The title of this book couldn’t fit the story any better. I knew I would like it after reading Searching for Sylvie Lee. The story is told from dual POVs. Jasmine and Rebecca are the mothers of little Fiona. Jasmine is the birth mother and Rebecca is the adoptive mother. Jasmine lives in China and with the one-child rule, she was forced to give her child away. Well-to-do Rebecca wants a child so her husband Brandon uses a connection he has and facilitates the adoption from China to the United States.

Jasmine can’t get over the fact that she had to give up her daughter so she goes on the hunt for her. Through the process she hits many hurdles; being in the US illegally, looking for work, running from an abusive husband and more. The Leftover Woman evokes all the feels. I felt so much empathy for both mothers in addition to the frustration in deciding who I thought Fiona should truly be with.

The topic of adoption is very touchy and Jean Kwok was able to bring forward a lot of the real life struggles and circumstances that surround it. She also brought the characters alive and put us right there with them until the very end. Beautiful writing and gripping story of love, marriage, friendship, difficult decision making, and the perilous fight a mother will take on for her child.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow/Harper Collins Publishers for the ARC of this book.

This was one of those books that really touched me, and I find myself periodically thinking about the storyline.

When you first start the story, you are dealing with Jasmine Yang, a Chinese immigrant living in NYC, trying to find her daughter who was adopted without her knowledge and hiding from her husband. She is having difficulty finding a job without the appropriate papers and we get a glimpse into how these types of individuals are taken advantage of and treated.

We also meet Rebecca Whitney, a woman who comes from wealth and is working as a publishing executive and struggling to balance her identify, family motherhood and her career. Rebecca finds herself continually conflicted about doing what is best for her career versus what is best for her family and daughter.

As the story progresses, the plot started to twist and turn, and I just couldn’t put it down wanting to know what happened next. Despite the differences between these two main characters, you can feel the pain and struggles they face. However, one thing is clear for both women, the love of their daughter is what ultimately drives them.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

#JeanKwok #WilliamMorrow #TheLeftoverWoman

Jasmine flees China desperate to find the daughter who was taken from her at birth. Working as a nanny for the adopted parents Jasmine must keep her identity a secret as well as her other job in a shady bar and stay far away from the man she ran from. This is a complicated tug of war that pulls on the heartstrings as well as raises your heart rate trying to fit all the pieces together. Proving that there are no good guys or bad guys when it comes to the welfare of a child this is an interesting look at multicultural adoptions, birth parents vs. adoptive parents rights and the shady behind the scenes foreign adoption practices. The author does a great job of putting the reader in the middle of it without casting judgement and it is obvious that both women love this little girl. Readers of LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE will find much to love. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok is another novel that is the fruit of Kwok’s passion for connecting her readers to the experience of immigrants from China and the trials and tribulations they experience in America. Focusing around China’s once one-child policy, this suspenseful novel intertwines the complications of friendship, adoption, abuse, familial love, sacrifice, motherhood, and growth as it comes to an explosive conclusion. In this realistic work of art Kwok lyrically absorbs you into the lives of the cast of characters and beautifully wraps up the novel leaving the reader hopeful and at peace.


Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Searching for Sylvie Lee, so I was excited to get to read Jean Kwok’s newest book. It did not disappoint! I went in totally blind and I was immediately invested. Every character made me care about them and everything was interwoven so well. Thank you for the ARC!

This book has a lot going on but in a good way. It’s an immigrant story, a story about motherhood, and specifically how two very different women experience motherhood. There’s family drama, racism, classism and more. It’s kind of a mystery, kind of a thriller, but not fully either. It’s a wonderful multicultural, historical fiction, mystery/thriller. How about that genre label? I loved Searching for Sylvie Lee and this one cements my Jean Kwok fandom.

The last quarter of the book really becomes a suspenseful page-turner, so hang on.

This book drops on October 10. Don’t miss it!

Thank you to NetGalley and WilliamMorrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This slow-burning literary thriller builds to an explosive third act. An entertaining, fast-moving plot plus incredibly thoughtful insights on China's One Child policy, the immigrant experience, and the current publishing landscape.

The Leftover Woman highlights the complications of transracial adoption, the struggles of immigrating to America without documentation, the issues of China's population control efforts, and the relentless love of a mother. The story begs the question of what truly defines what a mother is.
The story was suspenseful and full of a range of emotions. The main characters are Jasmine, an immigrant from China who is trying to make roots in America and then Rebecca who is a wealthy American with an adopted Chinese daughter. The story is intricately woven together to show how these two women's lives collide. Full of twists, secrets, and suspense, this story had be drawn in from the first page.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story of resilience and the depths to which a mother will go to protect her child. There are 2 narrators, Jasmine, a Chinese immigrant who is trying to figure out how to repay some debts, and Rebecca, a high class businesswoman raising an adopted daughter.

I had a hard time with this one, and I know I am in the minority here. For me, the start was too slow and the pacing did not pick up. The writing is solid and you can feel the pain of Jasmine. But the ending seemed to fall flat.

I would say this is a solid 3.5 stars.

I very much appreciate the themes of this novel and the way the general issue of a mother's love is juxtaposed with the disturbing political reality of China's one-child policy. The situations created in the novel created suspense (though I wouldn't exactly call this a thriller). I will admit that I had a difficult time connecting with the writing style of the novel (particularly in the early going) and those difficulties hampered my personal enjoyment.

This story of motherhood, expectations, and love really tugged on my heartstrings. It was a moving and thought provoking story about two women’s experiences around one event.

Jasmine has traveled to the United States from China in search of the daughter she was told died at birth, who was actually given away via adoption due to the Chinese one child policy. Rebecca is a wealthy white woman with an adorable adopted daughter. Rebecca has recently been facing issues both in the workplace and in her marriage. The two women are on a collision course from the very start.

I felt so much empathy for both of these mothers and the situation they have been placed into by others. Neither of them were initially aware of all of the details surrounding the adoption, which was heartbreaking. The love they both feel for their daughter is that all encompassing love, where you would do anything to ensure the safety and happiness of another soul. The author wrote these characters beautifully, making it easy to feel for them.

There were several related stories going on as well, such as how Jasmine was making money in New York and the publishing auction Rebecca was preparing for, and I found all of these interesting and well written.

This book really made me think about the one child policy and its effects. It isn’t something I am very knowledgeable about, but it is heartbreaking to think about how desperate many would be to ensure they have a son to carry on their family name and not a daughter, and how far they may go to make that happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book and the opportunity to review it.

I have seen this book being marketed as a thriller/suspense book, but it was not until the last 20% that I stopped questioning why. The book is a good story of Chinese traditions and expectations, and also the horrible lengths that immigrants need to go to to pay their traffickers back for getting into this country. I was horrified that this, and worse, is so many people's only way out. I don't want to say too much and give away a spoiler, but one part of the book I had figured out at the very beginning. The other I was just waiting to see how it would all come together. I enjoyed Kwok's story (again, as with her other books) and I liked the alternating chapters between the immigrants and the adoptive parents. Another good book for fans of Jean Kwok, Lisa See and Amy Tan.

The Leftover Woman is the first title that I have read by Jean Kwok, but I will definitely look for more of her backlist. This was such an impactful story of Jasmine and her challenging journey from China to search for her daughter who was taken at birth due to the Chinese one child policy. It is also a story of Rebecca, who through no fault of her own will also encounter disturbances in her well-ordered life. The author did a great job developing both of their stories. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC.

“I was a leftover woman, I realized. After everyone else had carved away what they wanted to see in me and taken away what they desired, I was all that was left.”

I’m not going to lie this book was very hard to read. This book was a masterpiece and I truly don’t have the words to express how impactful this book was.

I don’t want to give too much away because I don’t want to spoil the book fo anyone.

The only issues I had with this book was that the timelines were undefined and confusing. I wish that was clear. Other than that, I enjoyed the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This story was hard to follow and also just did it catch my interest. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the ARC. But this book just wasn’t for me, sadly.

Jasmine Yang of China and Rebecca Whitney of New York seem to be on a collision course in this mystery novel, which also deals with race, adoption, child trafficking, and immigration. Jasmine pays snakeheads to get to the U.S. from China when she learns that her baby daughter Fiona had not died at birth, but was given for adoption to an American couple living in New York. Jasmine applies for the live in babysitting job that Rebecca offers, not revealing she is the child's birth mother.

How this story is resolved is the core of the novel, which also shows the financial and social difficulties new immigrants as well as illegal immigrants face in a new country.

Fluid writing and revealing scenarios, along with intriguing characters and situations made this a very worthwhile, thought sometimes uncomfortable, read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Jean Kwok for an ARC of The Leftover Woman. What a phenomenal, beautifully written, heartbreaking book. Absolutely outstanding. I don’t have enough words to explain how this book gripped me from the very first page and I was hanging onto to every word Jean wrote. This will most definitely be a top book of 2023. That is what I call an epilogue as well! This book honestly inspires me to learn more about the Chinese culture. Highly highly recommend!!

What unforgettable characters!
This is the story of two remarkable women, Jasmine Yang and Rebecca Whitney. They could not be more different but connect with the theme of devoted motherhood.
Jasmine is a Chinese woman who was married off to an abusive older husband and abandoned by her family. She has a daughter taken away from her in the context of Chinese One Child policy.
Rebecca is a wealthy white woman in America, a book publisher with a picture perfect life on the surface. She and her husband have adopted a Chinese daughter.
The book is fast paced and filled with startling twists! Often I both dreaded and could not wait to turn the page. It was so touching and heart rending.
Beautifully written and perfectly plotted. The ending is perfect!
Gained insight into the Chinese perspective as well as the machinations of the publishing world.
One of the best books of 2023 I have no doubt.

I’m definitely in the minority with my 3 star rating on The Leftover Woman. Maybe it’s just not my “cup of tea”? Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Jean Kwok's newest book, The Leftover Woman was a beautiful story about two mothers who are bound by destiny, though neither know it. Jasmine arrives in New York searching for the daughter who was taken from her at birth. Rebecca is a high powered publishing exec who struggles to have time for work and family. Without giving away anything, both women are connected in ways they have no idea.

I sympathized with both Jasmine and Rebecca for different reasons. You feel sorry for Jasmine and how life has dealt her cards yet she's resourceful and willing to do whatever it takes to find her daughter. I also could relate to Rebecca as she tries to balance a career, being a mother and a wife. Why can't we have it all?

The story was beautifully written and I devoured it in one day thanks to the heat wave that kept me inside.