My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Goodreads Summary: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23559994-loveboat-taipei?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Ptp4Z6lDip&rank=1
Wow. This book did things. This book is a mix between a Bollywood movie (Student of the Year), Camp Rock, and Twilight. The foundation of all the drama in this book is heavily doused in elements that feel influenced by pop culture phenomena. This made the story quite entertaining and fun because you were either laughing or you were cringing.
This book also had a lot of depth. It really reached out and spoke to Asian-Americans, especially first generation Asian-Americans, which is what I loved the most about it. This book said and addressed the right things which obviously made me tear up way too much. Abigail Hing Wen didn’t shy away from talking about the expectations, guilt, responsibility, and the overall emotional leash that first generation Asian Americans tend to be dragged through their lives with. It was so nice to see what I’ve always felt written out on words before me.
I loved the relationship between the mother and Ever. It was realistic and very relatable to read about.
One of my favorite scenes was when Ever was relating to Mulan. It encompassed maybe four paragraphs but it felt like so much more. The song, “Reflection”, is so important to me. There are so many pieces of my identity that I’m not comfortable being completely open with my family about. It’s a cultural problem and it’s very real.
Another one of my favorite scenes in this book is definitely the discussion where Ever finds herself amongst a group of Asian-Americans and doesn’t feel Asian enough. When I read this scene, I wanted to close the book and scream. The amount of times I’ve felt not “Indian” enough and have been told to my face is insane. When you grow up in a country that’s not your birth country, you adopt elements of that country’s culture. It’s nothing to be ashamed of because it makes you unique and just as Indian/Asian as your peers who grew up/live in your birth country. At the same time, it’s hard to find a common ground to relate to because everyone’s upbringing produces a different cultural identity that sometimes just sends you running back and forth between all the pieces of your cultural identity. You are unique and it’s okay to sometimes question things and be confused but it is not okay to ever think that just because you’re not “Asian”/”Indian” enough as your peers, that you are not Asian/Indian.
I really loved the side characters in this book. It was interesting to see their character development and how Ever found herself and grew alongside them. I liked how it felt like we grew closer to the side characters alongside Ever. I also loved every moment with “the five wise Asian men”, they were a hilarious addition to the plot line.
Unfortunately, while I did love the representation and character development, there was a lot I didn’t really care for in this book.
The first has got to be the romance. I didn’t ship anyone in this book. I found Rick to be a bit annoying in the beginning and some of his dialogue delivery was way too corny and reminded me of something Edward Cullen from Twilight would say. I’m pretty sure that there was a line about the setting of the sun and the entire time I was reading about it, every inch of my middle school persona was screaming TWILIGHT. The writing here and there also felt weird. Specifically, some of the word choice and metaphors felt a bit forced or cringe.
I also found this book to be a bit problematic. If you’re triggered by public shaming or physical/domestic abuse or any abuse of any form, I suggest checking trigger warnings. I recently heard that this book is going to be made into a movie so I’m really interested to see how exactly these issues will be handled, because in my opinion, they played a pretty prominent role in the plot.