Blog Tour: Loveboat, Taipei - Abigail Hing Wen

Loveboat, Taipei
Abigail Hing Wen
Series: Loveboat, Taipei, #1
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

For fans of Crazy Rich Asians or Jane Austen Comedy of Manners, with a hint of La La Land

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.

Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?

REVIEW

Ever dreamed of becoming a dancer. Her parents dreamed of her becoming a doctor. The time to fulfill her familial obligations were drawing near, but Ever hoped to spend the final summer before college doing what she loved. However, her parents thought it was time for her to work on her Mandarin and immerse herself in her culture. She wanted to use this newfound freedom from her parents to break all the Wong rules, but along the way, she realized she really wanted to write her own.

I was so enthralled with this world Wen thrust me into. She took me from the well-controlled environment of Ohio, to this loosely supervised summer program in Taiwan. There, the students pushed the boundaries, while trying not to get caught. Ever pretty much allowed all the freedom to go to her head, and eventually, one of her bolder choices led to scandal.

I felt bad, when her girl-gone-wild antics caught up to her, but at least I can say, that Ever grew tremendously from the experience and from being in Taiwan. She began to embrace her culture, and even developed a fondness for it. She fell in love. She made connections with people, who were able to really relate to her complicated family life. She also learned to appreciate the sacrifices made and the struggles her parents endured, when they uprooted their lives and moved to America, and thus, she gained a new understanding of their demands on her.

I went to class, clubs, and exploring with Ever, and it was fantastic "seeing" Taiwan via the sights, sounds, and food described by Wen, but she also incorporated many issues faced by Asian Americans.  Familial expectations definitely topped the list, but there was also discussions about stereotypes ("take back the tropes"), micro-agressions, and cultural norms, which clashed with the American norms. I know this sounds like a lot, but it came together quite organically, and many of the issues were approached honestly, but with a lot of humor. Therefore, a majority of the book leaned to the lighter side, while still making an impact on me.

I was a little conflicted with the romantic bits, because it turned into, like, a love quadrilateral. I probably would have been ok, had it gone either way, but then I would have missed out on all that drama. Let me tell you, this was high drama too, but I was happy with the way it all played out. Wen even gave me an epilogue (YES!), which tied up each character's ending, and let me know what was next for them. Those who know me, know this was crucial for me.

Ever set out to break all her family "rules", but ending up finding her own path, writing her own rules, and gaining some insight about her parents. Honest and heartfelt, Wen took me for an emotional ride, which was filled with fun, first love, and some bad decisions, but all helped bring Ever's future into better focus.

* ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abigail was born in West Virginia to a family of immigrants: Her mother is from the Philippines and her father from Indonesia, and her grandparents emigrated to those countries from Fujian and Shandong provinces in China.

Abigail grew up in Ohio and graduated from Harvard University and Columbia Law School. She worked in Washington DC for the Senate, as a law clerk for a federal judge. and now in Silicon Valley in venture capital and artificial intelligence. She also earned her Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

In her spare time, she enjoys long walks with her husband and two boys, and hanging out with friends and over 100 family members in the Bay Area. She loves music and dances to it when no one is watching.

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