underlying conflict is what drives the bulk of the novel.
On the other hand, I can understand that this book is not for everyone. Cai has written about some very specific, nuanced situations and characters and the novel is very character-driven versus plot-driven; not that much actually happens throughout the novel. The pacing can feel slow at times, and the jumps across time periods can also be frustrating and difficult to follow. I personally feel like this novel would have been more impactful if written from a third person perspective, or even across alternating perspectives as Aubrey's mother stays fairly one-dimensional and negative until the final few pages of the novel.
For a debut novel, I think Cai has written a nuanced, character-driven story that clearly pulls from many of her own personal experiences, and will be appreciated by others who have had a similar upbringing.
Thank you Random House Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!
cthomas25's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
pagesofthevalley's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Central Places.
I thought that this was a well written book with very relatable events. It did, however, seem to have a slower pace.
ale_readsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
A book filled with unlikable characters. Audrey, the protagonist of Central Places, is self-absorbed, selfish, inconsiderate and makes really immature decisions. This all made this book a difficult read for me.
The story begins with Audrey, a Chinese American woman who is taking her fiancé to meet her parents in the Midwest for the first time. Audrey who now lives in NYC with her rich and photojournalist fiancé Ben is “living the dream” — nice brownstone, living off her in-laws $$$ and enjoying all of the city’s big riches.
Audrey hasn’t been home in over eight years, part of that has to do with a rooted feeling/trauma of being a disappointment to her mother. Her mother has made many backhand comments to Audrey about not pursuing a career that makes money, marrying at church, having kids, buying a house — ultimately fulfilling every immigrant’s American dream. Another key reason Audrey seems to avoid her hometown is because she has tried to set herself apart from her culture and heritage. Growing up she experienced lots of racism and discrimination by people from the town. She was the only Asian person at her school. Now, she’s made up this elite persona in New York. This visit makes her confront her past and forces her to introduce who she really is to her fiancé.
While at times I really felt for Audrey and her self-hatred and the hard mother-daughter relationship, she was honestly insufferable.
There were just too many examples: Audrey rolls her eyes at her Chinese father for not pronouncing fajitas correctly. Audrey her friends are beneath her for never leaving their little small town. Audrey complains about not finding match tea in the small town in Illinois. Audrey scoffs at the many times the only place to go out to eat is Panera Bread or Golden Corral. Audrey judges her mothers collections of containers she stores to one day repurpose.
I think what really irked me was that this 27 year-old was acting much younger for her age, making immature decisions and there wasn’t much character growth
The story begins with Audrey, a Chinese American woman who is taking her fiancé to meet her parents in the Midwest for the first time. Audrey who now lives in NYC with her rich and photojournalist fiancé Ben is “living the dream” — nice brownstone, living off her in-laws $$$ and enjoying all of the city’s big riches.
Audrey hasn’t been home in over eight years, part of that has to do with a rooted feeling/trauma of being a disappointment to her mother. Her mother has made many backhand comments to Audrey about not pursuing a career that makes money, marrying at church, having kids, buying a house — ultimately fulfilling every immigrant’s American dream. Another key reason Audrey seems to avoid her hometown is because she has tried to set herself apart from her culture and heritage. Growing up she experienced lots of racism and discrimination by people from the town. She was the only Asian person at her school. Now, she’s made up this elite persona in New York. This visit makes her confront her past and forces her to introduce who she really is to her fiancé.
While at times I really felt for Audrey and her self-hatred and the hard mother-daughter relationship, she was honestly insufferable.
There were just too many examples: Audrey rolls her eyes at her Chinese father for not pronouncing fajitas correctly. Audrey her friends are beneath her for never leaving their little small town. Audrey complains about not finding match tea in the small town in Illinois. Audrey scoffs at the many times the only place to go out to eat is Panera Bread or Golden Corral. Audrey judges her mothers collections of containers she stores to one day repurpose.
I think what really irked me was that this 27 year-old was acting much younger for her age, making immature decisions and there wasn’t much character growth
breezyjean's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-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
mementolore's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
samstone's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
nravindr's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0