BOOK REVIEW: Girl in Translation

Introducing a fresh, exciting Chinese-American voice, an inspiring debut about an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures.

When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family’s future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition. Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.

Through Kimberly’s story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about. 

Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic novel of an American immigrant-a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.

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You know, I actually read this book a few months ago but I've never thought about writing a review until now - this book is just too good to just simply read and not write a review about, in my opinion. In ways more than one, this book really resonated with me. It's not just that she's a good writer, it's just these experiences felt so close to me. I'm not Asian-American (I'm Asian-Australian) and I've never been to New York City, but it seemed like these experiences mirrored my own. Petty relatives, snobbery from more well-off classmates, parents working long hours in menial jobs, the idea that education triumphs over everything, being too embarrassed to have friends come over to your house... yep, I can relate to all that.

Girl in Translation follows the story of a Chinese immigrant, Kimberley Chang, who moves from a comfortable life in Hong Kong, to Brooklyn squalor in the United States with her mother. They're exploited by Kimberley's petty and jealous Aunt Paula, and they find themselves living in an illegal apartment in Brooklyn - a dirty, unhygienic apartment with broken heating and is infested with rats. Kimberley initially struggles with life in America; she struggles with the English language, which is not helped by a very unsympathetic teacher to her plight. Speaking of the narrator's struggles with English, I love how Jean Kwok integrated Cantonese conversations into English and made the English that Kimberley hears in a unique way - we see how English seems strange and foreign to Kimberley's ears. 

After Kimberley's initial struggles with English, she realises that the only way how to escape poverty is through education. Her mother is working fourteen hour days at a sweatshop in Chinatown, and Kimberley is forced to work with her mother after school at the factory. Kimberley is a hard worker; she eventually picks up English, she studied hard to get into an exclusive private school (and even then, she still meets obstacles in the form of bitchy, snobby classmates), forms strong friendships with people at school, gains admission into an Ivy League school and most importantly of all, finds love with a fellow worker at the factory.

I found the ending extremely unsatisfying but I can understand it. In my ideal world, Kimberley would have it all: the man, a good job, a beautiful child, nice house blah blah. Unfortunately life does not work that way, and I can understand her reasonings for why it had to be that way - despite being in the US for a long period of time, Kimberley is still very much Chinese and believes in the concept of sacrifice for one's child, and some of it is still heavily ingrained in her. It reminded me a lot of how my own mother sacrificed a lot for me, so I could have a good future, and it was just something that really resonated with me.

Kwok really brings the reader into the gritty realities of many Chinese immigrants. In the scenes with Aunt Paula, we see the notion of saving face and wanting to appear better than your relatives concealed behind the elaborate courtesies of Chinese etiquette, occasional cracks in the facade revealing just enough to communicate the true meaning of practiced, polite assurances. Kimberley is the epitome of a stereotypical Asian; hard-working, resilient and education is a high priority. We see how her and her mother believe that education is the only ticket to escaping the trap of poverty, and how success in education is a validation of their choice to leave behind the safe and familiar, in more ways than one.

This was a wonderfully written classic Asian-American tale. We feel empathy and sympathy for Kimberley throughout her struggles. We feel pride when we see her overcome her struggles and becomes a strong, successful woman. In short, this book was awesome, I highly recommend it and does a great job of communicating cultural differences, and it is one of the very few Asian-American literature to do so, without focusing on extreme cliches. I was left with a feeling of hollow sadness by the time I was done with it, though I can't quite pinpoint why. Yet I don't mind. This story was worth it.

RATING: 4.5/5 stars 

REVIEW: Fire with Fire (Burn for Burn, #2)

When sweet revenge turns sour… Book two of a trilogy from New York Times, bestselling author Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn...

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THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EDELWEISS AND SIMON & SCHUSTER FOR PROVIDING ME WITH AN ARC. <3

You don't know how happy I was to land this ARC. I finished Burn for Burn a few weeks ago, and I was in AGONY when I finished reading it. The cliffhanger nearly freaking killed me; I was all like, "Omfg, is Reeve gonna die?" "What the hell is wrong with Mary?" "Are Lillia and Alex a thing now?"To answer your questions; no, Reeve isn't dead. You'll see what is wrong with Mary later. No, Lillia and Alex aren't a thing.

Fire with Fire picks up shortly after the disaster at the Homecoming dance, and Reeve is not dead but injured. This is more but somehow less than what the girls wanted; they never wanted Reeve to get injured, but they're still slightly unhappy because he's not kicked off the football team. The girls got away with what they did to him, but there's a lot of guilt going around. There's poor, slightly crazy Mary who was fucked by Reeve majorly, and now she knows there's something wrong with her and she's trying not to let it show. But she's still in love with Reeve, and that upsets her more than anything; that he was a total jerk to her, and she still loves him even after all this time. The girls concoct a plan to make Reeve fall in love with Lillia, with her possibly breaking his heart later on... an eye for an eye, and all that jazz. But things don't always quite go to plan...

Lillia is undoubtedly my favourite character in this book. I like the fact that she's Asian like me (and she doesn't fall into the stereotypical Asian category, and she's not just on the sidelines either so kudos!), she reminds me a lot of myself besides the whole Asian thing, and probably because she's in the midst of the action. She's the princess of Jar Island, yet she's also an outcast. Her friends, especially Rennie, are being bitches to her, she's confused about her feelings and she's haunted by her experience with the UMass boys. Kat is bold and as brassy as ever, but I love the fact that she's loyal to the people who are loyal to her. I can't say I like Mary very much to be honest; she comes across as a clingy, scared and weak little girl who needs protection and I feel like shaking her and telling her to loosen up - but then again, she undoubtedly had the worst experience of all of the three girls. But I love how the girls have their own distinct voices, that's not usually the case with co-authors and I devoured the story eagerly. Fire with Fire was fairly lengthy but I devoured it in one day, that's how good it was, I found it virtually impossible to put down.

This book is contemporary for the most part, until the very end where there's some weird shit going on from Mary. And maybe her Aunt Bette, she's obviously not quite all there. The thing with Mary was a bit confusing and I was all like, "WTF?!" but I have no doubt that my confusion would be all cleared up later in Ashes to Ashes (which comes out in 2014... omfg, that's ages away. TOO DAMN LONG...). Confusion aside, the ending was major. MAJOR, I TELL YOU. And it ended with a cliffhanger, again. Ugh, do you want me to die or something? I just want to see how things pan out, especially major gossip was supposed to go down before ahem.. that thing happened. But I loveeee how Lillia's story ended in this book, I am totally shipping her with that one boy she shouldn't have feelings for. I am so curious to know how the truth is gonna come out, and how certain people are gonna react to it... it's gotta come out soon, karma's slowly biting them on the ass.

These books are amazing; they're an easy read and they're fast and super enjoyable. I loved Fire with Fire, and it's gonna kill me waiting for the next one.

RATING: 4.5/5

REVIEW: Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)

"I dare you..." 

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does.... 

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him. 

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

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Before I start this review, I just want to say HUGE thank you to Harlequin UK for giving me an arc of this book through netgalley, I totally wasn't expecting to get it so thank you again. You guys are very generous and I squealed upon seeing my request getting approved :) So without further ado, let the review begin.

“This overwhelming, encompassing feeling is love. It's not perfect and it's messy as hell. And it's exactly what I need.” 

EEP. SO MANY FEELS. Katie McGarry has done it yet again. Damn lady, you're quickly becoming one of my favourite authors of all time. She's gone ahead and created yet another emotional, unforgettable and gut-wrenching story between who utterly messed up yet absolutely perfect characters. 

We see Beth Risk a.k.a Skater Girl who is whisked away from her troubled world in Louisville and is sent to live in a small rural town with her uncle Scott, a former baseball player who played for the New York Yankees. Beth is dark. Spiky. Rude. Snappy. Bitchy. Condescending. Think of a small angry goth girl with tattoos, dyed black hair and a nose piercing. Yep, that's her. Ugh, I just loved Beth. She is brutally honest, to the point of where someone's feelings are hurt, swears a shit load and protective of her mother, despite her mother letting her down over and over again. Beth is a deeply misunderstood character who is quickly judged by most people in the small town of Groveton (think of Stepford wives, Sunday dinners, church committee meetings... yep, that's Groveton down pat) and quickly puts her defences up when it comes to meeting new people, not willing to risk getting hurt again due to an incident that happened when she was just a vulnerable fifteen year old.  She was frustrating at times with all the patronising remarks she made about Echo and how she was quick to judge Allison (admittedly Allison DID judge her as well), the fact that all of her decisions seemed to revolve around her deadbeat, heroin-addicted mother who isn't a healthy influence on her at all and how she's so unwilling of accepting trust for what it is. But she's damaged and all she needs is someone to take care of her, to be free of responsibility.

Enter the Taco Bell Boy, Ryan Stone. Ryan is your quintessential all-American boy jock who's destined to have a great baseball career and then settle in his McMansion with his pretty blonde wife and their 2.5 children frolicking in their yard with their pet dog. His parents are respected members of the community and his dad seems to be a dead cert for mayor of the town. All of this is a facade. His parents fight. His dad demands too much of him. His brother is the black (well, gay) sheep of the family and is no longer living with them. The author did a great job of demonstrating the inner turmoil in his life and I really appreciated that, he was my favourite character. Let me just say, I pretty much liked Ryan right from the start when we got that excerpt at the end of Pushing the Limits - he seemed like your average, flirty jock with a great sense of humour. My suspicions were right; he is conceited to a point and is your typical jock but he is a contrast of all sorts. He is also sweet, caring and has a great love for creative writing which was a breath of fresh air amongst all the one-dimensional jocks in Young Adult fiction. He knew what he wanted in his life, who he wanted in his life; there was no naffing about on his part and I liked that. Ryan helps Beth grow and develop as a person and helps her see the meaning of trust again and I found that incredibly sweet, how he was so willing to accept her, prickly demeanour and all.

“There are times when you stand on the cusp of moments so huge, you know you'll remember them forever. This is that moment for me and for Ryan.” 

I also loved Beth's uncle Scott. Scott is fairly young for an adult (he was twelve when Beth was born), grew up in a trailer park and messed around with trailer park girls before making it to the pros with the New York Yankees and ended up marrying a woman who was the exact opposite of the girls he used to hook up with. Despite Beth rebelling against him and him also ranting back at her in return, he was that tough yet loving authority figure that Beth had always needed and craved for and provides her with the kind of caring, familial love that she had always yearned for.

Damn, I gotta say I feel sorry for Isaiah. Dude was friendzoned majorly. Although I was rooting for Beth and Ryan the whole way right from the start, my heart went out for him when Beth rejected him. He deserves a girl that is in love with him and not just on a friendship level - but I didn't feel too badly seeing that there was a sequel about him called Crash into You. CANNOT WAIT. I'm sure he'd get his happy ending then. But I've got a long wait, seeing as this book isn't technically out yet. Damn.

Dare You To is a fantastic read with a badass chick who doesn't stand for bullshit and is chockfull of sexual tension and scenes that are sure to make you swoon. What more could you want?

RATING: 4.5/5 stars