The Forgotten Garden

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I bought this book with an expectation of reading about sisters...but at 40% of the book realized that the story was more about regrets, anger, choices, cancer and dying. It's a story about a Korean family that abandoned everything at home to immigrate here, then moved back for Dad's cancer treatment after about 20 years. The story is almost about their everyday life. The organization is a bit loose, jumping back and forth from present to the past and back, telling stories that are real in the life of the family or not. It would have had great potential if the writing is a bit more organized, characters are a bit deeper and consistent, events more believable and the changes in setting more smooth. There was nothing in this story about Asian American conflicts and struggles that one hasn't read of. The characters do not have enough descriptions or self-inspections so we could understand them more, so both the parents and the daughters ended up superficial and will not be retained in my mind after finishing the book. I do have to applaud the aunt, Komo...which is a unique character that stood out for me. I was about to abandon the book near 40 to 50%, where the two unlikeable Korean sisters were constantly fighting and bickering, their personality keep changing... I persisted to give the author a fair evaluation of the book.

View all my reviews

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm the kind of person who avoid sad and depressing books when I'm not in an extremely happy and relaxed mood, which I'm not right now...so I was going to pass on this book when I found out that it's about some teenagers with cancer. I mean, come on...we all have our own real life challenges and problems, who have time to read about some 16-year-olds complaining about life being unfair, unhappy and unfulfilled? However, my daughter was introduced to Green by reading his "An Abundance of Katherines", and really liked him, so I promised her to read along. I was so glad I read this book. It has just become one of my all time favorites.

The story was narrated by Hazel, a 16-year-old girl with progressive thyroid cancer that somehow weakened her lungs so she required an oxygen tank constantly. She met Augustus (Gus) Waters, a previous basketball star that lost a leg to bone cancer, at a support group. Well, of course, they were immediately attracted to each other.

The story is not about cancer, not quite. It's about love, loss, pain, hope, fear, struggle, friends, family...everything that is dear or not so dear to us. Both Hazel and Gus are mature for their age, very wise, humorous and a tad cynical. Reading their exchanges and thoughts was such an enjoyable experience, poetic at times.

"They always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But, in fact, depression is a not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying."

"I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you."

I'm not going to reveal the ending, or the middle here...which I usually don't like to do in my reviews. I will just say that anyone with a heart will definitely get something out of this book, whether if it's joy, pain or a big hole in that heart...



View all my reviews

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My teen daughter recommended this book to me, knowing that I do not read every single popular YA book, especially ones that are being portrayed as "just like The Hunger Games" or "If you like Twilight, you would like this..." I find most YA fantasies lack originality and am sick of love triangles among vampires, wolves, witches and humans... The plain looking book cover did not help convincing me, either. I can't help wondering, after reading the book, how the blue on the cover should have been Karou's hair, not her mask. However, daughter said this book is comparable to Delirium, with equally poignant and lyrical writing. She knows I'm a sucker for those beautiful narratives and couldn't resist. I couldn't.

This book is a breath of fresh air among all the other fantasy and paranormal YAs. Yes, there's an angel and a demon, but the story idea is fresh, original and creative. The conversations and writings are thought-provoking and worth pondering long after reading.

The story begins when we encounter Karou, an art student in the midst of breaking up with her worthless boyfriend. We soon realize that she leads a double life, collecting all kinds of teeth for her adoptive Father, Brimstone, in his magical shop in the middle of nowhere. We also realize that Karou speaks many different languages, is trained in martial arts and weapons. The door of Brimstone shop could lead her to anywhere in the world, and that's how she travels for her trade. A bit later, we also learn that teeth are for granting wishes. However, Brimstone made it a point not to tell Karou anything about his trade and what he uses the teeth for.

"Well, what do you use them for?"
"Nothing, I do not wish."
"Never? But you could have anything you wanted--"
"Not anything. There are things bigger than any wish."
"Like what?"
"Most things that matter."

Karou has no idea who she is and always has a feeling that she's not whole. She looks 100% human, while Brimstone and his other helpers have animal parts and they are the only family she has...then, entered Akiva. Akiva is an angel,physically perfect and attractive, who came to destroy all the portals to Brimstone's shop, since Angels and Demons have always been at war...Akiva notices familiarity in Karou and Karou is immediately attracted to him. But why?? This book is about love and hope...and did I mention the story takes place in Prague?

"I hope, child, but I don't wish. There's a difference. Because hope comes from in you, and wishes are just magic. Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes it's own magic."

A 5-star book.



View all my reviews

All the Flowers of Shanghai

All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


All the Flowers of Shanghai...Before I give my review of this book, I have to clarify that I've read many books about China, Chinese Women and the Cultural Revolution. Being Chinese my self, surrounded by older Chinese women also gave me invaluable insights into the basic struggles and values of them. The bottom line is that I probably had a higher expectation for the book than most.



The story was told in the voice of Xiao Feng, as a letter to the daughter she never raised, recounting her own and her family's history. I love the beginning of the book, where Feng described her happy childhood in Shanghai during the 1930s, spending the day with her Grandfather around town, visiting public gardens, learning names of flowers in Latin and sampling street delicacies. The author's description of Shanghai, possibly in it's most delightful and successful era of history, where all fancy merchandises from all over the world were purchasable, was accurate and enlightening. I almost didn't want her simple childhood to end. Xiao Feng in this part of the book was naive, simple curious, smart, loving and forgiving. She knew that happiness does not come from beauty or wealth, but within.



I love the last 15% of the book as well, where Feng ended up in a sewing factory during the cultural revolution, being reformed and corrected by working hard and enjoying very little. There was a glimpse into the mind and functions of the Red Army members, who were barely immature teenagers themselves. Feng, in this section, did not talk much about her feelings, yet her actions showed she was loving and forgiving, too. The ending was abrupt, leading lots of questions unanswered.



Now it brings us to the major and middle section of the book, which I found unbearable, and not only because of the boring tone of her monologue and her description of mundane things over and over again. This section begins as Feng was married into one of the richest family in Shanghai, which I could not describe how she ended up without spoilers. Her husband was not good-looking, but loved and treasured her. This part should have had lots of potential for the author to develop conflicts and relationships, whether positive or negative, between Feng and her family...but no. Feng spent all her self dwelling in self-pity, repeating meaningless things around her and describing how she resists performing the marriage ritual with her husband, night in and night out. I had no idea how she transformed from the loving girl in the beginning to this materialistic, hateful, deceitful, angry, loveless and full of revenge character overnight. I did not see the causes or events leading to it. I almost stopped reading a few times to get over the torture. Her resistance of performing wife duties was a bit unrealistic and forceful as well, especially for women of that era.

All in all, there are much better books to understand China, and the mentality of Chinese women with.











View all my reviews

Do I Need Another YA Dystopian Novel?

Legend by Marie Lu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another dystopian YA novel recommended by daughter, after Delirium, The Hunger Games, Matched and Divergent...

Like all other YA dystopian novels written by the young and hip set, the story is told in the present sense. The chapters alternate between the voices of June (an elite, top-of-the-line military officer of the Republic) and Day (the most notorious criminal from the poor district). The story takes place in the near future in LA, where US has become a communist-like "Republic", and plague outbreaks are everywhere. The Republic is also fighting its neighboring states, "The Colonies", although very little is said about the colonies in this book. All children are giving a physical, oral and written trial/exam at 10. The passing ones will be sent to high school, college, then work in the government. The failed ones are supposedly sent to labor camp, but...

It's hard to write reviews for YA dystopias, since there are so many similar stories out with the same formula and format, but I think this one has one of the well-developed plots of all. I was captivated from the very beginning, and had to stay up late to finish it. The author was quite good in building suspense and grabbing attention with twists, turns, actions and revelations. The story is very well-constructed.

Now...the weaknesses: I think the romance is quite predictable and it also progresses a bit too quickly in the story, which lessens the intenseness that we see between lovers in other similar YA dystopias. June and Day are also a bit alike in a way - smart, tough, lonely, fast, strong, observant and quick in decision-making. I sometimes had a hard time telling them apart reading each new chapter, since they also narrated alike. Luckily the books used different fonts for each of them, maybe for a reason?

All in all, I think this book is worth reading, especially for fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games. It's a wonderful thrill-ride. I'll be waiting for the second book.



View all my reviews

Kristin Hannah, revisited.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Kristin Hannah's books have been recommended to me by a lot of friends, and I love the cover arts! (Who said we can't judge a book by a cover?) Unfortunately, I read The Night Road as my first book, and did not enjoy it as much as I enjoyed works by other similar authors, namely, Picoult and Chamberlain.

However, at the persuasion of more friends, I decided to give her another chance, so I chose Winter Garden as my fluff read at the end of last year to balance the stress. I was so wrong.

The story was about two sisters, who were never loved by their Mom growing up, so each was sad and broken in her own way, yet managed to lead a quite normal and successful life as an adult. When their Dad died, they returned home, and insisted to find the answer for their Mom's sadness and alienation.

I had tears streaming down my face when I tapped the last page on my Kindle, sitting at a Barnes and Noble cafe table, with people staring at me and murmuring to each other. I was wrong. This was definitely not a fluff read and indeed something with substance. It shows us the extreme of loss and grief; the pain that come with loss when we love too much. We protect ourselves from the same pain happening to us again...by not loving.

The story also taught me a bit of history of Leningrad during WWII, although, as a Chinese with extent knowledge of communism and the Cultural Revolution, nothing surprised me under the sun. However, the story still filled me with extreme sadness, regardless of the perfect ending. So, I was wrong again by judging an author with one book. My next read will be Firefly Lane...which most of my friends loved. There's nothing I love more than stories of women friendship!





View all my reviews