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A review by achadamaia
Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen
3.0
When I read the blurb on the back of this book, it sounded interesting. I like stories about immigrants. So, when I started reading it, I had high hopes.
The story started off well enough. I enjoyed the interplay between the parents and their daughters. But, somewhere about 50 pages in it got bogged down with Van's relationship with Myles. It got too much into the history of both girls and their relationships, so much so that it interfered with the story. Their problems were established pretty early on and it didn't seem necessary to keep dwelling on what happened two or three years earlier.
I decided to stick with it, which I rarely do beyond 50 pages. About 100 pages in the story improved. Instead of being about the failed romances, it became about the girls, their relationship with their father, and what it is like to be an immigrant (or daughters of immigrants).
I have to say that the father was my favorite character. He was not easy to figure out. He had that right blend of quirkiness that I like. I thought the author presented a good contrast between the father struggles and the mother's ability to adapt. I was intrigued by the husband and wife living separate lives and having two completely different experiences in their new home. This played well against the daughters who were born here and had different problems.
I would have liked the story to have been more about that conflict between the immigrant parents and their children and less about the romantic attachments.
I am glad that I stuck with it though. The second half of the story is enjoyable and has more continuity. I would probably split my star rating as 2 stars for the first 100 pages and then 4 stars for the rest of the story.
The story started off well enough. I enjoyed the interplay between the parents and their daughters. But, somewhere about 50 pages in it got bogged down with Van's relationship with Myles. It got too much into the history of both girls and their relationships, so much so that it interfered with the story. Their problems were established pretty early on and it didn't seem necessary to keep dwelling on what happened two or three years earlier.
I decided to stick with it, which I rarely do beyond 50 pages. About 100 pages in the story improved. Instead of being about the failed romances, it became about the girls, their relationship with their father, and what it is like to be an immigrant (or daughters of immigrants).
I have to say that the father was my favorite character. He was not easy to figure out. He had that right blend of quirkiness that I like. I thought the author presented a good contrast between the father struggles and the mother's ability to adapt. I was intrigued by the husband and wife living separate lives and having two completely different experiences in their new home. This played well against the daughters who were born here and had different problems.
I would have liked the story to have been more about that conflict between the immigrant parents and their children and less about the romantic attachments.
I am glad that I stuck with it though. The second half of the story is enjoyable and has more continuity. I would probably split my star rating as 2 stars for the first 100 pages and then 4 stars for the rest of the story.