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A review by onthesamepage
Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a story with very low stakes pretty much all the way through. It falls a little bit into the "no plot just vibes" category for me. I can appreciate both of those things, but I usually look for them in something like a cozy fantasy, for example, and that wasn't the case here. We mostly just follow Lady Jing first in Immortal Shanghai, and then in regular Shanghai, as she looks into a shallow mystery.
As a character, Jing is quick to anger, stubborn, and belligerent. But despite all of that, she doesn't have a lot of agency. She just sort of gets moved along by the events happening around her, and the will and whims of Big Wang, and I suppose that makes sense in some ways, but it makes her character feel inconsistent to me. She claims that insults and hurtful comments don't stick to her, yet she can fly into a rage at a single remark. And coming from some characters, that absolutely makes sense, but she flew off the handle so regularly that there didn't seem to be much difference in her behavior, regardless of who she was dealing with.
The romance left me pretty lukewarm, but I did end up reluctantly caring about her relationship with Big Wang. Ultimately, though, I don't think I will stick around for the rest of the series. This book can stand perfectly well on its own and is not open ended.
And this is a minor gripe, but Jing kept eating salted caramels in 1930s Shanghai when those weren't invented until 1977, and these are the kinds of details that my brain gets fixated on.
As a character, Jing is quick to anger, stubborn, and belligerent. But despite all of that, she doesn't have a lot of agency. She just sort of gets moved along by the events happening around her, and the will and whims of Big Wang, and I suppose that makes sense in some ways, but it makes her character feel inconsistent to me. She claims that insults and hurtful comments don't stick to her, yet she can fly into a rage at a single remark. And coming from some characters, that absolutely makes sense, but she flew off the handle so regularly that there didn't seem to be much difference in her behavior, regardless of who she was dealing with.
The romance left me pretty lukewarm, but I did end up reluctantly caring about her relationship with Big Wang. Ultimately, though, I don't think I will stick around for the rest of the series. This book can stand perfectly well on its own and is not open ended.
And this is a minor gripe, but Jing kept eating salted caramels in 1930s Shanghai when those weren't invented until 1977, and these are the kinds of details that my brain gets fixated on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse