3.5 stars

"How trite, but true: things change. Some all at once, some over a lifetime."

disclaimer: I'll be talking about the hyphenated-American rep as a Chinese-American reader; I can't speak to the portrayal of mental illness as I do not have psychology knowledge beyond a college intro course or personal experience in the realm of BPD or schizophrenia, and I certainly don't want to talk over reviewers who do.

With that said, overall I felt that Lee manages to avoid romanticizing or demonizing mental illness; the depiction is sympathetic but not sugarcoated. It might, however, be construed as a "mental illness is a burden on the loved ones" narrative — this is after all a major part of the premise, of the relationships that are at the center of the story. Many viewpoints are presented, ranging from it's her own life and you have to live it to isn't it an older sister's/partner's responsibility to protect her from herself to can there possibly be a middle ground, and it is a genuine moral conundrum that gives rise to many what-ifs.

I didn't know going in that the sisters have different Chinese-American experiences (the older sister, Miranda, immigrated as a child with their mother and learned English as a second language; the younger sister, Lucia, was born and raised in the US); honestly I didn't notice any significant impact from this difference, but thought it was an interesting detail. Although I don't want to dismiss the rep as bad, it felt very much in line with the mainstream portrayal: Chinese wisdom, nasty Chinese medicinal herbs that might or might not work, even a couple lines about eating dog penises (I am not making this up).

The prose is very stream-of-consciousness and conversational. Which means on the one hand, it flows really well and was difficult to put down; but on the other, I felt emotionally distanced from the characters (whose vocabulary varies, but the syntax/structure is similar so it's not always easy to keep straight who's narrating). An interesting contrast is created with their very different beliefs and cultures — you could put it towards an interpretation about the commonalities of the human experience, probably.

The plot also feels very stream-of-consciousness. One thing follows another; you're not always sure where the story is going but you know we're going somewhere. While I wouldn't say that it kept me on my toes per se, there were never moments where I felt bored because I knew what was coming next.

All in all, this was a thought-provoking read and an interesting exercise in empathy. Perhaps that's a bit glib, but really, I'm still working through the themes and not sure how else to put it.

content warnings:

Spoiler

major character death(s), precanon & during-canon parent death, terminally ill characters (cancer), manic-depressive episodes, postpartum depression, mentions of infant death, miscarriages, infidelity, explicit sexual content, ableism (including the r-word), past abusive household (uncle), child neglect, animal (bird) injury and death, butchering animals for food, self-medication, mentions of suicide, fat-shaming

rep:

Spoiler

Chinese-American MC with anxiety, Chinese-American MC with mental illness (conflicting diagnoses, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia; postpartum depression), Russian Jewish amputee MC/love interest, Ecuadorian undocumented immigrant MC/love interest, biracial Chinese-Ecuadorian-American major character, diverse minor characters

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CONVERSION: 10.5 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 3 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5