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janecoombes's review against another edition
3.0
Slow start and Disappointing ending. Middle was good though!! :-)
asteries's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
booksarebetter's review against another edition
3.0
Slow, but good writing however mostly bored. 3 ⭐
kirstenrose22's review against another edition
3.0
I'm debating between 3 and 4 stars for this. I did like it - but some pieces didn't hang together as well as others. The 1940s storyline was far more compelling than the 1950s one - I found myself wondering why Lee had even bothered with the frame narrative (although by the end, it becomes a little more than a simple frame). The title is misleading and I think this book would be better served by another title. Still - fascinating and subtle and interesting.
janel1994's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed The Piano Teacher. Lee's characters are initially unlikeable but as the story unfolds I found them more compelling. Very strong female characters. Very simple prose but very vivid descriptions of wartime and post war Hong Kong. The book alternates between 1941-1943 and 1952-1953. I haven't read much about Hong Kong during WWII. It was a British colony that was occupied by the Japanese. British and American citizens were sent to internment camps. Lee described how British and Chinese society lived in Hong Kong before the war, during and then after the war.
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
An intriguing book about shallow people who either find and embrace their hidden depths, or... waste away.
I think this is more complicated than it appears to be; no one here behaves with nobility or heroism. Just people trying to make the best of the hands they'd been dealt (or failing to change the hands they'd been dealt, or sometimes making them worse).
I did like Claire, as flawed as she was, and as cruel and naive, there was still something... admirable? or endearing about her interior struggles, her attempts to reconcile who she was discovering herself to be versus what she wanted herself to be. She's not particularly likable perhaps but she did interest me. Will I gradually found wanting, and truthfully, none of the other characters really came 100 percent alive for me, not even Trudy. But I did feel for them; most of the time I wanted to grab them all by the lapels and shout at them. Though what I'd shout... I don't really know.
A bit too much exposition and telling by the end, I felt. A slow build followed by a rapid descent, but still, ultimately an ending that satisfied.
I think this is more complicated than it appears to be; no one here behaves with nobility or heroism. Just people trying to make the best of the hands they'd been dealt (or failing to change the hands they'd been dealt, or sometimes making them worse).
I did like Claire, as flawed as she was, and as cruel and naive, there was still something... admirable? or endearing about her interior struggles, her attempts to reconcile who she was discovering herself to be versus what she wanted herself to be. She's not particularly likable perhaps but she did interest me. Will I gradually found wanting, and truthfully, none of the other characters really came 100 percent alive for me, not even Trudy. But I did feel for them; most of the time I wanted to grab them all by the lapels and shout at them. Though what I'd shout... I don't really know.
A bit too much exposition and telling by the end, I felt. A slow build followed by a rapid descent, but still, ultimately an ending that satisfied.
trin's review against another edition
3.0
Historical fiction, covering the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Those aspects of the story were fascinating to me—I've read tons of WWII stories, but never one that covered this region. Lee's descriptions of life during the occupation are vivid and harrowing; she does a fantastic job realistically portraying the many ways people come together and fall apart under such horrific circumstances.
Unfortunately, as seems to be de rigueur for this sort of book these days, there's also a more modern component, and a *~*mystery*~* to be uncovered. This portion of the book, and even more notably the way the two relate, is much weaker. It doesn't help that, after everything, the BIG SECRET is revealed in such a hum-drum way. It's sort of as if the end of The Empire Strikes Back had gone like this:
Lando Calrissian invites Chewbacca and C-3PO to tea.
Lando: So, I heard that Vader is Luke's father.
C-3PO: I say!
Lando: Hey, just thought you should know.
Chewie: Rowarrrk!
But yes! The occupation scenes are seriously great, even if they don't have any Wookies in them. This is Lee's first novel, and it's got a lot to recommend it for a debut. I'll definitely be checking out her next one.
Unfortunately, as seems to be de rigueur for this sort of book these days, there's also a more modern component, and a *~*mystery*~* to be uncovered. This portion of the book, and even more notably the way the two relate, is much weaker. It doesn't help that, after everything, the BIG SECRET is revealed in such a hum-drum way. It's sort of as if the end of The Empire Strikes Back had gone like this:
Lando Calrissian invites Chewbacca and C-3PO to tea.
Lando: So, I heard that Vader is Luke's father.
C-3PO: I say!
Lando: Hey, just thought you should know.
Chewie: Rowarrrk!
But yes! The occupation scenes are seriously great, even if they don't have any Wookies in them. This is Lee's first novel, and it's got a lot to recommend it for a debut. I'll definitely be checking out her next one.
effortlessly_uncool's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
elemmire's review against another edition
1.0
Just boring and tedious. Not much more to say about it.