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traa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Racism, Rape, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Deportation, Excrement, and Stalking
lilawsahar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have no words. I felt like I related to this to my bones as a child with an immigrant parent. Sometimes I was uncomfortable, sad, happy, etc. I feel like a sour heart is someone who is trying to balance two worlds. One of privilege and possibilities and another of nothing. One of Chinese language and culture and another of “American” language and culture. Someone who sees the world as unfair and their life is unfair so they’re angry at the world. At least that’s my interpretation.
I liked how all the stories were interconnected and how the first story circles back.
I need someone to discuss this book with because there is a lot to unravel.
I liked how all the stories were interconnected and how the first story circles back.
I need someone to discuss this book with because there is a lot to unravel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Bullying, Violence, and Sexual content
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Cursing, Vomit, War, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Bullying, Alcohol, Homophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence
tenten's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
oh wow! what a collection! i was first introduced to Jenny Zhang when i read "We Love You Crispina" in a creative writing class in college many years ago. this book has been on my Want-to-Read since then, but i didn't get around to reading it until, well, now. i'm reading short story collections/anthologies this month for inspiration as i write my own short stories.
i enjoyed "We Love You Crispina", the first story in the collection, because of the voice. Zhang is so so so good at it. the narrators are vulgar, naive in the way children are, but also mature in the way that children from marginalized backgrounds tend to have to be. all of the narrators are pre-teen/teen girls, ages ranging from 7 to 15 (except two stories that follow the narrators into adulthood), who grew up in poverty in Queens(Brooklyn in one case), NY as the child of Chinese immigrants. the stories deal with race, class, sexuality, family, and a score of other topics that a teen girl might encounter in her short life.
as other reviews pointed out, the stories are very similar. while i think Zhang is a strong writer of voice, all of the narrators kinda have the same one? the exception is the last story. that story follows the same narrator as the first story, "We Love You Crispina", but she is mostly an adult in the last story, rather than 11, which is how old she is in the first one. other than that, they do start to all sound similar. this would have maybe worked better as a novel-in-stories, or if she played with a structure like that, rather than attempting to make these distinct short stories/characters. though i will say, i really enjoyed how these are loosely linked–the narrator of the first and last story is mentioned in every other story.
my favorite stories were:
- We Love You Crispina
- Why Were They Throwing Bricks?
- Our Mothers Before Them
i enjoyed "We Love You Crispina", the first story in the collection, because of the voice. Zhang is so so so good at it. the narrators are vulgar, naive in the way children are, but also mature in the way that children from marginalized backgrounds tend to have to be. all of the narrators are pre-teen/teen girls, ages ranging from 7 to 15 (except two stories that follow the narrators into adulthood), who grew up in poverty in Queens(Brooklyn in one case), NY as the child of Chinese immigrants. the stories deal with race, class, sexuality, family, and a score of other topics that a teen girl might encounter in her short life.
as other reviews pointed out, the stories are very similar. while i think Zhang is a strong writer of voice, all of the narrators kinda have the same one? the exception is the last story. that story follows the same narrator as the first story, "We Love You Crispina", but she is mostly an adult in the last story, rather than 11, which is how old she is in the first one. other than that, they do start to all sound similar. this would have maybe worked better as a novel-in-stories, or if she played with a structure like that, rather than attempting to make these distinct short stories/characters. though i will say, i really enjoyed how these are loosely linked–the narrator of the first and last story is mentioned in every other story.
my favorite stories were:
- We Love You Crispina
- Why Were They Throwing Bricks?
- Our Mothers Before Them
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
ayesha1816's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I thought that the characters and the stories blended together... it was almost as if this would've been better as a novel. Which is a weird thing to say about a short story collection.
Very strong trigger warnings for a LOT of stuff throughout/
Very strong trigger warnings for a LOT of stuff throughout/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Gore, Emotional abuse, Blood, War, and Torture
Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide
This book is very violent and graphic, just a warning.edgwareviabank's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The front cover of my copy of "Sour Heart" has a quote from the New Yorker printed in the middle, describing the book as "obscene, beautiful and moving". You'd be perfectly fine judging this book by its cover: it's all three of those things.
The weight of love and family ties dominates these stories of disoriented children and parents, struggling with past trauma from the Chinese Cultural Revolution and facing uncertain futures in the US. I have a soft spot for fiction that explores immigrants' fragmented identities, and this book delivers beautifully in that sense.
The author sets her characters in the same time and place by having their families share a room at the start of their lives in New York. This detail gets the most space in the first story and brief mentions in the others, and while the stories wouldn't be any less powerful without it, I didn't mind it, as I enjoy the thrill of finding the connection between different pieces in a short story collection.
There is a strong sense throughout the book that the children narrating the stories are growing up too fast, striving to keep up with their peers (who have been steeped in American culture for longer but are far from role models), or keeping their needs and feelings in checks as their parents navigate precarious living situations and emotional breakdowns. This leads to the "obscene" side to "Sour Heart", and while the book's dark humour wouldn't be as effective without the kids' consistently foul language, two of the stories have peer pressure escalate into a level of violence some readers may be less comfortable with.
My favourite stories: "We Love You Crispina", "Our Mothers Before Them", "The Evolution Of My Brother".
The weight of love and family ties dominates these stories of disoriented children and parents, struggling with past trauma from the Chinese Cultural Revolution and facing uncertain futures in the US. I have a soft spot for fiction that explores immigrants' fragmented identities, and this book delivers beautifully in that sense.
The author sets her characters in the same time and place by having their families share a room at the start of their lives in New York. This detail gets the most space in the first story and brief mentions in the others, and while the stories wouldn't be any less powerful without it, I didn't mind it, as I enjoy the thrill of finding the connection between different pieces in a short story collection.
There is a strong sense throughout the book that the children narrating the stories are growing up too fast, striving to keep up with their peers (who have been steeped in American culture for longer but are far from role models), or keeping their needs and feelings in checks as their parents navigate precarious living situations and emotional breakdowns. This leads to the "obscene" side to "Sour Heart", and while the book's dark humour wouldn't be as effective without the kids' consistently foul language, two of the stories have peer pressure escalate into a level of violence some readers may be less comfortable with.
My favourite stories: "We Love You Crispina", "Our Mothers Before Them", "The Evolution Of My Brother".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, and Torture
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