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A review by rebeccazh
Sugarbread by Balli Kaur Jaswal
tw: attempted sexual assault on a child
I really enjoyed this - it's a slow-paced story about Pin's experiences growing up as a minority in Singapore as she deals with buried family secrets and racism. There are also a few chapters from Pin's mother's perspective. I loved the magical realism-like elements of the book - food that tastes of emotions, the mysterious skin rash that seems to match Pin and her mother's mood, etc. Speaking of food, the descriptions of food were amazing! I was so hungry reading it. I also felt really nostalgic reading Pin's story. Really reminded me of my own childhood.
The book actually gives a look at a lot of complex issues and marginalized narratives that are usually swept under the rug - growing up poor and the stigma of it, casual racism, bullying in schools and the pressure to fit in with your classmates/friends, mental health struggles and the stigma that comes with it, misogyny/sexism, victim blaming that happens when there's a sexual assault, etc.
It was eye-opening reading about the casual racism. I'll always need to hear more non-Chinese stories about race. I wish this book was taught in schools. I remember from my own childhood years how casual and rampant racism was.
The last ten/twenty percent of the book was really really good. I loved Pin's mother's reconciliation with her brother, and the ending was... really moving.
I only have two minor complaints. Firstly, the pace of this book was really very slow, and the plot-twist (the family secret/sexual assault) was, as most readers pointed out, very predictable. Secondly, I struggled with the author's style. Xueting's review mentioned how the book reads like it was written for an international audience and I completely agree. The book over-explains the setting to the reader and there are WAY too many descriptive phrases to the point where I skimmed paragraphs.
I really enjoyed this - it's a slow-paced story about Pin's experiences growing up as a minority in Singapore as she deals with buried family secrets and racism. There are also a few chapters from Pin's mother's perspective. I loved the magical realism-like elements of the book - food that tastes of emotions, the mysterious skin rash that seems to match Pin and her mother's mood, etc. Speaking of food, the descriptions of food were amazing! I was so hungry reading it. I also felt really nostalgic reading Pin's story. Really reminded me of my own childhood.
The book actually gives a look at a lot of complex issues and marginalized narratives that are usually swept under the rug - growing up poor and the stigma of it, casual racism, bullying in schools and the pressure to fit in with your classmates/friends, mental health struggles and the stigma that comes with it, misogyny/sexism, victim blaming that happens when there's a sexual assault, etc.
It was eye-opening reading about the casual racism. I'll always need to hear more non-Chinese stories about race. I wish this book was taught in schools. I remember from my own childhood years how casual and rampant racism was.
The last ten/twenty percent of the book was really really good. I loved Pin's mother's reconciliation with her brother, and the ending was... really moving.
I only have two minor complaints. Firstly, the pace of this book was really very slow, and the plot-twist (the family secret/sexual assault) was, as most readers pointed out, very predictable. Secondly, I struggled with the author's style. Xueting's review mentioned how the book reads like it was written for an international audience and I completely agree. The book over-explains the setting to the reader and there are WAY too many descriptive phrases to the point where I skimmed paragraphs.