A review by stephhreads
Loveboat, Taipei, by Abigail Hing Wen
3.0
The best way I can describe this book is... I feel like it could easily be a Netflix teen rom-com.
I appreciate diversity in YA and voices and stories that are reflective of my own experiences. But Loveboat, Taipei feels underdeveloped. The drama and plot are entertaining and Ever grows in her understanding of herself and her parents, but there is also something missing. All the right pieces are there: the personal growth, the complex cultural and generational divide with parents, the conversations about race and the immigrant experience, the reclamation of stereotypes, but the way the book treats these topics kind of feels like reading a bunch of news headlines without diving into the actual articles themselves. All these topics are complex and nuanced but I feel like the book only addresses them at a superficial level. Like reading a SparkNotes of the Asian American experience.
But I love seeing more Asian American representation in covers, authors, and characters, and I would totally watch this if it became a Netflix movie or series.
I appreciate diversity in YA and voices and stories that are reflective of my own experiences. But Loveboat, Taipei feels underdeveloped. The drama and plot are entertaining and Ever grows in her understanding of herself and her parents, but there is also something missing. All the right pieces are there: the personal growth, the complex cultural and generational divide with parents, the conversations about race and the immigrant experience, the reclamation of stereotypes, but the way the book treats these topics kind of feels like reading a bunch of news headlines without diving into the actual articles themselves. All these topics are complex and nuanced but I feel like the book only addresses them at a superficial level. Like reading a SparkNotes of the Asian American experience.
But I love seeing more Asian American representation in covers, authors, and characters, and I would totally watch this if it became a Netflix movie or series.