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chiyeungreads's review against another edition
“If Holden Caulfield were asian.” Waylaid does an amazing job showing the real struggle most first generation Chinese Americans go through as they attempt to eke out a living in a country that they are learning to call home.
mrsthrift's review against another edition
4.0
Angelina recommended this book to me. It was readily available through my public library, and I do love books about teenagers, so I decided to give it a chance. This is certainly a quick read, well-written, and funny.
I laughed along with the unnamed Taiwanese-American narrator, suffering through his adolescence at the Jersey Shore in a crappy motel owned by his parents. It's all there - sexual fixation and awakening, wayward mentors, distant parents, the futile black hole of school. Surrounded by porno magazines abandoned in empty rooms and hourly rooms rented to johns & prostitutes, his budding sexual desire is a primary element in the story. There's more, though, as the seasons change and the winter tenants become the summer vacationers and the school year slips away. Every room rental has a story - even if it is a story nearly identical to the previous one.
Waylaid is charming & feels authentic. It gave me a sense of real humanity in just a few quick pages. It's interesting, and ultimately, hopeful & reassuring.
I laughed along with the unnamed Taiwanese-American narrator, suffering through his adolescence at the Jersey Shore in a crappy motel owned by his parents. It's all there - sexual fixation and awakening, wayward mentors, distant parents, the futile black hole of school. Surrounded by porno magazines abandoned in empty rooms and hourly rooms rented to johns & prostitutes, his budding sexual desire is a primary element in the story. There's more, though, as the seasons change and the winter tenants become the summer vacationers and the school year slips away. Every room rental has a story - even if it is a story nearly identical to the previous one.
Waylaid is charming & feels authentic. It gave me a sense of real humanity in just a few quick pages. It's interesting, and ultimately, hopeful & reassuring.
aislinn95's review against another edition
2.0
This book made me uncomfortable in a bad way. I could not relate in any way to or enjoyed reading about a 12 year old horndog boy who hates his parents & gets what he wants through manipulation. He's bullied & yet he's friends with the bullies? There was some clever writing, all of which was overshadowed by the main character's constant reminder that all he wants is to have sex. I like Ed Lin alot, but if this were my first introduction into his writing, I probably wouldn't have read any of his other books.
kfrench1008's review against another edition
4.0
Great debut coming-of-age novel set on the Jersey Shore.
christy_0909's review against another edition
2.0
Not a big fan of this book. I had to push through it for a classes sake, but I would not read it again.
miam's review
4.0
I read this book in less than a day because I couldn't put it down (and yes, it's also very short), but even as I devoured it, I couldn't decide how I felt about it. While it takes place in a fascinating world, I've never really loved these gritty coming-of-age stories about pre-teen boys whose lives seem to revolve around masturbation. (Maybe they're ruined by the fact that I have two younger brothers and I just don't like to think too hard about any of it.)
But this book is more than grit for the sake of grit. The narrator's unsentimental style makes his observations all the more poignant, and the last chapter--revelatory in a quiet, nothing-happens-but-everything-happens sort of way--brought everything together for a satisfying (and devastating) ending.
My only complaint by the end is that this book is (physically) so tightly bound that it's like a hand workout to keep it open wide enough to read. I'm glad Kaya's binding is different now!
But this book is more than grit for the sake of grit. The narrator's unsentimental style makes his observations all the more poignant, and the last chapter--revelatory in a quiet, nothing-happens-but-everything-happens sort of way--brought everything together for a satisfying (and devastating) ending.
My only complaint by the end is that this book is (physically) so tightly bound that it's like a hand workout to keep it open wide enough to read. I'm glad Kaya's binding is different now!
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