Paper Names

Meh.... 2.5. It was only fine but I take off points for the gross yet predictable much-older-white-man-falls-for-9-year-old-Asian-girl-but-not-in-a-gross-way-I-swear. The story was fine. The time jumping didn't work for me and I didn't particularly like any of the characters but it still held my attention. Obviously stuff evolves over the course of the book but in the middle of it I was sort of offended by the way we were framing immigration and being Chinese/Chinese American. Would not reread

Literary fiction with generational themes has been an unintentional go-to for me this year. I picked up Paper Names not long after reading Banyan Moon so it was fun to switch perspectives. While Banyan Moon followed mother/daughter/grandmother dynamics, Paper Names had more of a father/daughter theme to it.

Tony has only ever wanted the best life for his daughter Tammy. To him, that means leaving China and building a new life in America. It hasn't been easy for him. He's afraid to venture from his small circle out of fear. It's easier for Tammy as a first-generation American. She and her father tend to butt heads as she strives to lead her own American lifestyle where Tony is often stuck in the middle of the culture in which he was raised and the one he sought out for Tammy. After an accident, a man named Oliver comes into their lives, bringing his own perspective on what it means to be American.

I loved reading the scenes between Tony and Tammy as well as a lot of Tony's chapters in general. I can't say I was hooked on the story as a whole. Given what drew me to the book, it didn't seem like Oliver's perspective was entirely necessary. Otherwise, the writing style was strong for a debut aside from some pacing issues. The ending happened so quickly and predictable once the setup had been made.