I've seen readers compare this to Pachinko which is a favorite book of all time for me. It is hard to compare a book to Pachinko because I think it is perfect, but Straw Dogs of the Universe deserves this comparison. This immigrant experience story can be tough to read at times, but is so worth the read. I was deeply moved.

Ye Chun's novel is filled with with beautiful prose, harrowing themes, and a journey down a dark path for Chinese immigrants to California where they faced hostile racism and exploitation. I don't want to give away spoilers but I will say one of the strongest points of this novel was that we did get to see some characters reunited with family members and friends, and even though there was so much grief in this novel, there was always a powerful breeze filled with hope, and fortunately not all the people were brutal racists, though most were in this historical novel. Even though family ties are filled with distrust and anguish, in the end, those ties are what keep the individuals going forward, moving toward a momentum of restoration and peace. Very engaging novel!



https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5821720851

This novel is most certainly interesting, and I very much enjoyed reading it.
I learned much.
This is a fast-paced novel with a lot of things going on.
Told from many POV, which was why I said many characters with their own chapter, so to speak
In my opinion, they blended perfectly. I'm not sure why, though each person got their own chapter. Because it read like straight fiction.
I did NOT like Madame and her guard.
I thought they were terrible! I felt sorry for those women. Ugh!
I don't blame the Chinese people for hating the whites.
Here's a quote that hit home really
" What’s better to do now than to get lost in the clouds?"
It would be good not to care or know that you had lost yet again. To not judge yourself or of distinguish dignity from shame. In the stupor of opium, it was all the same. All were made of straw —white or yellow, one-legged
or two, those who got away with inflicting pain or those who continue to suffer.
I believe that this quote means that some people can be evil no matter the color or race. It also means that life isn't fair no matter what you do for justice. Life's not just about any one person.
I did feel sorry for the guy. He tries so hard. I feel like him sometimes.
There are a lot of tough subjects, but the toughest is finding out what and where you belong in life.
Life's journey is what I call it. I found this beautiful story intriguing and very sad sometimes.
I want to leave y'all with thos quote from the story and let you ponder on it.
"Heaven and earth do not pick and choose.
They see everything as straw dogs."
To God, He sees us as all the same for we are created in His image. That's my opinion for this quote.
A very well written novel that will keep your interest all the way through.
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Ye Chun gives a look into the Chinese immigrant experience in late 1900s California on a level unlike any other that I’ve personally seen before. Of course there’s the cruel blatant xenophobia, condescending white savior racism of American “allies”, white supremacist riots, legal injustice in excess, and an abundance of exploitation and severely underpaid, life-threatening working conditions in many of the jobs to be had. However, besides these expected horrors, the author uses her characters to explore the challenges that were to be had on a deeper level - the existential crises, questions of identity, and the searching for greater meaning while trying to survive in a land that seemed hellbent on rejecting them at every turn. And as a result, she also ends up revealing something that few of us probably think about or realize - the incredible resilience that they must have possessed in order to not just merely survive, but to also find both belonging and a sense of purpose as they struggled to build actual lives.

Once it’s published and more widely available, I look forward to recommending “Straw Dogs of the Universe'' to others in need of their next book to tackle. This not only shines another much, much, much-needed light on a part of American history that still feels inexplicably and horribly overlooked, but it strikes that fine balance between gut-wrenching and hopeful, making it one of my most memorable and favorite reads of the year so far.