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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.
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
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
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
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