Jean Chen Ho

I'd like to read some reviews because this book was so uneven for me. The opening story was the strongest. Others felt like MFA workshop pieces. The last lines were eyeroll-inducing. But the concept is strong and the characters had so much potential. Maybe I'm missing something, or just the wrong audience.

After reading some reviews, here's a little more developed response. The first three stories have a lot to recommend them. The last one as well. But there is still a lot of overdescription (as the NYT mentions), my least favorite being "blue dishwashing liquid." There's also a lot of pieces that lack a compelling perspective--the New York story comes to mind--and the inconsistency of form of Korean Boys and pov (in the NY story when we get Jasper) seem more like indecision. It's not that I don't want linked stories. I love them! I like the chronology jumps! But there isn't enough variation to work as separate stories and yet of course it's not a novel, and there are variations that distract. So maybe that's it: the book doesn't fully commit. Plus some cliche of situation and unneeded details.… (mehr)

I love how this story jumped between each perspective. It was a very quick read, and while the dialogue felt very cheesy at times, I thought it was a well crafted story. I was entertained the whole time. As I read, I thought I would give this three stars, but the way the plot and organization wrapped up made me bump it up a star, and I think this would make a great film. Not my usual read as I don’t typically go for books with a “feel good” ending, but it was a nice change of pace, and I couldn’t put it down!… (mehr)