• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    DISORIENTATION by Elaine Hsieh Chou | ARC Review

    23rd March 2022
    Cover of Disorientation (Elaine Hsieh Chou)

    DISORIENTATION by Elaine Hsieh Chou

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Disorientation follows a 29-year-old Taiwanese American PhD student Ingrid Yang (cishet) as she works on her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou, a fictional “Asian American” icon. Ingrid starts out as someone who is ignorant on the subject of racism and other social justice issues, which is the realm of her nemesis and fellow graduate student Vivian Vo (sapphic, Vietnamese American). Throughout her research, Ingrid finds substantial dirt on Xiao-Wen Chou, and it becomes the start of her journey of unlearning as well as sets off catastrophic events in Barnes University.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho | Audiobook Review

    8th February 2022
    Cover of Spirits Abroad (Zen Cho)

    SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho, read by Emily Woo Zeller

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Because Laura loved the previous version of this book (her review), I couldn’t wait for this rerelease of Spirits Abroad. Just when I was going to preorder it, I found out that the audiobook is narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. THE Emily Woo Zeller who narrated Last Night at the Telegraph Club (my review). So I had to listen to the audiobook.

    And yes, this short story collection is magnificent.

    I don’t know how to review this book because there are 19 stories in it, but I’m going to talk about a few of my favorites and their hidden meanings. If you’re here for a review, I’m sorry to say this “review” would probably be more of an analysis.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    EDINBURGH by Alexander Chee | Audiobook Review 🎧

    31st January 2022
    Cover of Edinburgh (Alexander Chee)

    EDINBURGH by Alexander Chee, read by Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Somewhere between a 4- and a 5-star.

    The central theme of the book is pedophilia. It reminded me of the biographical movie Spotlight in the sense that both instances of church-related child molestation happened on the East Coast around the same time. Edinburgh was published the same year the original The Boston Globe’s “spotlight” team started the investigation (2001), way before the team won a Pulitzer Prize for it (2003). I picked up this book because it’s queer and Asian, and I expected it to be sad and disturbing but I didn’t know it would also be beautiful in both the writing and the perverseness of the characters.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    THE MAP TO YOU by Rachel Stockbridge | ARC Review

    25th January 2022
    Cover of The Map to You (Rachel Stockbridge)

    THE MAP TO YOU (Next Stop Love #2) by Rachel Stockbridge

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    3.5 stars.

    The Map to You opens with a very long prologue, and then we skip ten months ahead. I believe that time gap is covered in the previous book, Next Stop Love, and while it would be nice to have the context in the first book, it is not necessary to enjoy this second installment.

    Varsity soccer player Sasha Deforest (21) likes the grumpy, artsy Kinsey Han (Chinese American) even before they became roommates. Now that they are no longer living together and the third person in their best friend squad Beatrice is not around, Sasha and Kinsey’s friendship quickly turns a bit awkward. But when Kinsey’s mother is hospitalized six hundred miles away, Sasha immediately volunteers to drive Kinsey, never mind all the classes they’re going to miss. Throughout the journey, Kinsey also begins to realize that Sasha is not as happy-go-lucky as she seems to be.

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