I loved the second half of this book, but my vicarious embarrassment was in FULL SWING for like the first part and also there was a lot of “this situation is insurmountable, if only we had some method of expressing our desires to another human being!”
Which yes, tbf, it’s a romance novel AND is talking about neurodivergence. And also I want more good interspersed between my cringing.
Having said that, this book quietly but emphatically rejects the Madame Butterfly/Miss Saigon narrative. Rather than a woman who gives up her child, she’s one who fights to save her. Rather than prioritizing the Western woman and leaving the Asian protagonist as love always idealized and lost, Esme gets to be a real person, Linh (her mom) gets to be a real person! And she gets to keep her daughter and live. It isn’t the POINT of the novel, but given how prevalent that narrative is, it’s nice to see it entirely balled up and thrown out.