Xuan Juliana Wang

"Stories about love, family, and identity in the unexplored lives of Chinese-American millennials"--

Stories

Home Remedies

Lamia Hajani

Home Remedies is a collection of short stories centering around the millennial Chinese experience. This premise was very attractive to me, as I am always looking for new authors of color and stories about people of color. Unfortunately, Home Remedies fell flat with me. Wang's writing style is often unreadable in some of the stories. However, I would not say that this book is entirely bad. Vaulting the Sea is a great story that feels authentic to me. The Strawberry Years feels like a spine-chilling episode of Black Mirror. A few of the other stories have their moments.

There is probably an audience out there for Home Remedies. I do not think that audience includes me. I don't love books that require me to re-read each page multiple time to understand what the author is trying to say. At some points, it almost feels nonsensical to me. I will say that there are some standout bits of writing in this book, which might make reading some of the stories worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Xuan Juliana Wang and Crown Publishing for sending me this free e-book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

charisa

very solid! pretty edgy and kind of crude at times, but i really enjoyed wang’s writing style. she plays with the many shapes of chinese-american immigrant stories, and the unspoken values and histories that influence them. my favorite was “vaulting the sea” — it reminded me of the best parts of alexander chee’s edinburgh.

雪 xue

if u read anything in this collection it should be "days of being mild," "vaulting the sea," and "algorithmic problem-solving father-daughter relationships”!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aloe Han

Becca M

Alianor Chapman

A blazing, intimate collection about a young generation of Chinese millennials, their unconventional sex lives and fantastic technologies, on a quest for every kind of freedom.

Home Remedies Stories

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