This was a hard and easy read at the same time, if that makes sense. Mei is a Chinese American Ivy league dropout working as an "off the books" driver, whose clients need discreet transportation. On one gig, she drives a very handsome Henry, who has no hurry to reach Syracuse, New York from Oakland, California, never being apart from a large suitcase he refuses to put in the car trunk.

I found the plot interesting but I felt the execution was not detailed enough, which left me very confused. There is a very important political issue that for sure needs attention but I struggled to make sense of on this book. At the same time, I found Mei's family story very interesting, that and the romance subplot were the two things that kept me engaged.

It was not terrible, just confusing at times. There are also a lot of dialogues in Mandarin that go untranslated but sometimes could be understood by the context of the story.

Soma Mei Sheng Frazier’s debut novel, Off the Books, is a compelling and deeply insightful exploration of identity, family, and personal growth. The story follows Mĕi L. Brown, a 24-year-old who, after a family tragedy, decides to leave Dartmouth and work as a private chauffeur providing "off the books" services. With guidance from her 86-year-old grandfather, Lǎoyé, who’s fascinated by American history, Mĕi embarks on a journey of self-discovery while navigating the complexities of her Chinese American heritage.

Frazier’s narrative beautifully combines personal experience with a larger commentary on cultural and political struggles, particularly highlighting the challenges faced by the Chinese American and Uyghur communities. The novel offers a heartfelt portrayal of family dynamics, personal identity, and the tension between societal expectations and self-expression.

Critics have praised the novel for its rich storytelling, wit, and emotional depth. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it "smart and hugely entertaining," with a perfect blend of family portraiture, humor, and high stakes.

Off the Books is a must-read for anyone interested in stories that offer a fresh perspective on identity, heritage, and the road to personal fulfillment.

“Off The Books” by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier - 4 stars - Out Now

Mei is in a no-Man’s land of grief and rejection. In this space, her grandfather gives her a car and an illicit business model that gives her the wide open spaces to reflect on her life, her new <crush?>, and her awakening to the world outside of her heads-down recent trauma.

What I loved: The stream of consciousness that Mei wanders through during her literal travel is exquisitely written and the craft required to coherently string together present day action, with reflective internal memories is tremendous. The characters of Mei, Henry, Anna, and Mei’s mother and grandfather could step off the page, and the descriptive language used to detail place and experiences is perfect.

Opportunities: I can think of nothing that would make this any better, except maybe a translation asterisk add-in for all the Mandarin. There were good chunks of Mandarin that I could not understand or even hear in my head as I read. But Mei too had little Mandarin so perhaps it was a clever way to make the reader more aware of Mei’s limitations and experiences.

As always, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co for the opportunity to read and provide an unpaid review of this excellent book. #offthebooks

I loved this story and was immediately sucked into it off the bat. I feel like the climax happened too soon and the denouement was longer than it needed to be. But I loved Mei, Henry, Anna, laoye, and Mei’s mom all very very much. Mei’s character dev and relationship with her fam were my highlights of the book.

A compelling and thought provoking debut novel. The writing is crisp and engaging with moments of humor and emotion. There are twists along the way, making it an entertaining read, and Mei an interesting character.
Many thanks to Henry Holt & Company and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

It was okay. Not what I was expecting sadly. Well-written but just not my personal cup of tea. I thought it would be more light hearted but it was more serious and not what I was looking for at the time.

It's not often you get humor in a suspense novel but this book had some which I definitely enjoyed. This was an interesting read, following the main character's adventures and encounters on her road trip. It was an interesting concept and I in particular liked her flashbacks to her life growing up with her Mom and Dad.

In our troubled times, it's refreshing and needed to have those books that renew our belief in the goodness of people, and Off the Books does just that. As a fan and avid reader of Great American road-trip novels, this enthralling debut is beautifully crafted twist on the subject and truly one of the best books I read all summer! It's a perfect balance between scathing, sarcastic humor and skilled social commentary.

I was so looking forward to this one, as I do with any novel that features a white/Asian protagonist (#representation, dontcha know?). The way the book is pitched as a mystery, with FMC Mei needing to suss out her limo passenger Henry’s deal as they drive across the country. With a romance hinted as well, what’s not to like?

Let’s start with the aspects that I did, in fact, love. Mei was a super quirky unique character. I adored her relationship with her grandfather, and every scene featuring the two of them was heartwarming and amusing. I also loved the frequent usage of Mandarin, left to be untranslated and normalized within the narrative. More of that cultural inclusion of novels in the future, PLEASE. I also truly admired the political commentary of the Uyghurs in China, as it is something often siloed in silence, and I respected the author immensely for clearly prioritizing this spotlight.

Here’s where parts of the novel went wrong for me: the ratio of the political content far outweighed the general plot of the story, to the point where it began to feel far more heavy-handed, to the point where I wished the author had just committed to that storyline as the CENTER of the plot, and didn’t try to keep forcing it in through the side. Also, the “surprise!” of what was in Henry’s oversized suitcase was not believable and felt outlandish for the serious tone the author was attempting to achieve. Lastly, the oscillating between flashbacks and the present was really distracting, and felt like it tugged away from the central narrative. At times, with scenes featuring the grandfather, I appreciated them, but they became overloaded at random times and I struggled to switch my mind between the two parallel timelines of past and present.

On the whole, the book is well-written with some beautiful writing, but it seems to be trying to do too much in 300 pages, and the novel gets clunky and a bit chaotic in its jumping focus from page to page. I give it 2.5⭐, rounded up to 3 on Goodreads.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

this was an impressive debut, but i feel it tried to do too much in a short amount of time. it's only 224 pages long, but it has 4-5 plots going on at any given time, and i felt confused a lot of the time.

Henry has baggage.

The start of the book, when we meet the mysterious Henry and his extra large suitcase, reminded me of Lone Woman. So much suspense and wonder about the contents of the case these characters are lugging around. And why is he so secretive about his suitcase?

This book is more than a mystery, love story, or summer road trip escapism, it's a vehicle for learning about the humanitarian crisis in China, which plays significantly in the story.

And you should 100% read it for Mei's grandfather.

Thanks to Henry Holt and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

What a fascinating story of a college drop out driving a man and a mysterious suitcase across the US! The characters were so interesting and I appreciated the author's attention both to the experience of Chinese persons in the US, as well as Uyghars in both China and the US. I loved how the author set up the story, dropping bits of backstory until we have a clearer picture of what motivates Mei and Henry on their road trip. I look forward to more novels from Frazier!

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for an ARC of this book! Off the Books by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier was a fun read that kept me interested all the way through!

What I liked - Soma Mei Sheng Frazier did a great job telling a story that slowly unfurls. The revelations about a family members untimely death really pulled at my heartstrings. This story did a great job evoking strong emotions. The characters in this story are diverse, and by the end of the story Mei’s grandfather was my favorite.

What I disliked - it’s interesting to me that this story did such a great job discussing tough topics, yet when it came to Mei I found her childish or immature. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but at times I couldn’t stand Mei’s line of thinking!

Ultimately I would recommend this book, especially for someone in the mood for a story revolving around a road trip.

I always enjoy a book that draws me in and also encourages me to expand my knowledge base of other cultures. Off The Books does both. The characters are extremely interesting and getting to know them, and their relationships was captivating. They mystery aspect had me hooked immediately. Thanks #NetGalley

I thought this book was going to be a thriller kind of book, but it ended up being far more serious and political than I expected. I kind of see why the book was marketed as a mystery/roadtrip thriller, but it was a lot more intense than that in a different way. I wouldn't want to spoil the main themes of this book to people. The prose was good, easy to read, but sometimes it was hard to follow along because the narration weaves in and out of the present events and memories. There was a lot of Chinese in the book that is easy to infer the meaning of based on the rest of the text, but it was distracting at times. It felt like the author had a lot to say, but the characters fell flat at moments. Like Mei wasn't necessarily a compelling character and not particularly likable, but I still did root for her. I think her grandfather, mother, and Anna were the most interesting characters in the book. Henry simply felt like a prop rather than a fleshed out characters. Things felt like they were told instead of felt, and a lot of the messages felt very on the nose instead of eased in. I thought this book was going to be a pleasant, fun read but instead it turned out to be a bit of a humanitarian thriller. The book could use a different kind of marketing to find the right audience. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy for review!

What an interesting read. Dartmouth dropout turned driver to unquestionable passengers, Mei goes on a roadtrip filled with adventures and mysteries. While transporting a passenger with mysterious contents in his suitcase, Mei takes us on a cross country trip filled with history lessons and flashbacks to her life with her mom and dad. Interesting concept of story telling.

Thank you Henry Holt for the free review copy! I loved Off the Books, it was an unexpectedly great coming of age road trip story, one that wove in wonderful depth and richness with cultural themes and themes on Asian and Asian American identity as the story developed. I loved getting to see how Mei and Henry got to know each other along with learning more about Mei, her character. The use of the road trip here was a powerful device to help literally (sorry) see how the self growth moved forward and how their connection and understanding of each other, how the story became one of doing the right thing, emerged as the miles and hotel rooms passed by. This is a quick and delightful read, one that I think would be great for a bookclub looking for a thoughtful coming of age story. I read this in a few hours as I got drawn in to the writing quickly (and the book was wonderfully short but satisfying).

I also think this is a perfect read for anyone with one of those long airport layovers or long flights, captured my attention nicely and was quick enough to feel happy to have marked a book off the TBR at the end of a trip. :)

Off-beat and vivid, OFF THE BOOKS by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier drew me in with a culture, environment, and way of life I do not know, but feel as if I have been graced a rare and wonderful understanding through her story. The sense of place is particularly powerful, transporting me from my armchair into a story that is powerful, fascinating, and so well done. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I found this book really interesting! Měi is a limo driver known for her discretion, so her grandfather sets her up with a passenger to take all the way to Syracuse without much detail. Along the way, some secrets are revealed and her trip becomes more of a mission. The author also brings in what is happening with the Uyghur group in China, which I hadn’t heard of before reading this book.

I did find myself rereading a couple times because the switch to talking to her mom messed me up a couple times where I wasn’t sure if she was on the phone or if it was a flashback, so I wish that was a little clearer. And then I didn’t quite understand the ending so I’m still lost! I also wish there were translations in the book because Měi and Anna have conversations that I sadly can’t understand.

Would recommend. I will be looking for other books from this author in the future.