I really enjoyed the characters, the prose, and story. My only complaint is that I felt the ending left something to be desired and that some of Tang’s language around the portrayal of multiracial people. 

I tried with this book, but I had a lot of issues with it.

Heads up that even though there isn't literal incest, there are serious incest vibes, which I was not prepared for.

TBD, 4.5?/5

This book! Don’t be fooled by the cover or length and expect this to be an emotionally light read! This was not quite perfect* but its interesting and unique premise caught my attention when it was a BOTM pick. This is a character-driven story. This is a book where the choice to omit a name to the MC serves as a well-deployed plot device. The author also portrays what it is like to be mixed race and struggle to be accepted or wanted for your full identity, instead of whichever “half” people see. The final line of this book was beautiful**. The blurbs on the cover about this book being funny are, in my opinion, a disservice to book. A tad slow to capture me, I became increasingly invested in this novel after the first two chapters and found this to be an engaging and at times introspective read, but I did not find the level of humor to but what the cover promises. Do not let that stop you from reading this though! This is a book that will stay on my mind.


*POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW: tried to be vague where I could
- I wish that Stranger’s mental transition to wanting to be part of the family’s life was a mire fleshed out. This is a short book, and some meat might’ve been added here.
- More on the length of this book: I think the overall execution of the premise and character development would’ve been stronger if the story was longer. There were specific instances that revealed parts of the character that felt disjointed at times, or left me wondering why the details were included (yes, they added some layer to the character, but to what purpose?**)
- What was the purpose of the old man character? Wish we’d gotten to know how he connected more to the story, but I also respect how that distance keeps him true: a stranger, unknown, no desire to create or share those deep connections. I can understand how he serves as a guide for the MC but I guess I wanted one more interaction with them? 
-** Stranger is afraid of the dark because of what happened with his parent. The final line made me ponder the connection between Stranger’s stunted emotional development and his fear of casting a “shadow” (darkness) on the life of others, which is why he chooses to the career he does. 

—4.25/5? 4.5? I’m rounding up because the GR rating of this book is way too low in my opinion!

Based on the cover you’d think this would be a lighthearted, rom com type thing with an happy ending. Well if that, this is not. This is much deeper than that. It really makes you think about human connection and closeness, and what constitutes those relationships anyway. 

We follow the main character in first person throughout the book and never do we learn his name. I believe that is intentional so that we can know as little about him as he seems to know about himself. 

The writing was good and the plot was interesting. I just wish the ending had a bit more depth. Although, this was not a story about all the other characters, this was the main characters story. So I understand why the author did it that way. 

A book that truly illustrates that suicide doesn’t end the suffering, it just passes it along to someone new.  I wish he had come to more revelations sooner and more deeply. It was overall a pretty unsatisfying book.