A review by booksbytheglass
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua

challenging emotional informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I went in completely blind for this one, and I couldn’t recommend it more!! I had absolutely no idea that this was about a murder mystery spanning years and based off of real events in the bay area around that time!! and it only gets more intense from there 🤯

a tragic accident from over ten years ago is unexplainably linked to a homicide of a well-known politician in present day, all surrounding the current events of san francisco in the mid-1940s. after reading amy’s background research in her author’s note, I was so impressed at the amount of research and detail that went into the background of this story.  

I was absolutely sucked into the plot, flipping back and forth between the detective assigned to solve the case and the grandmother’s deposition of events from her family’s past. the way that it all linked together slowly but surely was excellently written and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time!!!

the story unfolds definitely on a slower pace, but the details and historic elements kept me intrigued. while I appreciated and loved the historical elements, the way that they were written into the story felt more like a history lesson textbook rather than a systematic intertwining. it felt like the detective was constantly trying to lecture 🫠🥴

I definitely enjoyed this one a lot, but the ending was a pile of “how many plot twists can happen in a span of a few chapters” 🙄

thank you to netgalley and minotaur for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: napa valley merlot