I was a bit let down by this one. Mostly because the dynamics are replicated in other stuff I’ve consumed, almost exactly. I’m trying to remember what it is. I’m pretty sure it’s media. Maybe Homeland or The Bureau. But other immigrant stories have similar family dynamics and same inciting incident and fallout.

So what this comes down to, for me, is the prose, which were alright; some standout simile usage that is miles better than most debuts. Character wise, they are harder to evaluate because they feel like they may differ than the average person. But almost tropes if you’ve consumed literature and nonfiction focusing on the same things that this does.

As is, this hovered between a 2 and 3 because I found it predictable and retread ground. But it also came out a while ago; perhaps when it came out this was more novel. It does tell a story and it’s consumable, so I landed on a met expectations 3 (as set by the book).