Warning, this review contains spoilers.

I got this book after attending a book signing event at work. The author, Susie Luo, was invited to talk since she recently wrote this book and because it is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

This book is a fiction book centered around the lives of three people: Tammy, Tony, and Oliver. The story is constructed by following each of these characters at various times and places as they struggle with work, family, hardships, and new experiences. Each chapter is focused on one of these three character’s point of view. Tony is a Chinese immigrant who left his life as a successful engineer to live in Flushing, New York, in order to earn more money, break through the “ceilings” in China, and to provide a better life for his daughter Tammy. Oliver is a Caucasian man who lives in an expensive apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side called the Rosewood. He’s a partner at a law firm and meets Tony when he is working as a doorman at the Rosewood.

I thought the book was really easy to read and I flew through the book in a few days. Even though the book has Chinese pinyin scattered throughout, the English translations followed right behind the Chinese to provide the necessary context. Luo mentioned that she wanted this book to be able to resonate with all audiences, not just Asian American audiences, and I think that it does to a certain extent. The first few chapters made me think I was reading a generic Chinese immigrant story, but there were some wild twists and turns. This book has something for everyone, but it is still heavily slanted towards the Chinese American experience.

The descriptions of the Chinese American experience were realistic. Getting teased at school for bringing “ethnic” food for lunch, getting passed up for raises and promotions at work, getting taken advantage of due to the language barrier and differences in culture. Tony and his wife’s perspective about America and its people were realistic as well. They shared the mindset that they were outsiders and should keep their heads down and work as hard as possible in order to achieve the things they want in life. Fortunately for them, they were highly educated in China, so they could pull from their experiences to move up the ladder. They also admired the American people, especially the rich and successful ones.

Although I enjoyed reading the book, the plot was a bit problematic for me. One issue I have is that there are aspects of “white worshipping”. The main white people in the book were Oliver, Clara (a wealthy former actress living in the Rosewoord), and Vince (college classmate who becomes Tammy’s boyfriend/fiance). Each of them were very wealthy and generally good people, so that could explain why the other characters treated them with so much reverence. However, there is a sense that Tony and his family wanted to act like them, live like them, be like them, be them.

Another issue I have with the plot is that there is a love interest between Oliver and Tammy. Oliver meets Tammy when he is 26 and she is 9. Oliver offers to give her piano lessons after hearing her play at Clara’s apartment and Oliver continues to provide a mentoring in her life with piano, school, and work. When Tammy grows up, she graduates from Harvard and joins Oliver’s law firm. Even when Tammy was a child, Oliver felt a drawn to Tammy. There was no indication that he was sexually attracted to her as a child, but there were numerous instances where he was sexually attracted to her after she turned 18. Although not explicitly written this way, Oliver introduces Vince to Tammy in an attempt to suppress his desires. Tammy goes through with dating Vince since he has “kind eyes”, but later in life breaks off the engagement because of a tragic event in her life and the realization that she loves Oliver. I’m not saying that this is an example of grooming, but that’s the feeling I got when I read the book.

The final issue I had with the plot actually resolved itself in a satisfactory manner at the end of the book. But while it was unfolding before my eyes, it was pretty messed up. To summarize, Tony entrusts his daughter Tammy to Oliver to teach her how to play the piano. Oliver and Tammy form a strong bond that turns into love, despite the age difference. Oliver is in the car that kills Tony, and Oliver flees the scene. Tammy is devastated, bawling in the hospital, and calls Oliver to tell him the news. Oliver comes and consoles her at the hospital, kisses her for the first time, promises to stay with her, and does not tell anyone about his involvement in the hit-and-run. After I read this, I had to put the book down and mentally recover. Thankfully, the series of events ends with Oliver confessing to Tammy that he was in the car during the hit-and-run and Tammy reports him to the police. Before reporting Oliver to the police, Tammy and Oliver both say that they love each other and the book ends without discussing whether Oliver gets convicted. Tammy mentions that she’ll never forgive him, but it’s not explicitly written that she doesn’t love him anymore.

Would I recommend this book to someone else? I’m not sure. Definitely an exciting story and it shares a lot of perspectives about the Chinese immigrant experience and what it is like growing up as a first generation Chinese American. However, the plot might be a bit too wild for me to recommend to others. Despite that, this was Luo’s first published book and I look forward to reading other books from her in the future.

Warning, this review contains spoilers.

I watched the new Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) movie in theaters with a friend from college and it was a fun movie. The movie started off with the cast telling the audience that watching movies in the theaters made us heroes. I never knew that I am both a hero and villain – I watch movies in the theater and in my living room.

The movie wasn’t about how people play the Dungeons and Dragons game online or in person. It was about the D&D universe. The main plot was described through a flashback / story told by the main character Edgin when he was pleading for parole in front of a council.

Basically, Edgin is a bard who is part of the Harper Guild and was living a respectable life with his wife and daughter. After a certain point, he wanted to live a more luxurious lifestyle, so he stole some gold during one of his jobs as a Harper. This theft resulted in fatal consequences – the Red Wizard member tracked down the stolen gold and killed his wife.

After the death of his wife, his life was very tough, and he resorted to more theft to help support himself and his daughter. Edgin learns about a magic relic that can bring someone back to life, so he decides to leave home with some friends in order to retrieve it from a safeguarded Harper vault. In the vault, Edgin and his friend Holga was captured and sent to prison.

The main plot of the movie is the adventure Edgin and the other friends partake to escape prison and get back his daughter and revive his wife. Along the way, there are a bunch of different side quests he has to accomplish in order to get the necessary items to steal back the relic that can revive his wife.

The movie had some serious moments and a lot of funny parts. There were references to the D&D lore and many familiar monsters, such as a mimic and a dragon. There were also some monsters I was not familiar with, such as an owlbear. The special effects and fight scenes were exciting to watch. It was also pretty cool to see the creative use of magic in the movie. I’d recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys watching action, adventure, or fantasy movies.

Warning: this review contains spoilers.

I’m a member of a movie club and one of the movies that we decided to watch was called “A Sun”. I’m more of a casual member, so I don’t participate that often or watch all the movies, but the movies that I have seen through the club have been relatively good. This Taiwanese movie won a few awards and I thought it would be an entertaining watch.

During the movie, I was confused by some of the events that occurred, but the story and the background context unraveled as the movie progressed. I appreciated that the actors looked like normal people and that the story was following a working class family. The opening scene successfully grabbed my attention and I wanted my questions answered in why these kids pulled up at a restaurant and chopped off a guy’s hand. I may have missed it or they may have not mentioned it, but when they said that A-Ho (one of the main characters) got his 14/15 year old girlfriend pregnant, I was wondering how old A-Ho was. Like I feel like this guy was also in high school and he did go to juvenile detention, so he couldn’t have been too old, but to steal a motorcycle with a friend to assault someone with a machete and knife doesn’t sound like something someone should be doing, especially if he’s about to be a parent. Of course, it seemed like he didn’t know that he was a father so maybe he wasn’t thinking very far in advance. They mentioned that this Oden guy had been bullying A-Ho, which is why A-Ho and Radish (A-Ho’s accomplice), pulled up to teach him a lesson, but the assault seemed really unwarranted. Anyways, no need to talk about this incident any longer.

The movie was shot well, some of the scenes, such as the one with the parents talking on the top of a mountain, was really well done. I think that the movie was called “A Sun”, because of the message that A-Ho’s older brother said in the movie. He said that the sun was shining down on everyone and that animals and most people had the ability to shelter themselves from the sun’s rays. However, he felt that he was unable to protect himself from the sun. He later committed suicide due to the unending pressure. As a viewer, one critique I have is that I didn’t really get the sense that he was under that much pressure. Perhaps I don’t understand the Taiwanese culture very well, but it seemed like he was going to school and studying to be a doctor. I definitely think that studying to be a doctor can be tough, but from the scenes I watched, it didn’t seem like his studies were overwhelming him. Maybe the combination of the studies and the societal or familial pressure was too much, but his parents didn’t weren’t giving him that much pressure. They could’ve been more present, but the mom was worried about taking care of the pregnant girlfriend and the baby while working as a beautician and the father was busy with his job teaching driving school.

The performance from Radish was really good. He was so convincing that he annoyed me. I wanted A-Ho to cut this guy out of his life so then he could focus on working and providing with his family, until I realized why Radish was sticking around. Radish was sticking up for his friend, which is why he cut off Oden’s hand. Obviously, he went too far, but if your best friend says that they are getting bullied, then you got to help them out.

The movie had graphic violence and and criminal behavior, so I wouldn’t recommend this movie to everyone. But the drama was convincing and held my attention throughout.