The Duong family has been cursed since their ancestor Oanh ran away from her husband to be with her true love. This book focuses on 3 sisters and and their daughters, who alternate between feuding and fighting with each other, while also trying to heal the family and finally reverse the curse based on a psychic's prediction for the year to come: a death, a marriage, and a grandson.

The cast of characters that is introduced in this short novel can be a lot to keep up with, especially since more and more side characters are added as the action progresses. There's a lot of snide commentary that I can tell were aimed to appeal to readers within the Asian American community, and unfortunately I'm not part of that target audience. That said, this book is fun and entertaining while also exploring how complex mother-daughter-sister relationships can be, and families in general.

I rated this 3 stars primarily because of how short this book is and how quickly the events all seemed to pile up. It was difficult to tell sometimes how much time was passing. As I said it was entertaining, but also lacking on dialogue and exposition at times.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the electronic ARC copy of this novel for review.

I enjoyed this funny, emotional novel about a multigenerational family of Vietnamese American women. The novel centers on a curse affecting the women. Through the story, the older matriarchs attempt to break the curse while the younger women meander through careers and relationships.

I liked that the author explored Vietnamese neighborhoods and businesses in Southern California. I’ve always felt that we need more stories focused on these cultural enclaves.

The relationships between the characters made me laugh and felt real in their complex messiness. The author also touched on intergenerational trauma from the Vietnam War and life as refugees. Still, the book didn’t lose its funny lightness, and the story moved quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank @netgalley and @simonandschuster for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I read this on Valentine’s Day and it was the perfect read, some family drama and some romance. It explores the relationships between mothers and daughters.

The Duane family is cursed when Oanh leaves her marriage to find true love. The family will never know happiness or have a son. The family line is only daughters who have tense relationships. The family relationships are rocky and strained. The family comes together when the birth of a boy is predicated. The book is a fun read and I highly recommend it.

I firstly want to thank to netgalley and atriabooks for the ARC. I really like this book so much and it was first time I read a book like this. There was really different elements that I got introduced to. Something that really made it hard for me to focus and not enjoy more is for sure the characters. It was really hard for me to keep track of who was who and there was a lot of characters. Also I kept looking at the family tree for a lot part of the book and it can be me to blame since it is really hard for me to remember character’s names. Other than that I really liked how the book evolved and other than remembering this as a good book, it was great to see more Vietnamese culture and family. I think I would have liked it more if the book was focused on just some characters but thanks to the author for making me introduced to Vietnamese culture.

A huge thank you to @netgalley for the arc of this exciting and diverse story 🌸

This multi-narrative story centers around the women of the Duong family & a multi generational ‘curse’ on the all-female descendants of the family - there’s love, magic, revenge, aunties galore 👀 and ultimately healing.

There were so many moments in this book that literally made me LOL - I could easily imagine the aunties in this book as those I grew up with and their penchant for random gossip alongside their daily attempts at out-doing each other while also fiercely loving and protecting one another. But this isn’t a book just about aunties! While it was fun to read about their antics and see the similarities between our diverse cultures, this book was equally about family, identity, the cycles that we inherit & the joys and oftentimes struggles of being a part of a diasporic community from so many different perspectives.

I could easily imagine a story like this being spread out over a series but overall, I loved the Duong sisters, this story had it all & I think it’s an impressive debut! I am so looking forward to reading more from Caroline Huynh 🌸💖

The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh is one amazing debut novel!
A story about a Vietnamese family going through some high and lows.
This story is filled with triumph, despair, adversity and much more.
These fierce ladies tell what it's like growing up in the culture where they always have to defend and support for a place to be.
This book was so special. It was beautifully written, full of touching moments, amazing connections, and great humor, 
TFOJW is wrapped together so flawlessly.
Our characters are independent, strong, lovely, fierce and always fighting for what is right!
I couldn't have loved this story more if I tried.
Everything about it was blissful!

Atria Books,
WoW! Thank You for the eARC.

It was an interesting and enjoyable read for me. I really liked how fun the characters were. And, I really liked the word building, although, I find the beginning a tad bit slow, but the ending made up, so good for it!! Overall, it’s a 4 stars read for me.

I really wanted to loved this but it fell flat for me.

The main issue was just too many characters. I felt like every other chapter was someone new, and it's harder in an ebook format to flip back to the family tree at the beginning. The author clearly has a sharp eye for family dynamics, and I enjoyed the characters we did meet, but eventually approached the book as a series of vignettes because I could not keep track of all the family ties. This could absolutely be some of my own cultural ignorance at play, but if the author wanted so many characters I wish she had spent more time developing them early on.

Highly recommend!! This book is a definite page-turner! You'll be left thinking about the story long after you put the book down. First book to read by this author but definitely not my last!

The novel started out well enough, with an interesting focus on three Vietnamese American sisters who are constantly warring with each other and with their mother. Their disagreements carry over to the rest of their families, to their children, some of whom are also estranged from each other.

It was difficult to see how culture and tradition played into their stories of disharmony and disfunction, but this is blamed on an old curse placed on an ancestor and on all her descendants. The curse allows the woman's children and their children to have only females born to them, and no sons.

The book seemed too long, new characters regularly introduced, and their stories added on in what could have been two different books to tell the different stories. It was hard to know who to focus on.

An interesting look at the Vietnamese American community, however, though this extended family seemed to be unique and not an example of the norm.