Peggy L. (paigu) reviewed on 8/8/2009 + 120 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A perfect vacation read since it is an exciting spy/romance novel. A surprisingly good first novel, if only the author cuts back a bit next time on the flowery writing. One chapter- and a main one, in fact, with the most "reveals"- is written in this highly intolerable line-by-line manner. "There was this girl...blah blah blah...There was this boy...blah blah blah" you see. BUt don't let that stop you from reading. This book does an excellent job capturing Hong Kong's history. The idea of cultural identity may be a bit confusing for Americans but consider how small HK is and how many times it has been occupied by foreigners. There really was a blur between cultures and during the war when it was important to choose sides, lots of natives dropped thru the cracks as this book shows. Very sad.
Another plus of this book is in the descriptions themselves. Author J Lee obviously loves Hong Kong, and you will, too after reading this book. I missed Hong Kong so much that I wanted to go visit Stanley and Tsim Sha Tsui and all the other places mentioned inthe book.

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