Lauren Ho's "Last Tang Standing"

                                                          

This book can be found here.

Ho's novel is contemporary romance / chick lit. That's right, I went there and read one of these. 

Anyway, the book is well-written. The language is tight and witty. But that's also not what you are going to focus on in this review ...

So, the story. Andrea Tang is a successful lawyer (hoping to make partner), owns a posh condo and has a strong group of friends who always know the best places in Singapore to go. It sounds like she has everything (or will). But as Andrea is a dutiful Chinese-Malaysian daughter, the weight of familial expectations to marry and bear children is hard to ignore, particularly as she is thirty-three and almost last in the family to be married. 

Andrea is therefore struggling between the tensions of the life she has, the life her family (and possibly she herself) wants, and what Andrea hopes for or really desires. Andrea is realistic and relatable (even with all the drinking and partying that may or may not be relatable to your personal life). The fact that there are parts of Andrea that are contrasting and almost incompatible at times show the depth of humanness to her in the book. The fact that the book deals with very successful and rich characters could challenge easy connections readers make with Ho's book; but the themes of identity, singleness and purpose are universal and will still speak to any reader. 

The characters, too, are strongly written and well-rounded. The characters can be seen as diverse within Malaysia/Singapore, but also highlights some of the ways the dominant cultures and communities view diversity. Ho has explained why the writing is the way it is here, if you find those moments difficult to read or understand. Whether this helps or hinders you reading this book, let me know. 

The pace also may be slower for some. However, given this is contemporary romance / chick lit, I didn't foresee it as action-packed and ever going to be moving at a speedy pace. However, it may be slow even for some readers who live for this genre. 

For her first novel, it was very strong and it should be a full and enjoyable read.

Links for you

Title read-a-likes in the Library: 

Bridget Jones's baby: the diaries

Helen Fielding

(Be aware, this is not the first of Bridget Jones's stories). This novel was chosen because of the familial pressures placed on its characters, the diary fiction-style of writing and the similar snarkiness of its protagonist.

Crazy rich Asians

Kevin Kwan

This novel is chosen for the culturally diverse cast, the same setting and similar wit.

First comes love

Emily Giffin

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Unmarriageable: Pride and prejudice in Pakistan

Soniah Kamal

This author was chosen as they write in the same genre, the author uses their own voice and a strong sense of place.

Not that kind of guy

Andie J. Christopher

This author writes in the same genre and has characters that are culturally diverse, flawed and likeable. 

C. J. Tudor's "The chalk man"

This book can be found here.

Tudor’s ‘The Chalk Man’ is a pretty fast read, and whilst I am going to review it as much as any other book I have read … cloudLibrary classed it as part of the genre “Horror”. Depending on your definition of the genre, you may or may not agree with this when you read it.

Eddie is a kid, part of a “gang” of youths who find a dead body when they are young and then need to deal with the consequences of this once they are older. Seems like a simple storyline; and it is, because we have heard this many times before (even Stephen King’s ‘Dreamcatcher’ does this in part). However, this book has a very different feel to it, even though it follows common tropes. 

The reason I believe this novel is different is because of the characterisation. I found the characters; not exactly interesting per se, but so damaged and flawed that the situation, consequences and the writing sat with me much longer. Perhaps this was why it was placed in horror? The mentalities, attitudes and lives of these characters are so flawed, so pained at times, and seemingly so … off … that perhaps this is the horrifying element all along. Not anything violent that actually happens in the novel: it is the psychology of the characters themselves that is off-putting or creepy. It was what made the book interesting. And sad (not in a crying way, but in a “oh, humans are so pathetic and tormented way”, you know?). It’s also what I take away from this novel the most.

The story itself changes chapter by chapter through the past and present. Mainly between 1986 and 2016. This really worked and made the novel even poetic and cyclical by the end. 

“Everyone has secrets, things they know they shouldn’t do but do anyway.”

You may not see it now, but you will if you read this novel. 

If anyone says they could not connect with the characters; that makes sense. Because it is filled with dark humour and the characters are all flawed, broken and well, human. But the story itself is well written and complete; you have everything you need by the novel’s end. I just kept going back to its cyclical nature and found this part the most enjoyable.

Links for you:

Tudor in the Library:

Other people

Tudor in cloudLibrary:

Taking of Annie Thorne

Title read-a-likes in the Library:

Bone keeper

Luca Veste

Both novels are menacing and have a murder of the past that leaves a mark on individuals into their older selves. However, Veste is more police procedural.

Lying game

Ruth Ware

This was chosen because of the flawed nature of characters and the psychological impact of past events on characters.

Good daughter

Karin Slaughter

Chosen because characters were flawed and shows the impact of small-town life.

Author read-a-likes in cloudLibrary:

Into the water

Paula Hawkins

Girlon the train

Paula Hawkins

Hawkins' work is similarly creepy, complex and nonlinear. These works also focus on the psychology of characters and their unlikeability.

Brian Bilston's "Diary of a somebody"

This book can be found here.

This book is filled with poetry. And you know what? I wasn’t too bothered.

Bilston is known for his poetry; starting there and gaining a huge following on social media. This book was his first novel and it is interspersed with his poetry as well. And as I said, I didn’t mind the fact that I was reading poetry as I was reading this book.

So, let’s talk about the poetry first, and bear in mind I am no expert (on anything probably, and yet here I am). There was a lot of humour in the poetry (some I didn’t get), but most I did. I enjoyed the linguistic jokes and the cultural references and I am sure anyone who enjoys his social media presence (check out his website here) that you would not be disappointed.

Since that’s all I know about poetry, let’s get down to the novel. The book is about a life; a “somebody” if you will. The character, Brian (possibly written because it reflects his own life? Hard for me to say, but it is interesting they share the same name), is a regular human. Maybe even less than regular as there is a typical dejection that follows him (or is created by him). The character; therefore, may be unlikeable to a lot of readers because of this naturalness of the character. Brian is unable to enjoy life, unable to see the good side, and often blames anything else but himself for his situation. What I found with the character however; is this didn’t bring me closer to Brian, it distanced me. However, there is a lot of humour and development of the story (not necessarily the character); that kind of ties it together. There’s almost a “Gumpness” to the character – but in a less positive way.

The remaining characters in the novel also do not seem to develop much, and as the story is told in the first person, you cannot fully understand what happens behind the minds of any of the other characters. 

In terms of story; it is rather slow. It basically follows the year in the life of Brian. There is not a lot of conflict or heart-racing moments; just like real life. The story itself is crowned by the poetry (this being its centrepiece and the story flowing around it). It may take some time to get into the story (for example the days about garbage); but every day is not full and exciting, and so it at least reflects life the way it should be. Or is.

I do think the novel is fun. It’s a short, quick read; even when there is no real pace. I will say that the poetry was great. Brian was interesting because he was so average, and it is nice to have a break from Adonises and Herculeses (if these can be the plurals?). If you don’t want an almost anti-heroic protagonist who is too human, don’t read the novel. But, you should definitely read it for the wordplay and poetry. If you must, skip the story … though I suggest you give it a shot anyway.

Links for you:

Title read-a-likes in the Library:

Less

Andrew Sean Greer

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Uncommon type: some stories

Tom Hanks

This author was chosen for their use of dialogue and tone.