milk tea sip

“Loveboat, Taipei” by Abigail Hing Wen

November 27th, 2024

As a young reader in the late ’90s, I, along with many others, came across a book series set at a now-famous magical boarding school in the English countryside. Of course, this led me to develop an ardent boarding school fantasy of my own. The idea of being immersed in a completely new world where I could “find myself” was exciting. Perhaps this very fact is part of what sparked my interest in Abigail Hing Wen’s 2020 debut novel many, many years later.

Loveboat, Taipei is the story of Ever Wong, a sheltered Asian American high school grad forced by her parents to attend a summer immersion program in Taiwan before matriculating into the Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern. Soon after arriving at “Chien Tam,” she quickly discovers its real reputation among its attendees as ”Loveboat,” the ultimate, parent-free destination for rich, up-and-coming Chinese youth to enjoy the many delights of Taipei. The novel, with its gorgeous descriptions of movement and city life as well as its nuanced main cast of characters, is the ultimate boarding school story. It bubbles with glamorous escapades in the city and messy, lively romance, all of which is balanced out with a satisfying coming-of-age story.

Read the rest of my review on Soapberry Review!
“Bright Objects” by Ruby Todd

November 13th, 2024

Ruby Todd’s newest novel, Bright Objects is a riveting, gorgeous story about the briefness of our time on Earth, the ways we cope with grief, and the symbols that occupy our lives. Based on the real-life events surrounding Comet Hale-Bopp and the Heaven’s Gate cult, the novel oozes rich anticipation, demanding to be digested slowly and for the reader to savor each and every word, directions I was happy to accommodate from the first page.

My full review and accompanying “Beyond the Book” article on Comet Hale-Bopp is available on BookBrowse.
“The Bog Wife” by Kay Chronister

October 30th, 2024

A family’s longstanding contract with their ancestral land unravels in Kay Chronister’s newest novel, The Bog Wife. Charlie, Eda, Wenna, Percy, and Nora are preparing to inherit their family’s cranberry bog through a ritual that generations of Haddesley children before them have performed; they will feed their dying father to the bog, then accept the new matriarch that emerges from its depths. The eldest son will marry the bog wife and continue the family line, along with the family’s ancient compact with the land that nurtures them: “Always the bog has belonged to us and we to it.” However, when the time comes and the children feed their father’s body to the bog, a bog wife does not appear.

This simple mishap calls everything into question, including the strange disappearance of their mother, the last bog wife that came from the land. In the year that follows their father’s death, each of the Haddesley children scrutinize the past while frantically attempting to carve out a future for themselves. While a few of them attempt to renew the covenant with the bog using extreme measures, others start to wonder what would happen if they left it. Riveting, haunting, and gorgeous, The Bog Wife is a novel about the cycles of life and breaking tradition.

I absolutely loved The Bog Wife! You can read my full review on Southern Review of Books!

Mystic Family Rituals Break Down in “The Bog Wife”
“Graveyard Shift” by M.L. Rio

October 16th, 2024

What do an empty grave, a bunch of dead lab rats, and a string of violent outbursts have in common? The answer to this question can be found in M.L. Rio’s new novella, Graveyard Shift, where Mystery, Inc. meets modern gothic.

I reviewed Graveyard Shift for Southern Review of Books and it was such a treat. I haven’t read the author’s first book, If We Were Villains, just yet, but its sitting on my shelf as we speak because 1- I’ve heard really great things about it and 2-after reading this, I’m definitely more motivated to dig into Rio’s previous work. The mystery in Graveyard Shift is very engrossing, but the most interesting part of this novella are the characters. They’ve kind of come together by chance and decided to help each other investigate a strange happening, like a cobbled together Mystery Inc., but they all play their own roles over the investigation and their own problems come to light over the course of the evening.

You can read my full review on Southern Review of Books here!
“Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley

October 13th, 2024

A top secret branch of the British government is experimenting with time travel, and it is taking certain individuals, called “expats,” from the past and bringing them to the present day. The Ministry of Time is the story of a civil servant who is tasked with assisting expat Commander Graham Gore, thought to have perished in a failed Arctic expedition in the 19th century, adjust to modern life. It turns out that this involves teaching him how to bike, how to Google things, copious amounts of smoking and cooking, and also falling deeply in love—that is, until the true purpose of the experiment, as well as a deep deception, comes to light.

There is something very refreshing about The Ministry of Time. Kaliane Bradley’s prose is snappy and invigorating, and the themes feel very well-calibrated, especially when it comes to the race politics in the book—the protagonist and narrator is a British-Cambodian woman, and pairing her with a Victorian gentleman who lived during the height of the British empire brought out some riveting dynamics. The narrator doesn’t condemn Graham for his eccentricities or for the actions of his past, but brings certain beliefs, especially his belief in the government he served, up close for examination. This feels even more important as Graham’s tragic time in the Arctic comes to light, and it’s very easy to fall in love with Graham because of this as well—he shows himself as someone who, to put it very simply, tries hard and earnestly to learn from the mistakes of the past. As much a sultry romance as it is a political thriller, I did find the novel to be a bit slow at the beginning, but after I crossed a certain threshold, it was very hard to put it down.

Feels like: Discovering old love letters in an attic, the moments right before a villain reveal

My rating: 5 stars