Vanessa Hua

I admit I knew no history of China so this novel initially struck me as nonsensical fantasy. As I read, I felt inspired to consult Wikipedia to figure out what the hell was going on. (There's a chairman and a president and a premier? Who is in control of who?) Only after I finished the book did I read the author's notes which helped a great deal to understand what was fiction and what was grounded in fact. I wish the author had provided a bit of that at the outset - maybe not the entire thing since it would have provided too much spoilers. But a bit would have helped.

Apart from that, I found the writing too simplistic, almost like I was reading a young adult novel. For example, I really don't care that girls (women?) obsess about what each other thinks - at least, not for 100 pages worth - in such trivial terms. Similarly, her thoughts about her family. So the book should have been much shorter. In contrast, the pregnancy theme was woven throughout the story, had a lot more justification, and I was surprised and disappointed how quickly that was dismissed by the end.

These are just a few things that come to mind. But I can't help mentioning what everyone else found distasteful: powerful men taking sexual advantage of powerless girls. Horrible way to open the story and the abuse continued throughout. (Only reason I continued reading was because the book had been assigned for my book club.) Yes, I understand it likely happened in this case but wow, I did not enjoy reading it again and again.

For all these reasons, I give two stars because although I didn't like it and it had a lot of faults, I did learn some history and was inspired to do some supplementary reading on my own but I would not recommend it to friends. So many other good books, so little time.… (más)

I didn't mesh well with the writing style here. Very dry and slow-moving. It’s written very matter-of-factly throughout the abuse (sexual, mental, physical, minor-adult relationships, etc), the mysteries, or the amazing determinations, which could be accredited to an older Mei narrating her own story; It’s basically in the voice of someone talking to you, I suppose.

Where this story excels is in making us believe as Mei does in the revolution, in the Chairman, and in her own role in the movement. The fear and anxiety Mei has about being replaced hovers over readers too. We see class issues and women’s worth questioned here as well.

But despite the inner circle scrabbles, the hidden sides of the Chairman, and the pitting girls against each other, I didn’t feel much motivation to keep reading. This is supposed to be how Mei rises to #1 mistress, then gets disillusioned until her inevitable fall. I wished I could have liked the journey to getting there better. None of this was boring per se, but I almost dnf’ed it.

ETA: I forgot something. GOLLY did Mei ask questions. There are literal pages of her just asking questions. She said she gon know what's going on.… (más)

This is a story of two women, one American, the other from China. Both are pregnant and live in a home where they are slated to have their babies. Chinese women arrive at the facility because their babies will be born American citizens. Both women in this story flee the center.

The book covers page after page after page of their trials and travails. I confess that I lost interest because the writer rambled on and on about the same situation.

One lady looking for the father of her baby. The other woman, is fleeing the boss of the factory in China where she labored for little money and lots of work. The boss man is the one who impregnated her. He already has three daughters. While an original scan showed an image of a baby boy, a follow up test in America showed the baby was actually a girl. Thus, if boss man finds her, he will not want another daughter.

Both babies are delivered in a hospital. Both women bond throughout their many experiences.

I learned a lot about the Chinese culture that I did not know.

One and 1/2 Stars… (más)