BOOK REVIEW: SOUR HEART BY JENNY ZHANG
Eiyo dearies,
Welcome back to Fadima Mooneira. I'm back with a book review. The book I'm going to review today is Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang. Now let's check out Jenny Zhang's bio...
ABOUT JENNY ZHANG
Jenny Zhang was born in Shanghai, China in the year 1983. Zhang immigrated to New York, America with her family at the age of five. Zhang went to Stanford University and graduated in 2005 with a BA in Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity. Four years later, Zhang received a Master of Fine Arts In Fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Zhang is now one of the Asian-American top writers, poets, and prolific essayists. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
ABOUT SOUR HEART & MY REVIEW
Sour Heart is a book of seven short stories. All stories in Sour Heart are written by Zhang and they belong in the coming of age genre. The stories in Sour Heart are We Love You Crispina, The Empty The Empty The Empty, Our Mothers Before Them, The Evolution Of My Brother, My Days And Nights of Terror, Why Were They Throwing Bricks?, and You Fell Into The River And I Saved You. All stories in Sour Heart are about Asian immigrants in New York City.
All the protagonists in each story are the first generation of Asian immigrant girls in America. The author makes them the narrator of each story. All stories in Sour Heart have dark vibes. The author portrays the hard life that all Asian immigrants faced when they first immigrated to America including poverty and racism.
The book Sour Heart received a lot of good reviews from the media. Most media said that this book is an interesting read and all stories in it are a work of art. But I have to be honest that I didn't really enjoy reading it. I believe all stories in Sour Heart are too sour for me. Hmm... I guess they aren't my cup of tea :P In Sour Heart, I only enjoyed reading the first (We Love You Crispina) and the last story (You Fell Into The River And I Saved You). Both stories followed the same protagonist, Christina. We Love You Crispina follows Christina when she was a little girl and first came to the States. While You Fell Into The River And I Saved You follows Christina when she is already a grown-up girl.
However, I do agree with most media that this book is an interesting read. And I still would recommend it to those who are interested to learn about Asian immigrants in America. I believe this book is a good window to Asian-American people. Reading Sour Heart makes me understand Asian-American people better. I also like Zhang's writing style in each story. Her writing is simple, so it is easy for me to visualize each story. Overall, I rate this book 6/10.
So has anyone read Sour Heart? If yes, what are your opinions of this book? Which story did you enjoy reading?
Ok, I would like to keep this review short. So I'm going to end this post here. Thank you for reading this review. I hope to see you guys again in my next post. Take care ^_^
XoXo,
Fadima Mooneira ^_^
#SourHeart #BookOfShortStories #ComingOfAge #AsianAmerican #AsianImmigrantsInAmerica #JennyZhang #BookReview #Edutainment #FadimaMooneiraDotCom
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This is interesting, I haven't read the stories, but it looks like it will be worth the read. Thank you for this awesome book review!
ReplyDeleteYou’re welcome 💜💛💕
DeleteThank you for writing a honest review about this book. I haven't heard about it, but now I'm damn curious to check it out!
ReplyDelete👌👌👌
DeleteI can see how this book maybe wasn't to your taste (I think I would be the same) but it does sound like Jenny Zhang is an interesting and gifted writer! Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteSo true. She is. And I'm like her style 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
DeleteI enjoy short stories and I like that this book bridges the gap between Asia and America. Thanks for sharing Fadima!
ReplyDeleteThis book is about Asian immigrants in the US.
DeleteI haven’t heard of this book, but I love a good bright coloured cover. I don’t know if those stories would be my cup of tea either. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on them.
ReplyDeleteLauren - bournemouthgirl x
Hahaha... Yeah, the cover is really attractive.
DeleteSounds like a great read! Fab review :) x
ReplyDeleteThanx 💜💛💕
DeleteThis book sounds amazing. I will add it to my reading list. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOkay... bonne reading ^_^
DeleteThis is such an honest review and hearing that you only enjoyed a couple of the too sour stories for you is refreshing - thank you! Sounds like quite a unique read and as you mentioned an interesting one for sure.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I still believe it's worth reading even tho most of the vibes aren't my cuppa tea.
DeleteSounds like a great book. Thanks for sharing your review!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome ^_^
Deletelove this kind of book
ReplyDeleteXoXo ^_^
DeleteI rasa menarik juga buku ni sebab racism di Amerika kan?. In fact, kat semua tempat pun ada racism ni jadi kita kena pandai bawa diri. Macam pelajar Malaysia di luar negara juga kan....maybe nanti I bole cari buku ni dan baca.
ReplyDeleteBtul tu. Hampir semua tempat di dunia nie ada racism. You can't run away from in. Kat Malaysia pun byk shj kan?
DeleteMemang agak tough duduk di negara orang. Sekarang pun masih ada yang racist
ReplyDeleteAnywhere in the world ads dugaan nyer. But that should not stop us from doing it. Even man negara sendiri pun macam2 problem.
Deletevery honest review... yes sometimes most people gives the best/positive review, but when we read that book... the story biasa...maybe because we read so many books.. so we know which content is the best
ReplyDeleteActually, ... Every has their own taste. Even though this book is not my cuppa tea, but I believe it’s interesting and worth reading. I hope you understand what I mean.
DeleteYou’re welcome. And thank you for the free advertisement...NOT!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very interesting book, nothing like I’ve read before. Thank you so much for sharing such a honest review with us, I think I’ll be giving this one miss. Xo
ReplyDeleteElle - ellegracedeveson.com
Yeah, it was an interesting read. Thank you for reading this review.
Deletehave not read sour heart, but maybe will do in the future cause it's sound like a good book
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is. You can get yours at Book Xxcess official website.
DeleteBest baca novel yg byk story jd tak boring, l pun suka yulis byk story dlm 1 buku
ReplyDeleteThat's great. I believe this book is for you. But most of the stories have dark vibes yeah. Just a reminder ;)
DeleteAn interesting book - a compilation of short stories. I think I will be getting this one
ReplyDelete👌👌👌👍👍👍
DeleteAnother amazing book review! First of all, I love the book cover! Appreciate your honest review here. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou’re welcome 💜💛💕
DeleteThanks for sharing this book review，enjoy my read here of your sharing. Also love the book cover of the this as it's in my fav pink. Cheers Siennylovesdrawing
ReplyDeleteYeah, you once told me that pink is your favorite color 💖💝💞
DeleteDari review awak, buat kita teruja nak baca buku ini. Thanks sharing
ReplyDeleteYou’re welcome, Nina.
DeleteI haven't heard of Sour Heart before, but I do like that the book is broken up into short stories about Asian-Americans. Even though you only liked 2 of the stories, it does sounds like an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was actually.
Deletethis book has more than just a pretty cover - it also covers such an important and controversial topic. i cant wait to get my hands on a copy right now!
ReplyDelete👍👍👍👌👌👌
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