A review by tammiesven
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
1.0
Ugh... Joy is a Nightmare
SPOILERS
Joy is the worst. What a total pain in the ass.
I'm a fan of Lisa See and have enjoyed many of her other books. This one was lazy.
Joy, the hemorrhoid that she is, suddenly becomes a giant know it all (she wasn't portrayed this way in the previous book), and for not a good enough reason, scurries off to China. The same day she gets there, she conveniently runs into her biological father, who happens to be super accepting of a 20-year-old daughter just showing up out of nowhere. He's like sure, I'm in the middle of all this tense shit with the government, but why not come along to the country, my daughter from America, who isn't supposed to be here, and whom I knew nothing about.
Cue Joy falling in love with Tao, the mediocre peasant artist, who is so wonderful and who suddenly turns evil after the wedding. She continues to buy into all of the communist propaganda and turns a blind eye to people's heartache and suffering. Joy continues to listen to nothing anyone has been telling her. She's a total moron. She's cool with communism bc she's living it up with her dad bc he gets all sorts of perks.
Joy, running off to communist China, prompts her mother, Pearl, to chase after her. Forcing her to return to the country, she fled after a whole bunch of trauma when on there. So, like, hey Joy, you little jerk, making your mother chase after you and return to the country where she was violently gang raped and needed to escape- makes you a jerkface. UGH I really hate Joy. I would have just let her go live and suffer in China.
Joys actions upturn everyone's lives, and she continues to question people who are routinely trying to help her. Up to the very end.
It is one major convenient plot line after another. Even conveniently running into Pearl's father in the end...UGH! It's just awful. How this book has higher ratings than Shanghai Girls, I will never understand.
SPOILERS
Joy is the worst. What a total pain in the ass.
I'm a fan of Lisa See and have enjoyed many of her other books. This one was lazy.
Joy, the hemorrhoid that she is, suddenly becomes a giant know it all (she wasn't portrayed this way in the previous book), and for not a good enough reason, scurries off to China. The same day she gets there, she conveniently runs into her biological father, who happens to be super accepting of a 20-year-old daughter just showing up out of nowhere. He's like sure, I'm in the middle of all this tense shit with the government, but why not come along to the country, my daughter from America, who isn't supposed to be here, and whom I knew nothing about.
Cue Joy falling in love with Tao, the mediocre peasant artist, who is so wonderful and who suddenly turns evil after the wedding. She continues to buy into all of the communist propaganda and turns a blind eye to people's heartache and suffering. Joy continues to listen to nothing anyone has been telling her. She's a total moron. She's cool with communism bc she's living it up with her dad bc he gets all sorts of perks.
Joy, running off to communist China, prompts her mother, Pearl, to chase after her. Forcing her to return to the country, she fled after a whole bunch of trauma when on there. So, like, hey Joy, you little jerk, making your mother chase after you and return to the country where she was violently gang raped and needed to escape- makes you a jerkface. UGH I really hate Joy. I would have just let her go live and suffer in China.
Joys actions upturn everyone's lives, and she continues to question people who are routinely trying to help her. Up to the very end.
It is one major convenient plot line after another. Even conveniently running into Pearl's father in the end...UGH! It's just awful. How this book has higher ratings than Shanghai Girls, I will never understand.