Kathy WangReseñas

Book of the Month Club pick

Read this in two days at the beach. Perfect page turner for that kid of setting — interesting but not too intricate. It has a melancholy vibe to it that is a lot less “adrenaline / spy thriller” than I expected and j mean that in a good way.

If I had a complaint it would be that the details of how our main character got from untrained student to COO are missing. I’m not sure we really needed them for the story the author chose to tell but I am curious and maybe would want to read that in a different book.

A variety of storylines but I just didn't love it.

It's once again Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so I'm reading stuff by AAPI authors. There's something to be said about narrative scarcity when we compare our handful of stories to each other, I tell myself as I think of this as "the sharp skewering of wealthy expectations in [b:Crazy Rich Asians|16085481|Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)|Kevin Kwan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1364852559s/16085481.jpg|21571970] coupled with financial concerns of [b:The Wangs vs. the World|28114515|The Wangs vs. the World|Jade Chang|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1451493647s/28114515.jpg|45235074]"

Family patriarch Stanley Huang has pancreatic cancer, aka the one with one of the lowest survival rates, and the family must cope. Son Fred is a venture capitalist for a "middling" firm (still handling way more money than I've seen, but he feels inadequate as he thinks he should've landed a 'bigger' job with a degree from Harvard Business School) but may have found a lucrative opportunity overseas, and daughter Kate is an executive for a Silicon Valley company that has vibes of an Apple-like with the a creative terror similar to Musk as her boss, though she has trouble at home trying to figure out what her husband does all day as he works on his startup. Stanley's first wife (and Kate & Fred's mother) Linda is a pragmatic woman, but in her loneliness turns to online dating, and second wife Mary seems to be background/kind of just there until we get a PoV later in the book.

I can't put my finger on why I liked this more than Wangs vs the World (perhaps because all the family units felt more woven together, unlike having the older sister in a separate thread from the rest of the family?) Unfortunately, a line Fred says when talking to a would-be partner in an investment that "all the unicorns are staying private, like Uber and Pinterest" is now dated as they've both gone public in spring 2019. Then again, aren't all 'contemporary' novels eventually going to become period pieces? I felt for Kate & Linda's plots the strongest, and had little sympathy for Fred though I can easily see him hanging out with Edison Cheng from CRA, with both men thinking the other an insufferable cock.

Thanks to Goodreads for the review copy. This book helped me get out of a reading slump. I enjoyed the different chapters about Julia, Alice, and Leo. The other characters were okay. I learned a lot about being a spy and working for a a huge company.

Imagine a book about Russian spies in present-day America written by someone who knows nothing about world politics or international politi-social relationships. Imagine if someone tried to give Black Widow the Fifty Shades of Gray treatment.

This book is ridiculous. It imagines all Russians are idiots and incapable of maintaining their spy network. Like the KGB suddenly turned into McDonald’s. The main conceit of the plot is that this orphan is trained to become a Russian spy and inserted as the vice-CEO of a Facebook/Google company. They give her a rich house, rich family, rich husband, everything anyone could ever want. And then they expect her to betray all that by slipping secrets to them. And you wonder why she doesn’t want to?

Besides that, the book is so negative. I mean, I hate rich people too, but even I’m not this bitter about it. Everything out of this author’s narration is so acerbic, so disdainful, so resentful that it’s no fun to read. There are zero people to root for. This Russian spy woman has a gorgeous house, gorgeous status in life, position of power, doctor husband, beautiful baby, goes to huge billionaire parties–basically the American dream–and there’s nothing she can’t find to disparage about. Everything is a power struggle. If it’s not the people at the bottom trying to eat you up, it’s the people at the top who’d sooner crap on you than take a look at you. And men! Men, men, men. Men are so evil. Men are such devious jackasses. Men are always trying to keep women down. Men have no respect for women. Men! What a bunch of bastards.

So the combination of an author with no knowledge of the subject matter she’s writing about, plus a style that brings no joy to the table (you can’t call it satire, that’s a cheap excuse). And I haven’t mentioned the poor pacing, the poor plotting. Nothing happens in this book, and if it does happen, it’s off-screen. Would you rather read a book about two people staring at a chessboard, or about the actual movement of the chess piece? Throw this one away.

By the end of this book, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to! I found myself really rooting for the characters, which to me is a mark of success, especially when they are as ethically gray as this cast is. This is sort of a mix of international-relations thriller and tech-industry satire. If that sounds interesting to you, definitely check it out!

This one fell flat for me. I was hoping it would be more entertaining as Crazy Rich Asians, but it doesn’t hold mustard. The characters weren’t loveable and certain aspects wasn’t realistic. A million bucks in inheritance is really NOT much money. Especially, when they were well off to begin with. That point bothered me.

I was a bit disappointed in this book. First, I found much of it difficult to follow as characters were introduced -- but the entire 'technology' business was hard for me and it took away from the story (from my perspective). I also thought the end was 'eh'-- as the chapter just stopped. I do not believe that everything needed to be tied up in a nice bow or anything -- but a little more work into the final chapter of the characters would have been helpful While I did like Julia the main character -- and the book did remind me of "Charm School" by Nelson Demille-- the missing piece was I would have liked a richer history of the characters. I felt that some of the characters were written with very little development (i.e., Julia's husband -- as a cardiologist was depicted as a 'slug' and I had difficulty truly picturing this character married to her). As for Alice, as a first generation Chinese American -- I liked her relationship with her parents -- as parents work hard and want the best for their children -- I believed the scene in the 'farmers market' with her mom selling her noddle's was more realistic and good character development. The rest of Alice, not so much -- for her age I thought she was quite immature in many of her actions.

I read the book in under 3 days -- as it was intriguing and kept my interest -- I was not surprised by the different direction the book took.

Julia Lerner has been recruited by Russia's intelligence agency to infiltrate a tech firm in Silicon Valley to gain access to data on its users. Leo is her handler. Julia rises quickly to the top, becoming COO and a role model in the industry. She has a successful husband and a baby on the way. She isn't very friendly to other women in the industry, though. When Leo gives her assignment, she is torn, because she likes her success and her life in America, and feels an obligation to her users. Alice Lu, a computer tech notices something strange happening with the servers, and decides to investigate. Will Julia's carefully planned life fall apart? What will happen if she obeys/disobeys the Russian orders?
I enjoyed parts of the book-about work/life balance, some of the conversations between the characters, but the espionage parts seemed a bit disjointed to me. I had high expectations for this book, but I thought it was just OK.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.

"Life is about solving problems...If you cannot respect this, then I have nothing more to say to you." So says Linda Liang, the matriarch of the titular family in "Family Trust." I ended up really enjoying this book even though part of the way into it I was wondering why the heck I should care about any of these "terrible people." The book is funny, moving, and ultimately edifying. That quote helped me understand a lot of the motivations and actions that drove the characters and the story. Each of them is solving the problems that life gives them in the way they think they should be solved. The title has multiple meanings, both referring to the idea of leaving money in a financial family trust, but more importantly the idea of trust within families, the work world, and society in general. The book alternates points of view amongst the characters and so you see the events through the different eyes and the scene you saw play out in one way ("how dare she say that!") ends up in a totally different light, which is how the world really works. Everyone is hit by betrayal in multiple arenas, family members who steal, lie or cheat, work colleagues who snipe and undermine, and each of them is left to solve the problem. But in the end I think the key to everything in the book (and maybe in life) is learning to trust oneself. As Linda thinks, "but what could be more important than one's own self?" All the striving, the need to achieve, the need to please others, the desire to show success, in the end it really isn't the main thing. Once you truly know yourself and most importantly trust yourself and your thoughts and feelings you can really find the things that make life enjoyable and worth living. It isn't wealth and the markers of wealth that makes it happen, it is companionship, the freedom to live as you want. To enjoy the things you enjoy when the mood strikes. The daughter Kate is stuck in a venture capital event at one point and realizes it is just not for her. "I'm too old and have too much hate." I know that feeling. And maybe now I can trust it more.

Julia comes to the United States in the early 2000's and works her way up and through the glass ceiling at Tangerine, an internet social media/e-mail site. She is now the COO and her handler has asked her information on targets Russia has picked out as well as locations on them. She balks but knows she must give them something. At the same time she has lived the American dream for over 10 years and is now married and has a baby daughter.

Agnes, a low-level employee at Tangerine, does security checks and discovers that some funny transactions are happening on Tangerine and FreeTalk, a subsidiary of Tangerine. She looks to see who is doing it and then the trouble begins.

I liked this story. I liked Agnes. Julia was kind of aloof to be really likable until she becomes a mother which softens her some. Her thoughts and feelings about her husband, Charlie, are typical when she feels she is doing more than he is and she discovers his betrayals. I also liked Leo, Julia's contact. He is torn between Russia and the United States. His feelings for Julia are confused. Is he a father figure or does the Russian state come before Julia's feelings? Then when his neighbor Miriam does nice and neighborly things for him, he is more confused. He does not want to get involved but it felt good to have someone do something without wanting anything in return.

I did get a little confused about some of the characters as there are many who tell this story especially towards the end. It was an interesting way to tell the story. I felt the ending was abrupt and needed a few more explanations (at least for me.) I would read Kathy Wang again. She kept the story moving and the characters interesting.

The book jacket bills this as The Nest meets Crazy Rich Asians and I would add meets a tax form. Just a little too much business-y for me, but that is not my forte anyway. The Huang family is in turmoil. Stanley, the patriarch is dying, but whether he has a will or not is up for debate. And whether he has anything to leave in his will is another issue. His daughter Kate and son Fred both have plans for the money if it exists. Kate is in the throes of marriage turmoil. She is bankrolling her husband who is doing a start-up, but appears lately to be doing nothing. Fred meanwhile is unhappy in his work and is looking to make a change, but it will take a few million in investment to socially/business climb where he wants to be. His Harvard business degree isn’t giving him the competing edge in Silicon Valley and he is approached by some alums to invest in a Thai business venture. Linda, Stanley’s ex-wife is the one with money, but she wants to be sure his money goes to their kids instead of his second wife Mary and her money- grubbing immigrant sisters. She is also online dating on Tigerlily an exclusive Asian site. Dark comedy but needed more levity.

Not good.

Stanley Huang is dying, and his family, which includes his ex-wife Linda, their children Fred and Kate, and much younger second wife Mary, are all in the dark about his net worth and his plans. This is a comedy of manners, set in Silicon Valley, with a family of immigrants at its center. Each is seeking their own American dream. Linda worked for years for IBM and has a sizable investment account. Fred is a Harvard MBA investment banker, seeking the next big score. Kate works for X corp, which develops new consumer products, while her husband stays home and is an entrepreneur. Mary immigrated from China and works only at keeping Stanley happy.
This is a good read, and while it dwells on the problems of rich or nearly rich people, it also explores the dynamics of immigrant families, their expectations and struggles. I enjoyed it.

The open greed and the chaotic one-upmanship of this novel was too much for me. Yes, it was witty, but the globe-trotting characters were so one-dimensional.

I enjoyed this book very much.

Many reviews compare this novel to The Nest however I found it to be a much better version of The Nest. I actually couldn’t even get through The Nest so I’m just assuming it’s better but that’s just my opinion. I would also compare this to Crazy Rich Asians as a deeper, more twisted version. The book chapters alternate between the perspectives of each of the family member’s. My favorites to read about were the mother and daughter (Linda and Kate.) And I especially enjoyed Mary’s perspective although we didn’t reach hers until the end.

Character studies are my favorite thing.

Like with a lot of novels it got plot heavy toward the end as the author tried to tie up all the loose ends. So this why I kept my rating a little low although its still a great read that I would recommend. I try to be critical with my reviews so I can reserve my 5 stars for the best of the best, for me that is.

There were a few quotes that had me reaching for a pencil so that I cold underline them and remember to include them here. Hope you enjoy!

Because how could she possibly explain anything to her mother, who already thought her life so easy – high pay, appreciating home values, loose moral standards and all? That her world was in fact not simple but filled with violent, thin skinned men who behaved only when the threat of exposure was dangled above them? And that to wield public shame was the only reliable way to hurt them in the same tender places they wished to bring harm onto you, for no reason except that they were furious at a world they felt had slotted them in the wrong place.

And this one.

When did it become so difficult to say certain things to old friends? …

Sometimes during the journey into adulthood these details had become too burdensome to share; the dread of the stressed silence that usually followed such admissions, the subsequent awkward straining of friends to reveal a secret of their own. So now Kate opted not to see those who’d known her in a better period in favor of someone who’d started off meeting her at her worse.

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher through a Goodreads Giveaway. This has no impact on my review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one. Fans of the Crazy Rich Asians series will love this book, too. Looking forward to reading more books by Kathy Wang.

This family had a lot going on. The father is sick maybe has some money to leave behind and definitely has an second wife. The mother is smart and money savvy and decides to try online dating. The son and daughter are having issue with their careers and significant others. not really a book where I found myself rooting or any one person or outcome but it kept me reading.

This was just an ok read for me. It was difficult to connect with the characters who were overly concerned with fancy things. I agree this book is similar to The Nest, and I cant really say which I prefer. I felt like I was waiting for something to happen the entire time I was reading.

I grew up in San Jose--and, though I haven't actually lived there in over 25 years--I do enjoy reading books that take place in San Jose and the Bay Area in general. I am up there one or two times a year, so I'm no completely clueless about San Jose today.
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In some ways this book very much reminded me of [book:The Nest|25781157]--rich people want more more more. The multiple meanings of the titles is another similarity. And I struggle to care about characters who just want more. More money so they can do things they "can't afford"--like a back house or a house in Atherton. I find it very hard to relate to or care about characters (or real poeple lol) like this. The actual focus of these two books is quite different, however.

In Family Trust we meet siblings Kate and Fred, her husband and kids and his girlfriend, their immigrant mother and father, and his second wife (of 9 years). While Linda and Stanley worked hard to move to "a good address" before their divorce, Kate buys a dream dump and fixes it up over years, and Fred drams of being in a very expensive zip code. Both have good Silicon Valley jobs. Linda enjoys her nice home, friends, and doing what she wants. Stanley and Mary take expensive trips and so forth.

When Stanley is diagnosed with cancer, all of their focuses shift and all of their attitudes change. All want to live a little more happily and will take risks to do so.
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There is interesting commentary on being Chinese/Asian in the US/Silicon Valley/Harvard Business School (advantages and disadvantages), as well as being a female executive.

Solid writing, decent story, some slurs and stereotypes. A fair read, but I doubt I'll remember it for long.

This book appealed to me for several reasons.

– it’s set in the San Francisco Bay Area and perhaps more importantly, not just the city itself but also the rest of the Bay Area. Don’t get me wrong, I like the city (well parts of it at least), the husband works there and all, but we live in the East Bay and it’s nice to see other parts of the area talked about.

– it’s a story about East Asian immigrants. They are originally from Taiwan, as are many of those in the Bay Area and I’m always interested in stories about immigration, particularly from Asia.

Also it opens with a whopper of a first sentence.

“Stanley Huang sat, naked but for the thing cotton dressing gown crumpled against the sterile white paper in the hospital room, and listened to the young doctor describe how he would die.”

He’s been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and this is the story of how he and his family deal with it.

He has a son, Fred, Harvard Business School grad, who’s been trying to make it big in the fintech industry but hasn’t quite yet. His daughter Kate is doing well at a well-known Silicon Valley company but is struggling with the balance of home and work. Also something seems to be up with her husband who is trying to get his start-up going.

Then there is their mother, Stanley’s ex-wife, Linda, perhaps a less-than-usual Asian woman of her time, one who continued working for decades, and yes, even divorced her husband. She’s even been thinking of dating again!

“What was one supposed to say, when one’s now-ex-husband of thirty-four years was struck with such a diagnosis?”

Stanley’s current wife Mary is 28 years younger than him. She’s a former waitress and has devoted her new life to caring for Stanley but now with Stanley dying, his family is suspicious of her motives.

For Stanley has often hinted at his riches – in the millions! Who deserves it more, the one who’s been caring for him in recent years? His children? Linda is determined to make sure her kids get their fair share.

Family Trust is a Silicon Valley story. It is also an Asian family story. It is also an American story. It’s a story about the pursuit of success, about money, about family obligation. There probably will be Crazy Rich Asians comparisons but as someone not a fan of that series, let me just say that Family Trust is better. Its characters are complex yet relatable, its observations of Silicon Valley life and family relationships are astute and witty. A great debut!

Honestly, Linda has some of the best lines.

“The woman likely didn’t even think she spoke English, regarding her as just another sexless Asian dotting her periphery – someone who could be ignored at will, like a houseplant.”



And here’s another – apparently there are differences according to where you landed up as an immigrant.

“Everyone knew that the best Chinese immigrants of their generation were settled in California, and mostly in the Bay Area. There were some in Los Angeles, but then you ran the risk of ending up with some sleazy import/exporter. And Linda had no intention of being matched with some grocery store operator in, say, Reno.”



“She knew exactly how Americans saw women like the Mercedes driver – as indistinguishable from herself. An Asian lady consumed with the creation and consumption of money, who neglected to hug her children. Why did white people like to pick and choose from cultures with such zealous judgment? Of course they just loved Szechuan cuisine served by a young waitress in a cheap cheongsam, but as soon as you proved yourself just as adept at the form of capitalism they had invented? Then you were obsessed. Money crazed. Unworthy of sympathy.”

This book was much more slow-moving that I had anticipated. It was hyped as the next Crazy Rich Asians, but other than being about an Asian family living in the wealthy cities of the Bay Area....there wasn't any other connection. It was a slow drama, more like The Nest, than anything else. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible either. There were no twists, no moments of redemption, no areas for growth. The characters stayed in their naive little bubbles all throughout. Was that the point of the story? That the death of a patriarch doesn't call upon family to self-reflect and change ways?

A Chinese American family living in Silicon Valley is pursuing the American dream. When the father becomes ill with pancreatic cancer and death looms on the horizon, his ex-wife urges their two adult children to make sure the will is up to date and reflects that the children will receive their inheritance.

This story of greed has well drawn characters who exhibit both the best and the worst characteristics of people we all probably know. Having been involved in the horrible experience of a family dispute over an inheritance, I could relate to this story. The author must have done a good job of portraying reality because the story evoked a lot of emotions in me - - particularly, why does someone automatically think he or she is entitled to an (unearned) inheritance? I felt the ending gave everyone exactly what they deserved.

Family Trust is a story of how a Silicon Valley Chinese family behave when the patriarch is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. When Stanley Huang discovers that he only has a few months to live, his adult children, ex-wife and wife all react to the news differently. Stanley has had a successful career and has been lavish with his spending, so everyone is eagerly anticipating a possible windfall. But will all the money go to Mary, the new wife? What about the kids? And shouldn't grandchildren count for something? With abundant dark humor, the story of a greedy dysfunctional family unfolds.

Although it's hard to really like any of the characters, I found the descriptions of Silicon Valley and my home town, to be amazingly accurate. Yes our Whole Foods really does have a local craft beer section, dosa bar and more varieties of hummus than you can imagine. And it has the tiniest parking lot for any supermarket in the area. The descriptions of greed and the constant drive for success and wealth was also scarily accurate. Maybe I have my Pollyanna glasses on, but I do think that most people aren't as heartless as the Huang family, which made it difficult for me to really connect or care about their lives, but I still found myself not being able to put the book down.

There are many human flaws discussed in this book which would make for a fascinating book club discussion.