A review by stationannie
Chemistry by Weike Wang

5.0

4.5 stars, rounded up. 

This book really surprised me. Seeing the lower Goodreads rating, I was prepared to be disappointed. Of course, ratings are subjective, but I’m not so sure the community ratings are a fair or accurate assessment, in my opinion. 

I was personally hooked on the story from the get-go, which is generally a pretty difficult feat to accomplish. The only other book I can really remember giving me the same feelings of engagement was “Yellowface” by RF Kuang. 

I do believe my experience reading this book was certainly enhanced because I could relate to the character as a Chinese-American. It does take a certain understanding of the cultural aspects of the character to fully appreciate what she goes through, which I think many readers, who may have rated on the low end, probably lacked. 

These readers likely didn’t experience the same emotional connection because they don’t understand the nuances of what it’s like to be Chinese-American with immigrant parents. What may seem like emotionless behavior is actually a coping mechanism and what we’re taught culturally. It’s unfortunate the audience of the book may not get these cultural cues because they lack the awareness. 

While my particular life experiences are completely different from the main character’s, what she felt and did were so relatable and believable to me. I think it’s why I found this book to be so profound. Wang was truly ahead of her time in the Asian-American book space. I wish there had been more books like this when I was younger because I would have felt seen and represented. 

I’ve read so many Asian-American authors, but not all excel at writing compelling Asian-American stories that stick. “Chemistry” will absolutely live rent-free in my head for a long time. Character-driven novels can be so hard to write well, but Wang did such a fantastic job.  Because I am so impressed with this book, I really want to read her backlist now to see how her other books fare.