Nice family drama.
Thanks to author, publisher and netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Breathtaking and Stunning are words that come to mind while reading Kaleidoscope. It's promoted as a novel about grief and overcoming it to live life to the fullest. I suppose that's the bravery they discuss in the book summary. I personally did not feel like the summary prepared me in any way for this book. However, in saying that, I realize I am unlike to prepare you as well!

This book is beautiful and enthralling. It's an experience - you may read it twice. If you like spiraling and expansive tales about families, this is a book for you. If you have enjoyed books regarding people seeking their American identity, this is a book for you. If you just love great writing, pick it up!

You will follow Riley Brighton as she tries to make sense of both her great and terrible luck in life. She travels the globe and lets you into her very secret thoughts, both good and bad. Pick this book up! You won't regret it! #NetGalley #Kaleidoscope

Beautifully written, deeply moving tale of sisterhood, love, family, and finding oneself. I couldn’t put it down. The prose was stunning. The speech that the main character receives toward the end about love was perfection. The whole story was so messy but yet incredibly relatable and didn’t feel far-fetched at all. The imagery was unlike anything I’ve ever read—I could taste the food, hear the music, feel the characters’ physical discomfort at times.

The relationship between the sisters was by far one of the most complex character relationships I’ve ever read. The beginning of the book floored me and I was hooked. I guessed one of the twists but the second really rocked me, like I felt how the character felt when they found out. Absolutely would recommend this book!

How to explain Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong? I've struggled with this since I finished reading it (for the second time this week) two days ago. So I'll start with someone else's definition and share where I disagree: "A dazzling and heartfelt novel about two sisters caught in their parents’ ambition, the accident that brings it all crashing down, and the journey that follows."

I think I was expecting something a little different, more straightforward, based on that blurb - for the parents to be more sinister and conniving, maybe, or for their ambition to be the direct cause of the accident. In my opinion, the book is more nuanced than that. It's an exploration of love and humanity, of the connections who make us who we are and what happens when we lose them - and, to borrow a titular phrase of Alice Sebold, the "lovely bones" that can take shape around these absences. It's a testament to Wong's writing that it manages to be both heartbreaking and hilarious, sometimes even at the same time.

This is a powerful story, one I had to sit with for a while. I read it on Tuesday and again on Thursday; I liked it the first time and loved it the second. I did have to work a little harder, as a reader, than I'm used to - there are several times when something's alluded to but only elaborated on later, and I had to backtrack to fit the pieces together to accommodate my new understanding. While this could be frustrating, in this case it added to the experience; when you hear Karen's (Riley's mother) profound frustration with her daughter's fundamental unknowableness, how it's not in her nature to accommodate or seek approval, this stylistic choice makes even more sense.

There's more that I loved about the *way* Wong told this story. I found the shift from first- to third-person at the start of Part 3 jarring, but on reflection, it was brilliant. Riley's sense of self has been shattered, so why would we expect to continue hearing from her directly? The disorientation of the reader echoes and reinforces her own.

I don't want to share too much about the story itself, but I will say that I loved it. The last book to make me feel this type of way was Maggie Shipstead's 'The Great Circle,' and while the plots aren't at all similar, what's striking me is the twin sense of exhaustion and awe and appreciation I felt after each - for the range and depth of emotion, and the extent of journeys (metaphorical and literal!) that can be contained in one book. If you're looking for a quick beach read, this isn't it, but if you're looking for something you'll return to, that I imagine will resonate differently based on whatever's happened in your life between each reading - you'll want this.