A Review of Samurai Girl(Book Series by Carrie Asai)

Titles: Book of the Sword(book 1)
          Book of the Shadow(book 2)
          Book of the Pearl(book 3)
          Book of the Wind(book 4)
          Book of the Flame(book 5)
          Book of the Heart(book 6)

Author: Carrie Asai


Intro

     If you ever see a book series in which all of its book were published in less than a year, do your time one big favor: don't...read it. That's exactly how I feel about Carrie Asai's Samurai Girl. The only way in which I benefited from reading it was an opportunity to write this book review. Below is my opinion of the series:

Plot:

     I must admit that the plot had good potential. It is about a sheltered, Japanese rich girl named Heaven Kogo who was adopted at six months old after becoming the only survivor of a plane crash. The story starts when Heaven is at her wedding ceremony(it's an arranged marriage) and a ninja attacks her. Her brother, Ohiko, fights the ninja and dies trying to protect her. Heaven runs away and finds Hiro, one of Ohiko's friends, and asks him for help. She spends the entire series trying to find out who killed her brother as well as why she is being hunted.

My review:

     I thought the story was interesting and that is what kept me reading until the end. Unfortunately, the series' potential is ruined by the author(s) own doing. The first way it is ruined is the fact that book 6 is the last book in the series. The series needs at least one more book to complete the story. Yes, it is true that many books have cliffhangers, but when cliffhangers are so big that they equate to an incomplete plot, it ruins the story. That's how me and many other reviewers online felt about Samurai Girl. I considered watching the mini series for it, but I changed my mind after reading a blog post from angryasianman.com. The blog post writer makes it clear that the TV version is apparently worse than the books were.

     The plot holes are my biggest problem, but the second one is poorly developed characters. If the characters were at least better, perhaps the reader would consider forgiving the author(s) for their corny ending. I must say though that when writers rush, stuff like this happens. There are several reason why I think the characters turned out to be flat. The first is the fact that the each book revolves around Heaven a little too much. The people who help Heaven do not seem to have any personal ambitions or motives outside of what relates to Heaven. As a result, they seem to be there only to be Heaven's helpers. Now, of course, considering that Heaven is the main character, most of the book is going to naturally revolve around her thoughts. Yet, in order  for readers to get the best enjoyment out of a book, side characters must have goals, needs, wants, desires, and weaknesses just like the main character. They can't be just convenient throw ins.

     Heaven is also what many authors would call a Mary Sue. Everything just falls her way no matter what even if the situation doesn't call for it. She also is also miraculously good at everything. How is her fighting better than all the thugs who chase after her? It just doesn't make sense. And it appears that every reviewer on Amazon thinks the same. What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Pachinko

Pachinko

Author: Min Jin Lee

Published: February 2017

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Summary

     Pachinko is the first book of a saga featuring generations of a Korean family. The first two chapters feature the story of how Sunja's parents got married. Afterwards, the real story begins. Sunja lives in a boarding house with her mother during a time in which Japan controls Korea. She falls in love with an older man and gets pregnant with his child. This leads a visitor at the boarding house to marry her to save her from shame. Unfortunately, Sunja must abandon her mother to move with her new husband's family. Pachinko shows us the journey of Sunja and her new family as they fight the hardships such as poverty and the political changes imposed on them by the Japanese. 

Review

     I listened to the audio book audition of Pachinko. The first two chapters move slower than my tastes, but the overall themes make up for this. This book covers issues that even our American society needs to examine such as prejudice and identity. This book feels realistic and I feel that I can relate to some of the character's experiences despite never having to go through most of their challenges. Readers must realize that the problems in Pachinko can happen anywhere and not just in Korea. The characters experience loss, disappointment, shame and rejoicing. Sunja is a caring mother, but she too has made mistakes. But the best part about her is her ability to recover from them. I would highly recommend this book and look forward to the sequel. How did you like the book? Let me know in your comments below.

    

The Joy Luck Club

Author: Amy Tan
Title: The Joy Luck Club
Publication Year: 1989

Summary

The Joy Luck Club was published in 1989 and prides itself as being a New York Times Best Seller. It has multiple main characters all of whom know each other. The book begins with Jing-Mei Woo's narration. In the first chapter, Jing-Mei takes her recently, deceased mother's place at the Joy Luck Club and listens to the life stories of various club members. She also remembers when her mother tells her about her first marriage and her life in China. Jing-Mei learns that she has two sisters in China who her mother tried to find for decades. The Joy Luck Club has eight main characters and who narrate parts of the story. At the end of the novel Jing-Mei goes to China to see her sisters for the first time.

Worth a Read?

Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club was okay. I just hope that Tan's other novels were better though. The positive elements include the story's insight into the differing experiences of the mothers who narrated the book and the daughters who narrated. The wants of the two generations clashed from time to time in a way that many families can relate to. For some reason, the book did not fascinate me as well as it should have and it was tough to get through many of the parts. The good parts of the book drew me in, but unfortunately the book had too many characters. It was tough to keep up with all eight of them. Worse yet, every time I became attached to a scene, the character would change. I didn't feel as attached to the characters as a should have been. What do you guys think? Leave a comment below if you wish.