Beautiful and thought provoking book. Covers history over a span of decades of a Chinese immigrant family and their journey in American life.

Title: Paper Names
Author: Susie Luo
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: May 2, 2023

I received a complimentary eARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Layered • Ambitious • Unsettling

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Set in New York and China over three decades, Paper Names explores what it means to be American from three different perspectives. There’s Tony, a Chinese-born engineer turned Manhattan doorman, who immigrated to the United States to give his family a better life. His daughter, Tammy, who we meet at age nine and follow through adulthood, grapples with the expectations of a first generation American and her own personal desires. Finally, there’s Oliver, a handsome white lawyer with a dark family secret and who lives in the building where Tony works. A violent attack causes their lives to intertwine in ways that will change them forever.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I don't actually recall how I discovered Paper Names or how it came to be on my TBR, but it has sure taken me quite awhile to finally get to my gifted e-ARC copy. An intergenerational debut novel detailing the Asian-American immigrant experience and chasing the American dream, it reminded me of several books I'd read over the past couple of years.

Told from three perspectives, there wasn't the necessary introduction to each of the characters, so I was immediately a little confused. The characters are equally flawed and forced to deal with societal expectations and the consequences of past choices. What started out incredibly strong, soon became jumbled as the plotlines thickened and diverged. Some of the ideas were so hard to wrap my head around and seemed to come out of left-field.

One thing this book does very well is detailing the complex parent/child relationship between Tony and Tammy. Tony would do anything to make his daughter's life better, and yet Tammy resents him for it. She also struggles with the expectations of being a first-generation American. The push and pull of their relationship is well developed and believer able.

Overall, Paper Names had the potential to be a powerful debut novel. It had all of the right pieces, yet it didn't come together in a cohesive manner. It honestly felt like a narrative I'd read before, not offering anything overly new. With that being said, I'd definitely be interested in reading what Susie Luo writes next.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• bookclub fiction
• multigenerational stories

⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, grief, car accident, racism, xenophobia, toxic relationship, child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, animal cruelty, adult/minor relationship, classism, violence, drug use, drug abuse, medical content, alcohol, sexual content, grooming

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Her life only belonged to her, and she could do with it whatever she wanted."

I tried to sticjpk with this novel until the half-way point and then I just gave up. None of the characters interested me and I think I’m tired of reading immigrant/generational novels. It didn’t work for me.

This was a thoughtful and vulnerable story about the immigration experience for a Chinese-American family. There are two main points of view in this story, the father Tony and the daughter Tammy. As someone who has a close relationship with her dad, this book really hit home for me at parts as Tammy and Tony navigate their sometimes strained relationship. I also liked the inclusion of Oliver, a neighbor to them and enjoyed how their stories all tied together. This character driven story was a solid debut and I'm glad I snagged it from Book of the Month!

Lots to ponder with this book. I ended up giving it a listen and was honestly a bit bored throughout, but I would still recommend as a good book club pick.

I have been trying to read more Asian authors this year, so immediately picked this up just for that. Overall, it’s not really my kind of story but the writing was definitely good

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

This book has all the thing I love in a multigenerational story and it started off very strong. But about halfway through it took a strange turn and I REALLY did not like the Oliver character and his storyline. The book culminated in a huge coincidence that I also didn't like. Overall, I just couldn't figure out the point of this book by the end.

I almost always enjoy a multi-perspective family story, and while this wasn't my favourite I did enjoy it. I did find the Oliver storyline quite predictable and it gave me a lot of inappropriate grooming vibes but maybe the multiple perspectives and jumping timeline just muddled the ages a bit in my mind.

Paper Names starting out strong but then the pacing lagged. There’s a few storylines in the novel and I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had left one character in the dust. In the end the premise felt unoriginal and the plot relied on a big coincidence..

What are hard read, and that is meant as a compliment.

Luo captures the complexity of being the child of immigrants so well, and it really hurt to read, because it resonates so well. The writing is effortless, and direct.

A fantastic novel.

Thank you Harper Collins Canada for sharing a copy of Paper Names by Susie Luo for me to review on Netgalley.

Paper Names is definitely more of a character based novel than one with lots of plot narratives. It follows a few POVs over multiple timelines that jump back and forth. Reading it on Kindle, I did find myself having trouble keeping track of timelines for a while. The POVs weren’t as hard to follow as they were very different from one another so I think it would be maybe easier with a definitive page break like in a physical copy.
Other than that, it was an interesting read and one that I enjoyed. Not my top read of the year but one that I would recommend to friends who love a character based read.

Jumping back and forth in time in the years between 1987 and 2016, Paper Names follows Tony, his daughter Tammy, and Oliver, a lawyer who becomes part of their lives. Tony and his wife Kim make the decision to leave their successful jobs in China to move to America, in the hopes of giving their daughter a better future. In America, they start back at the bottom of the food chain, and it's a struggle to work themselves back up. Tammy gets to grow up in America, experiencing a very different life from what her parents had in China. Of course her growth is effected by her parents' experiences as well. Oliver is a handsome white lawyer, trying to distance himself from the sins of his family, only to realize that he's more like them than he thought. These three lives intertwine in this thoughtful novel about family and the way it can impact future generations.

The characters really make this story shine. They are realistic; they aren't perfect ideal humans. Tony is so focused on giving Tammy a better chance at life that he misses out on forming a better relationship with her. His hard work is inspiring, but there are downsides to the life he chooses. Tammy also works very hard to succeed in America, but she eventually struggles to discern what she really wants out of life. Is she missing part of herself, by not connecting with her Chinese roots? I easily connected with them both. Oliver, on the other hand, is harder to connect with. He tries to separate himself from his family and their money, but he's dependent on them for his success. He seems to want to do better, but makes a lot of poor choices. (And the romance... ew). Despite my dislike of Oliver, I really enjoyed this read. There are touching and heartbreaking moments, and it gives insight into the life of someone who immigrates to America, and the experiences of their children as first generation Americans.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Short synopsis: Told from 3 perspectives we get a glimpse into a chinese immigrant and the American Dream, his daughter Tammy, and Oliver a wealthy man living in the building he’s a doorman for.

My thoughts: What a great debut. You could tell from early on this would be a messy book. It was. In all the right ways. It featured love, resilience, respect, hard work, the American dream, sacrifice, and challenges in families and parenthood.

This story is told through the decades, from multiple points of view, and in a non-linear timeline. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this story, and how their lives interwove together.

One line really stood out to me about the sacrifices Tony and his Wife Kim made to create the “American Dream” life for their daughter. They sacrificed everything to start all over in America to provide a good life for her.

Read if you love:
* The American Dream
* Interwoven stories
* Multiple POV
* Non linear timeline
* BIPOC debut author

I didn’t care for this book.
I didn’t particularly care for any of the main characters, except Tony.
Tammy I found to be ungrateful and annoying.
I never warmed up to Oliver.
I also didn’t care for how the narrative jumped around, making it disjointed and jumbled.

I received an e-galley of Paper Names by Susie Luo from HarperCollins Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Paper Names for the aspects of being an immigration story - as we follow the father's point of view, but also the perspective of the daughter who is growing up within the American culture. And then of course, having also the white American perspective. The three characters and their stories are intertwined and it is a great story about family, growing up, the decisions we make that form the people we truly are and become.

This was a powerful debut novel focusing on important and timely topics; race, class, and the immigrant experience. Told from three different perspectives, Tony-a Chinese born engineer turned doorman; Tammy-his daughter, and Oliver-a rich, white lawyer with dark family secrets, the story is also told in a non-linear timeline that jumps all over the place.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the unique perspectives it offered however, I did find it a bit confusing with the different points of view and alternating timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

A story about family, sacrifice, and finding your way in the world. I enjoyed Paper Names for its characters and narrative development. That being said, I wonder if telling the story from Oliver's point of view helped or hindered the 'family' focus of this novel. His relationship with both Tony and Tammy is essential to the story, but distracts from the intricate relationship shared by father and daughter. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will recommend it to fans of coming of age stories, family dramas, and diaspora readers.

I'm always fascinated reading about the experience of children of immigrants and how they navigate growing up America within the traditions and cultures of their parents. This novel sounded similar to that, but unfortunately it didn't click with me. I'm not sure if it was a late-in-the-book plot point that made me cringe or lukewarm interest in the two main characters. The scenes of father Tony and daughter Tammy clashing engaged me, but the lack of history of how they came to be the way they were made the ending scenes lose some of their spark. I liked this book but didn't love it.

Happy to highlight this new release in “Global Becomes Local” a round-up of new and notable spring AAPI and Asian Heritage Month reads for the Books section of Zoomer magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)