Book Reviews / C ReviewsAsian / Asian Americans / being true to oneself / brothers / Chinese-American MCs / culture / Fantasy / fox / frenemies / immigrant fiction / Magic / middle grade / mystery/thriller / POC / POC author / racism / self discovery / Urban-FantasyNo Comments
After inheriting a grieving fox spirit, a Chinese American boy must learn to embrace his heritage to solve the mystery of his brother’s death in Jesse Q Sutanto’s magical, action-packed middle grade fantasy, Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. Theo Tan doesn’t want a spirit companion. He just wants to ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews / C+ Reviews#ownvoices / Asian Americans / California / death / Fantasy / grief / Japan / joint review / Literary Fabulism / near-future / Novel-in-Stories / Pandemic / POC / POC author / Speculative-Fiction12 Comments
Content warnings: Jennie: When Janine suggested we review this book together, I hadn’t heard of it. But the blurb told me it was dystopian, and I have a weakness for dystopian novels even though they don’t always end up working for me. Though it’s billed as a novel, How High ... more >
Book Reviews / C+ ReviewsAsian Americans / Athlete / bullying / class differences / First-Person / high-school / murder / POC / POC author / racism / Violence / Young-Adult3 Comments
She’s a liar. A cheater. A murderer. And it’s only her first semester. From the author of The Obsession and Dial A For Aunties comes a story of a deadly game of cat and mouse set in the halls of a school that is hiding more than secrets in its ... more >
B- Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews / C- Reviews#ownvoices / Alternate POV / Asian Americans / Cancer / caregiver burnout / Chinese American heroine / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / fiction with strong romantic elements / First-Person / joint review / musician / neurodiverse / neurodiversity / POC / POC author / Vietnamese Americans / Womens-Fiction13 Comments
When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book ReviewsAsian Americans / Asian characters / children's book / China / grandfather / Japan / Korea / picture books / POC / POC author / poetry5 Comments
Kiyoshi’s Walk by Mark Karlins Where do poems come from? This beautiful picture book about a young aspiring poet and his grandfather shows that the answer lies all around us—if we take the time to look. After Kiyoshi watches his grandfather, Eto, compose his delicate haiku, he wonders out loud: ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / Asian Americans / Asian characters / family relationships / First-Person / macabre comedy / mothers and daughters / POC / POC author / second chance romance / sisters / wedding9 Comments
What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue! When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome ... more >