Hey SpaceSleepers (30): The Astonishing Color of After
Yesterday, I finally finished The Astonishing Color of After by
Emily X. R. Pan, a book I bought when my friend wanted to take solace
in the AC of the bookstore. I had it on my Goodreads List for a while
but also I am not really as into Young Adult fiction since I was 16 but
this one followed a Taiwanese American protagonist and I found
overwhelming positivity regarding its quality within reviews.
I was disconcerted when I began the book and there was a romance plot but it didn't overstay its welcome and it wasn't another novel about a white boy dating another "exotic" girl (an issue I have with a lot of YA narratives featuring WoC). I think that the book had a very interesting discussion of grief as well as the alienation of being in a mostly monoracial country and almost completely being unable to speak the language. The fact that the story takes place over Ghost Month and prevalent Taiwanese superstition around death being ever present was very interesting. The space that spirits take in the novel is something that I found refreshing and to see a narrative fully embrace those ideas instead of brushing them off was so meaningful. I felt that the romance was unneeded sometimes but I did think it was sweet. The book gets a 7 out of 10 from me personally (07/06/2024).
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