burntbmh's review

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I am apparently not an anthology girlie. I can't really appreciate excerpts independent of their larger works. However, I found the introduction very interesting. I had accepted the "pulled between two worlds" narrative as legitimate, thinking that it must somehow apply to first- and second-generation Asian-Americans even if I couldn't relate, and I enjoyed reading the editors' critique of that trope.

readerbot_lu's review

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informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Did I like it? Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

Favorite Quotes (like in a thought-provoking way)

"The ideal racial stereotype is a low-maintenance engine of white supremacy whose efficiency increases with age, as it becomes authenticated and historically verified." (18%)

"The assumption that an ethnic minority writer thinks in, believes he writes in, or has ambitions toward writing beautiful, correct, and well-punctuated English sentences is an expression of white supremacy." (23%)

Positives

Anthologies/short story collections are a good place to start to find authors you want to read and I did find some interesting authors. The preface/foreword/overview material also had some engaging theory.
 

Negatives

The introduction materials should never be 33% of the whole collection. This anthology’s more experimental pieces kind of sucked out my soul and I have very little energy to read any of the new writers I discovered.
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