A Book that Came Out this Year:
The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee
Ugh what a downer. Usually I'll stop reading something if it doesn't grab me within the first 50 pages, and I didn't have to do that here because within the first 50 I was in. It was the middle 200 that really wasn't that great. The best way to describe The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee is to take Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner minus the breastfeeding and Mommy woes and add in an exotic local and kidnapping. Not that I don't love myself some Jenn Weiner, but I thought this was going to be 100% different. Damn you GMA, you pulled me in with a review and it was not like you said!
Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all.
Since it took place in Hong Kong and there was a kidnapping, I automatically thought 'oh it's some sort of ransom situation'. I thought G was a socialite, and that Mercy and her were party buddies. No G was a 4 year old, and while Mercy was the "nanny" it wasn't totally her fault. And why was Mercy, so strange? I mean I know the saying "fake it till you make it", butttt she was rather odd. She also drank a lot when she was pregnant and that didn't sit well with me. Girl you have an Ivy league diploma! Didn't she know that wasn't super good? I didn't like her.
Hilary also wasn't my cup of tea. I know that people want to have their own children, but sometimes you just have to accept that it isn't working naturally and you might want to explore other options. The only reason she didn't want to do IVF is because she was scared of getting fat. I wasn't surprised that her husband left her. She also paid for an orphans music lessons so she could have time to decide whether or not to adopt him. I couldn't blow through her parts fast enough. I would compare me reading her parts to reading Emily's POV in PLL, she was God awful. Margaret was okay, but really she wasn't that great. I felt bad for her the whole time. Which isn't how you're supposed to feel for a character. They can be endearing to you and you can feel empathetic, but I don't think you should feel sorry for a character the whole time you're reading about them.
Other than the characters I did not like, there wasn't anything else special about this. The abduction was sad, but then again I got so confused reading that part that I didn't even know G had been abducted. The writing felt so jumbled and unintelligible that I didn't even comprehend it! I guess that was the point, but honestly there are better ways to do it. I can't think of something great in order to recommend this book because I don't. I kinda just think you should skip it. To sum it up it's chick-lit in the far east. The End.
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