Jess
I read this back in the fall as a buddy read with @bookedwithemma! I love how this book is told from multiple POVs and expresses all the complexities and permutations of Japanese American sentiment during WWII, as well as the lasting legacy of internment. Chee's afterword gave me chills. I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking to expand their knowledge through historical fiction.
A solid accompaniment to THEY CALLED US ENEMY and DISPLACEMENT, though WE ARE NOT FREE is a bit more complex so I would suggest reading this after the two graphic memoirs.
Disclosure: I received a digital ARC via NetGalley and Henry Holt Books, as well as a physical ARC via a friend. This did not influence my thoughts or perception of the book.
Surprisingly taut, and I thought Cho really delved into her past to understand and process her postpartum psychosis. That said, I also feel conflicted about this book in the same way I'm conflicted about Brain on Fire.
As someone who is Korean American but not raised by Korean/Korean American family, it was a glimpse into a world of traditions and an upbringing I never experienced.
Content warnings: postpartum psychosis (...this is most of the book), previous domestic violence (partner), trauma
LUSTER is a stunning debut novel, and I can't stop thinking about it. I freaking loved it.
Content warnings: casual sex, death of a parent, death by suicide, physical violence involving a partner, prior abortion, miscarriage
The synopsis doesn't do this book justice. Sure, there's casual sex, unconventional arrangements, kink...but that all fades into the background when you realize that it's a mechanism to enable Edie's self-exploration, self-destruction, and self-creation.
This book might not be for everyone. It's a discomfiting read, one that explores our base human impulses. Edie's observations on life, race, and class are sometimes very frank, but other times very subtle. Many reviews have labeled this book millennial and singular, but I felt this book was universal and human in the ways that make us nervous.
At 240ish pages this book touches on way more than I can possibly cover with any brevity so I'm focusing on one element that really stood out to me: the art.
Edie is an artist, so of course her paintings and art are a factor in this book. But I'm thinking more about art as character pairings, geometry and abstraction in relationships, and lighting. There are a lot of binaries: push and pull, light and dark, open and close. (This is especially the case with Edie and Eric, and Edie and Rebecca.) Many of the relationships are shapes that convulse, like the triangle between Edie, Rebecca, and Eric, as the book goes on and certain relationships morph in ways that are unexpected. Art can also be unsettling and grotesque, and you get elements of that here.
Nowhere in the book is “luster” mentioned other than the title. I know what luster is but I couldn't really describe it, so I looked it up in the dictionary. Luster is a sheen, a glimmer, sometimes reflective; it can also be a ceramic coating. And I think that captures this book and Edie's multidimensionality so well. Your feelings ripple and change depending on how you look at Edie or this period in her life. And to some extent, luster is something external, like a coat Edie wears and loses, then finds again.
Of course race and the nature of Edie's relationship to and with both Eric and Rebecca as a Black woman with a white couple is a huge aspect of why this book has been buzzy. I'd point you to Own Voices reviews on this (some are tagged below!).
I will say this – to the white reviewers who can't relate or who don't like how “messy” Edie is, take into consideration what that contributes to the narrative. (Very little!) Inadvertently you are reinforcing that Black women need to be perfect or that they need to behave in a way that is understandable and consumable to you.
I've seen a lot of comparisons to QUEENIE (which I haven't read yet), but my mind kept going to PIZZA GIRL as a comp. I thought LUSTER was more evocative and effective though.
Content warnings: disordered eating, racism, colorism, misogyny (run-of-the-mill sexism, purity shaming, inappropriate sexualization of minors/daughters), inappropriate sexual conduct involving a minor, sex work possibly involving minors, derogatory language towards Latinx and gay people, Asian stereotyping
I'm pretty conflicted about this book; however, I'm NOT Own Voices and that should be to be taken into consideration.
I loved that this book starts in a decade and goes back into time, showing us what life under Trujillo looked like and what led the García family to make decisions they did. I wanted more details from Mami and Papi's perspectives; while Papi frustrated the hell out of me, there were elements of his life that echoed what I loved about Pa's storyline in HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD.
On the flip side, there's a lot of problematic stuff in here about colorism and origin. The sisters talk constantly about beauty as it relates to a Swedish ancestor and they'll reference their Spanish origins. There are sentences that insinuate what an uncultured place the DR was before the Spanish colonizers came, along with repeated colorist references to the Dominican “café con leche” complexion compared to Haitian “blue-black” or “black-black.” It's made clear that being white-passing Dominican is better than being “café con leche.” (All of the colorist references in quotation marks are direct quotes.)
I also think this was a hard book to read following THE UNDOCUMENTED AMERICANS. This novel portray a fairly sanitized immigration story – not without problems or worries, but also not one focused on imminent danger and threat. And while immigration stories don't all need to be about pain and trauma, I didn't think this book contextualized relative privilege well.
In terms of writing, I didn't think the voices of the four sisters were differentiated well enough, but I can't decide if that's purposeful or not.
Books are a certainly a product of time and place, and this book was written almost 30 years ago – much of how we critique and analyze books has changed. And yet while much has changed, I see facets of this book – colorism, in particular – still crop up often, unchecked.
John Hughes, but make it modern! That's how I'm pitching this. SUPER FAKE LOVE SONG by David Yoon surprised me, in a good way. Thank you Penguin Teen for the #gifted ARC. Out on Tuesday, 11/17 here in the U.S.
The premise: Boy meets girl. Girl mistakes boy's older brother's room as his. Boy says nothing and decides to fake it as a front man in a rock band to impress girl. Hijinks ensue.
It's certainly zany at times, but the plot is accompanied by smart and witty observations about identity, brotherhood, friendship, nerd life, and parental expectations.
I buddy read this with fellow bookstagrammers @theshriekingstack and @utopia.state.of.mind back in September, and one thing that has stuck with me is how multifaceted Sunny (the protagonist) comes across while Cirrus (the girl in question) is flat and rather one-dimensional.
Since the book is told completely from Sunny's point of view, it feels realistic in ways that a lot of fiction doesn't. We love fiction because it shows us many angles when we hold something up to the light, but we also need fiction that reminds us of our limited field of vision.
I actually like that Sunny, as a Korean American male protagonist, shines and gets to be the hero (and antihero) of his own story. But what are your thoughts? I'm curious if flatness in other characters would bug you or if it helps center the coming-of-age aspect for you.
Thanks again to Penguin Teen for sending this ARC and prioritizing Korean American #OwnVoices!
You know I love a book that does many things well – and Yamile Saied Méndez's FURIA is that, through and through. Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for the gifted ARC, and for having me on book tour.
Content warnings: femicide, domestic violence, sexism
I've been a Juve fan for over 15 years and Saied Méndez is a fellow Utahn, so there was zero doubt that I'd read this book. When I started reading it, I thought it was going to be a much simpler plot centered primarily around passion for fútbol and young love. It is that, but I can't ignore what else this book brings to the table:
+ Diversity presented as fact. Our protagonist Camila is Argentinian with Palestinian, Russian, Black Brazilian, and Andalusian heritage. Her best friend Roxana is Chinese Argentinian, and another character is Indian (South Asian). It's a wonderful reminder that no country is a monolith. We Americans like to think of ourselves as the only melting pot... but that's pretty self-aggrandizing, since it ignores our historical and current xenophobia. (And let's not forget how our melting pot is white-washed.)
+ #NiUnaMenos. I am aware of overt sexism and societally accepted violence against women, here and abroad, but it's not my lived experience. That's a privilege. But that's not to pity Argentine women for their lives or to make light of their experiences. Women are powerful people, and this book celebrates female power and the turning tide against machismo, domestic violence, and femicide. Saied Méndez touches on how feminism can be polarizing.
+ Multidimensionality. I don't want to perpetuate a myth that Latinas need to be everything and more to be multidimensional, but I love that Camila is athletic and passionate about the English language. That she loves her family and wants a life bigger than that for herself. That Diego can be macho and vulnerable in ways that lends hope for current and future generations of male-identifying people.
If you pick up one YA book this year, let it be FURIA.
2020: I think I was trying not to like this book the first time or something, by giving it 4 stars. Freaking love this entire series.
2017: This book was delightful! Inclusive, diverse, and really fun. I did find some things a bit unbelievable - even for a space opera - and the lack of conflict felt staid at times. Overall a great read and looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE defies simple categorization. One part family drama, one part mystery, it alternates timelines and perspective to reveal what happened to Mina with underlying themes of undocumented immigration, belonging, and regret.
Disclosure: I received a physical ARC of this book from the publisher and the publicity firm working on this book. I was not otherwise compensated for this review or feature.
Content warnings: death of a spouse, death of a child, death of a parent, depression, racism, suicidal ideation, stalking, domestic violence, attempted rape, animal mauling
This book is told from alternating perspectives – Margot Lee, and her mother, the titular Mina Lee. On a drive from Seattle to LA with a friend, Margot calls her mother but to no avail. Upon arriving, she discovers Mina dead. We then embark on a journey of uncovered secrets, Margot's amateur investigation as a way of processing grief, and the truth, hiding in plain sight.
I've seen some reviews of this book criticizing Margot and her strained relationship with Mina, and how ungrateful and disrespectful she is. The language barrier in this book is at times literal, but isn't there always an element of a language barrier between parents and children? That felt so authentic to me; I wouldn't call my relationship with my (adoptive) mom strained per se, but it's not one I would describe as open (on my end).
Overall this one didn't resonate with me as much as I'd hoped. I thought the pacing was uneven, and Margot felt wooden and caricatured. I wanted more depth, more self-awareness. I also wanted more time inside Mrs. Baek's head. And finally, I thought Miguel – Margot's friend – was a throwaway character in ways that bothered me, because he could have been much more.
“The time for unearthing is always now.” BREATHE by Imani Perry is beautiful and powerful, and it's the best memoir I've read all year. I read this book slowly, to soak it in instead of rushing to “create content.” This letter to her sons is also a meditation that reckons with what it means to be Black in America. It's cerebral and emotional in all the best ways literature can be.
I had a lengthy review written but decided to scrap it. This book does not need my performance. Just read the damn book and revel in Perry's writing. Sometimes being an ally can be: share Black creators, let them speak their truth, accept that truth.
Thank you to Ecco Books and Bibliolifestyle for the ARC!
This book has been divisive so far and I love that people are having a love-it-or-hate-it response.
It's #SpookySeason, and surprisingly, LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND fits that bill. I don't normally consider literary speculative fiction spooky, but the way the plot unfurls in this one feels mysterious and unnerving.
While it's a very internal, literary approach to speculative fiction, I couldn't put it down. We start with Amanda and Clay, a white couple renting a luxurious home on a remote part of Long Island. Unlikable yet realistic, they feel like any white, middle-class married couple with kids. In fact, they could be your neighbors.
Then there's a knock at the door, and now we have another couple in the mix – an older and wealthy Black couple, apparently the homeowners. But is that true? Could this older Black couple truly own such an extravagant and gorgeous home?
I love books that transcend genre and I think that's what works so well here. We get a very internal glimpse of what humans think and feel in the middle of a confusing crisis. No one behaves in the way you want them to, or think they should. It's also full of quiet observations about racial microaggressions, class, and the human experience.
The ending is deeply unsettling for some and it leaves a lot open-ended, which I thought worked well. The entire book takes place in a very short timespan and from the narrow perspective of four people in a small, remote area. I kept imagining what was – or wasn't – happening everywhere else.
3.5 stars. I requested THE ROOMMATE by Rosie Danan on NG as soon as I saw @squibblesreads mention it on Instagram. Let's start off with this is a white cishet relationship.
Ok, the good:
+ Sex positivity/normalization of female sexuality
+ Josh makes a very charming and heartwarming male MC
+ Interesting side characters (please tell me there's a companion book in the works focused on Naomi)
The meh:
- Clara, the female MC, is a WASPy socialite. This trope is so damn old and no one cares about rich white women anymore
- The subplot about her other job and the conflict around that seemed so painfully obvious
- I'm done with the whole “women can't drive” thing (even if the female MC grew up in NYC)
This book is VERY open door steamy so if you prefer chaste or closed door, I'd skip this one. The sex scenes were great in this book but a lot of the plot fell flat for me.
Thanks, NetGalley and Berkley Romance, for the digital ARC!