Helpful Score: 1
Excellent historical content. Horrible storytelling and character development. This book is also relatively heavy-handed in bashing the male gender- practically every single male character is a "bad guy" in this book. Then again, both May and Pearl are selfish and self-absorbed (believing themselves overtly pretty, talented, smart, etc) so they're not especially likeable, either.
Worse, this book fails in Lisa See's attempt to translate word for word Chinese phrases and sayings into English. Chinese is a tonal language, but translating them into English turns them into flat sounding cliches. I appreciate Lisa See's understanding of Chinese, but her use of Chinese is heavy-handed and out of place thorughout this book; nearly every page has some "wah wah wah" sounding phrase.
If you want to read a Chinese version of a Lifetime movie, read this. Otherwise, find a nonfiction book instead.
Worse, this book fails in Lisa See's attempt to translate word for word Chinese phrases and sayings into English. Chinese is a tonal language, but translating them into English turns them into flat sounding cliches. I appreciate Lisa See's understanding of Chinese, but her use of Chinese is heavy-handed and out of place thorughout this book; nearly every page has some "wah wah wah" sounding phrase.
If you want to read a Chinese version of a Lifetime movie, read this. Otherwise, find a nonfiction book instead.
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