I found the first half to be as sharp and piercing as they come, but then the second half kind of lost me.
We start off with Keru and Nate each taking a turn inviting their parents to vacation with them. Keru's Chinese parents are strict and emotionally guarded, while Nate's white, working-class parents don't quite know what to make of their son's career in academia. So when you throw these characters together, surely comedy and conflict ensues.
And it does. That first part definitely had me chuckling and shaking my head, with its sharp, satirical commentary of the typical dynamics within a Chinese American family and a white working-class family. Add to that the factor of marrying outside of your race and class, and each scene felt like such a zinger. The frequent misunderstandings and earnest hurt feelings made for a searing and funny read.
But I'm not sure I was as enamored with the second part of the book. At times, it became too exaggerated and I had a hard time relating to the characters and their inflexible ways. It feels like in Part Two, they became caricature of the people they were in Part One, ever more obstinate and set in their ways. I saw less and less of the humor I had previously enjoyed, and I just felt sad for the characters.
This isn't that long of a read. It honestly feels a bit like one of those stories where the author came up with a specific situation and wrote a novel around it. As a result, that original premise of vacationing with the parents shines as the story's strongest part. The rest of it did feel less focused, as if it were there to pad a great scene out into a full-length novel.
But don't let me dissuade you. I feel like this is my usual complaint with literary fiction, that I always expect more than it gives me. I hope to walk away with food for thought, but instead, the rather directionless culminations always leave me more befuddled than enlightened.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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