A review by jaclyncrupi
The Leavers by Lisa Ko

2.0

I am one of the very few people who could not get into this novel. Deming is abandoned by his mother at the age of 11 and the book is told from both their points of view and flicks backwards and forwards in time, explaining what happened and exploring the trauma of the separation and Deming's cross-cultural adoption. But it handles these changes of viewpoint and slips in time very poorly. I couldn't grab hold of the narrative or its characters. The subject matter is certainly important but I was unimpressed with the execution sadly. I really wanted to love this book as much as everyone else - after all Barbara Kingsolver is involved!