Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of The Fortunes of Jaded Women.

I enjoyed the premise and plot and found the writing completely engaging.

I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters and that impacted how connected I felt to the story. Overall this is beautiful and enjoyable.

Generations ago, an angry mother in law asked a Vietnamese witch to curse her son's wife, who was leaving him for true love. Now, the Duong family women in California are still suffering the curse's effects: no sons are born to the family, and no happy marriages are found. When Mai Nguyen visits a psychic who tells her the next year will bring a wedding, a funeral, and the birth of a son, it seems like the curse might finally be reaching an end.

I absolutely adored the vibrant characters, sense of humor, and touches of magic in this book! It was such a joy to read, and the big family fights were laugh-out-loud funny. I loved the ending, but I didn't want to stop spending time with these characters!

I enjoyed the premise of this story but had a bit of difficulty connecting with any of the characters.

I really liked the premise of this book. I also thought it was well-written and I liked the humor within all of the drama of the story. Though I do think that it was too short of a book to follow so many characters.

Thank you, @Netgalley & @Atriabooks, for a free ARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

I believe there are some books you are destined to read, and those books come to you when you need them. For me, this was that book.

The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh is a multinarrative story following the ups and downs of a multigenerational family. This book had me crying, hurting, mourning, and rooting for each family member. This story is for those who love a good family drama with so many twists and turns. Yet, each twist is purposefully placed and written about I LOVED IT!

As a soon-to-be first-time mom, there were moments in this book where I just sobbed. I sobbed for the words not being shared between a mother and daughter (due to not knowing how, hardheadedness, avoidance, and lack of understanding). I sobbed for the women who saw having a daughter as a curse rather than a blessing. I wept for the daughters being brought into a family where they were seen as curses and therefore avoided any type of relationship. I emphasized the first-generation American girls are confused about their own identities. - which is something I struggle with. This book was uniquely and beautifully written, and I recommend this to anyone who enjoys family drama with a twist of magical realism and splashes of romance. Not always the two-person romance, but more a falling in love with the person you always wanted to be.

This book will be one of my favorite reads of the year!

#TheFortunesofJadedWomen #NetGalley

Carolyn Huynh has released her debut novel with a strong story about a family of women.

It was well known in their community, Little Saigon, that the Duong sisters were cursed. Oahn, the matriarch of the family was the start of the curse for daring to leave her loveless marriage for true love. The book starts with a Vietnamese witch cursing Oahn and her descendants that they would never find happiness or love and would only give birth to daughters, never any songs.

The book then goes on to show how the family splintered in to various fractions due to a number of different factors. There was no love apparent among the Duong family.

Huynh has shown that families can be messy, loving, meddling, hateful, complacent, hilarious, and unbreakable. There were parts that made me literally laugh out loud.

I found it to be very helpful to have the family tree included with the book. It helped me keep the many characters straight in my mind.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I received an ARC of this book from Atria Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My grandmother has two daughters, my aunt has two daughters, and my mother has three daughters. The only men in our family are those unfortunate (read: blessed) enough to marry one of the stubborn and strong-willed Nguyễn women. I'm a Vietnamese American woman who's very, very familiar with Little Saigon in Orange County. So it goes without saying that this book hit remarkably close to home.

First off, seeing this book displayed and shared all over (it's a BOTM pick!) makes my heart so happy and full. The Fortunes of Jaded Women tackles heavy interpersonal and individual conflicts of identity, sense of place, and multigenerational disconnect with much candor and lighthearted sass. Exploring the relationships between mothers and daughters in the different branches of the Dương family tree felt a lot like looking in a mirror. While the Nguyễns', Phạms', Lâms' and Lươngs' stories don't encompass all the possibilities, their stories do cover a diverse set of diasporic narratives in a fun yet heartfelt way. We have the successful cousins, the ABGs, the Koreaboo, and those that don't know what they want to do other than longing for freedom away from their mothers' protective nest.

The book jumps between the different women before ultimately coming together for the reunion and resolution. Despite their tense and estranged relationships, their stories are all interwoven. I am so fond of all these women and the familiarity their stories elicit with my own experiences.

This book was a wonder look at multiple generations of strong willed independent Vietnamese women. There were a ton of characters but I found that if I wasn’t too concerned with how who connects with who- it worked. It all came together at the end beautifully. This was so funny too- I wasn’t expecting that!

Okay- thank god the pub date for this book is finally here (well here and gone since it was Sept 6th) because it needs to be read by the masses! I loved this book- it reminded me of Love Actually if written by Kevin Kwan. (There was even a Crazy Rich Asians pun in there!) As I was reading, I kept thinking “this is going to have to be a tv show.” Plenty of drama, plenty of love, and plenty of heart warming resolution.

Only thing is- there is 5 million characters. I liked how it worked in this book, but I needed a family tree or something to keep them all straight. I loved how some of the fringe characters provided comic relief at some of the more dramatic moments, but I could not keep who was related to who straight for the first half of reading.

All in all though, I really really really liked this book.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Atria publishing for the copy of my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

4/5

I loved the premise of this novel - three generations of Vietnamese/American women who break a curse that dooms them to never find true love. Set in Orange County, CA, THE FORTUNES OF JADED WOMEN is a love letter to Vietnamese women who grow and persevere in a world that is not built for them. The Duong sisters and their daughters are messy; they bicker (and sometimes throw things in dim sum restaurants!) even when they're trying to heal rifts, and they unintentionally hurt each other in the name of love.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read! Even though Huynh tackles the generational traumas of the Vietnamese refugee women, the characters' relationships and desires are never weighed down or defined by trauma. I really appreciated the humor, hope, and joy that Huynh captures. I also liked the different types of love portrayed in the novel - between mothers and daughters, young lovers, and elderly soul mates. My main complaint about the story is the heteronormativity! There's one particular character who I thought would be queer, but I was disappointed by the direction of her story. The novel's weakness is perhaps its desire to tell the story from the perspective of a full cast of characters; even though the perspectives switched between three generations of the Duong family, some characters (like the Nguyen sisters) were much more fleshed out than others. I think this could easily have been a longer novel that balances the multiple perspectives to explore the relationships between the cousins and their motivations.

The ending is wild and so, so messy (two generations of drama and fistfights!), but stay for the heartwarming reunion and intergenerational healing.

I really enjoyed this book. Such a fascinating insight into the minds of Vietnamese women and their relationships. You will laugh, you will cry, you will want to pull out your hair. The characters will drive you crazy one minute and you will love them the next. The book just feels very real! The connections of family - good, bad and inbetween. How they celebrate, health and mourn together.

Their ancestor Oanh left her husband for true love, setting off a curse on all her descendants. They would only give birth to daughters and would never find love and happiness. Mai knows the curse well - she and her sisters are estranged. Her marriage ended in divorce. Her daughters are very successful but not in their love life. After consulting a psychic, she will reunite the women of her family - will that be a good thing?

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

A highly entertaining multigenerational family drama about the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters and sisters as we get to know a family of Vietnamese American women. Recommended for fans of books like The last story of Mina Lee or Daughters of the New Year. I will admit I found it a bit challenging at times to keep each of the storylines straight - it might have been an audiobook thing but overall I really enjoyed this heartfelt debut! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book was a riot! It follows a family of Vietnamese women of different generations who exist under an ancient curse until a psychic makes a startling prediction. Each chapter focuses on specific characters within the Duong family tree, giving the reader a glimpse into the estranged relationships among them, their quirky personalities, man troubles, and competitiveness and jealousy of one another.

With witty banter, raucous and dramatic arguments, a little bit of vindictiveness, this heartwarming big family story will suck you in and before you realize it, you’ve finished the book. Reminded me of the best type of comedy dramas and satire.

a cursed family lineage, now estranged, follows a prediction: a marriage, a funeral, and a pregnancy!

🗣 multiple POV - tysm for the family tree reference guide 🙏 lots of characters to keep up with but it adds to the boisterous family dynamic!
💚 motherhood, sisterhood, and all the complex mother-daughter relationships..🥲
😂 hilarious, entertaining, DRAMATIC, with lots of omg gasps
🔮 fills your mind palace with the tenacity of a mother’s love, generational heartbreak (and all it encapsulates), and the pursuit of love!

cherished this read & all the stories it touched on! there were ridiculous family moments (relatable), painful examples of assimilation/fetishization/racism (relatable), and tender realizations of belonging (relatable). to readers who see parts of themselves in this book, I’m with ya!!💚

out now, available on @bookofthemonth , and #gmabookclub pick!

thank you Atria Books and NetGalley allowing me to read the e-ARC in exchange for a honest review!

The story of a cursed family of Vietnamese women, this book takes you on quite a journey. Intergenerational family stories are right up my alley, and this was a satisfying one. Full of heartfelt relationship struggles, messy characters (in the best way), and plenty of humorous moments, this was a fun and entertaining read. One thing to note: there are quite a few characters, which can be hard to keep track of but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. For fans of Crazy Rich Asians and The Many Daughters of Afong Moy.

This was an amazing debut and I loved every minute of it. The multiple POVs really add to the story and I liked that the multi-povs weren't first person it was more the narrator telling the story and how they were thinking and including the foreshadowing. Overall, this was fantastic and I love reading about different cultures and viewpoints and their experiences in America and this had all of that, plus romance, family drama and more. Will definitely recommend to those looking for a good book this fall.

Read this book in just a few sittings, and it was engaging and joyful even when tackling topics like loneliness, family conflict, and death.

The women of three generations of the Duong family are doubly jaded--literally, in the jewelry they wear, and emotionally, as they look for love despite being cursed in the romance department. Mai, the (sort of) oldest sister of the middle generation represented here, finds out during her annual visit to her psychic that this estranged family will experience one death, one wedding, and one pregnancy over the course of the next year. With this prophecy hanging over them, Mai begins the process of reuniting the geographically and emotionally separated women in this family. Chaos ensues, and it's delightful to watch.

This debut author did a marvelous job of illustrating how you can love someone you could gleefully strangle--in other words, mothers, daughters, and sisters. While there was a wide cast to balance (a mother, her four daughters, and their eight daughters), each family dynamic was mapped out and its unique dysfunctions comedically illustrated. Still, with a cast this big, you'll appreciate the helpful family tree at the beginning. I wish we'd learned more about some of the Duong women who were more sketches than real people and a little less about the jerks the women were dating. And while I appreciated the fantasy elements, I was less sold on the coincidental romances.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent with the Duongs. Highly recommend.

This is a beautiful story of several generations of Vietnamese women grappling with... Well, everything. I loved the characters and the way the story unfolded. I just wish we had more time with some of them--with so many characters, it's inevitable that we just didn't get to know some as well as the others. In this case, that's a shame.

I really liked this book! The characters felt well fleshed out and complex, even when annoying. I think this book could have been too maudlin under a different hand, but the tone struck a good balance.

A multi generational story of strained mother-daughter relationships, a family curse and a cast of dramatic, expressive and passionate women that will have you giggling throughout the story - this is a do not miss read!

Breaking with tradition, Oanh Duong left her marriage to follow love, and to punish her, her mother-in-law was responsible for setting a curse on the Duong women for generations. When we visit present day, Mai Nguyen (of the Duong line) has her yearly visit her trusted psychic. She is told to expect one funeral, one marriage, and one pregnancy this year. The catch being, in order for this prophesy to be realized, the relationships within her fractured family must first be mended, and past hurts resolved. Sounds simple enough - but in this family of strong and resilient mothers - it will be far from easy to accomplish.

This story is an intimate look into the lives of these Vietnamese-American families, the struggles they have overcome, the constant stereotypes they face, their beliefs about the afterlife and the power of a mother's love, however misguided. The first half of the story focuses on 3 Mothers, Mai, Minh and Khuyen - known as the Duong sisters, their background stories and the role they play in the family. The second half concentrates more on the daughters - the next generation of Duong women. Old hurts continue to have a hold over the mothers and they spill over into the daughter's relationships with their mothers, their siblings and their cousins. There was such insight shown with the feisty moms and the expectations they placed on their daughters in connection with jobs, money, success and marriage. There were many women to keep track of and that was a tad difficult, but there is a chart at the front of the book which proved very helpful.

The many characters each had distinct personalities. I loved seeing the growth arc in several of the character's realization of self worth and confidence. Most of the men in this story were hilarious characterizations of what must be common issues when Vietnamese women date. The player, the man who only dates Asian women and the one too good to be true. I loved all these women. I loved their different weaknesses and strengths, but most of all I loved their resilience. And I loved that what ended up being the feeling I was left with - was the lengths at which a mother will go to be sure their children's lives are better than their own, no matter the cost.

Can this fractured family find forgiveness and reconciliation? You'll have to read to find that out! I highly recommend this smart, sassy, entertaining and explorative look at Vietnamese culture and family dynamics. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the advance copy to read and review. Pub date: 9/6/22.