What a brilliant debut novel. It’s so well crafted, with such insight and depth. I can’t wait to see what comes from this author in the future.

Genevieve Yang Su Qi is the determined, resilient, intelligent daughter of Su Yang and Wei Ming. It seems the world is waiting for her, all things possible. Then, her cousin, Arin Yan Yan Mei, joins their family, adopted when her family could no longer afford to keep her. Raised as sisters, Genevieve fills the role of older sister well, but for all her efforts, she gets pushed back by her parents, her school, and life. Genevieve faces one difficulty after another, and she has no idea how to deal with them. Even when she leaves the country to accept a job promising a big future, things go terribly wrong. When her mother develops breast cancer, she is determined to be the only one there to help her mother.

Arin is a quiet child. She doesn’t deal well with being abandoned by her parents. She’s intelligent, but nearly as smart as Genevieve. Still, people like her and good things continually come her way. She wins school awards, and she will eventually go on to become a Hollywood movie star. She’s willing to work for what she wants, and she has the ability to charm people into helping her.

This was an excellent read, and I could empathize with these young women. This is a story of family, adoption, marital infidelity, marital separation, death, and abandonment. It’s also about unexpected failure, jealousy, betrayal, mental health, assault, and unfulfilled potential. The characters are what makes this story sing, and the writing is spectacular.

I highly recommend this book.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

"Any strong stance was bound to attract disagreement, any success bound to attract jealousy."

Wow. I’ll definitely be looking forward to reading more from Jemimah Wei in the future. This book was truly beautiful.
I loved how the story moved between timelines. It began in the present and took us through the past until both timelines met. From the very beginning, I was fully invested in Genevieve’s family and their dynamic.
While the pacing slowed a bit in the middle, I found myself wishing we had gotten Arin and Su’s perspectives. I think their POV's would have added even more emotional depth to the story. The writing was stunning, though at times it became repetitive, especially when focusing on Genevieve’s academic rise and fall and her plummeting sense of self-worth. Genevieve’s self-destructive behavior, bitterness, and jealousy made her difficult to connect with emotionally.
My heart truly broke for her parents, who worked themselves to the bone to give their children a better life and to treat them equally. Su, in particular, moved from job to job, doing everything she could to ensure her children had opportunities she never did. The ending left me heartbroken and completely devastated.
For readers looking for a character-driven story that explores ambition and familial obligation, I highly recommend this book.

🅁🄰🅃🄸🄽🄶 : 4

🄵🄾🅁 🅁🄴🄰🄳🄴🅁🅂 🅆🄷🄾 🄻🄸🄺🄴

☆  Contemporary Fiction
☆  Sibling Rivalry
☆  Character Driven
☆  Found Family
☆  Cultural Expectations

🄵🄰🅅🄾🅁🄸🅃🄴 🅂🄲🄴🄽🄴

Genevieve has accepted a job in New Zealand and asks her father why neither he nor her mother have tried to convince her to stay. He explains:

"Su didn't stop you because she doesn't want to be a burden to you ... The best thing she thinks she can do for you is get out of your way."

But on the night before her flight, her mom finally speaks up:

"How can I stop you when this is all my life is? I understand what you're saying Gen, but forgive me, I still have to try. So what if you're not extraordinary to everybody else? Is it not enough to be special to me?"

🄵🄰🅅🄾🅁🄸🅃🄴 🅀🅄🄾🅃🄴

"I could not endure imperfection, and they could. It wasn't because I was better, or superior. It was simply because they could afford negligence."

"You and I have different ideas about what it means to be successful; for me, it's not having to struggle to death every day."

"The body registers before the heart understands."

✨️ Thank you so much to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the advanced copy of this incredible book in exchange for an honest review.

The Original Daughter tells the story of two girls-one, born into her family, the other, adopted into the family in sort of traumatic circumstances, and how the original daughter faces life with this sibling addition. And phew, she does not really handle it well. But the story is so well done, because though the original daughter can be SO terrible, you can understand where she's coming from and how she got there. How would you react to her life? I appreciate when a book forces you to question yourself and examine your reactions-sure, you may not agree with what the main character does, but can you fully blame her? And if you can blame her, can you still understand?

This is a heavily character-driven story, and with short chapters, it flows super quickly. It took me a while to read purely because it is kind of heavy, mentally, but I really enjoyed it.

In conclusion, really liked!

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for the e-ARC!

A sister story that is both intimate and personal and yet sweeping and historical, The Original Daughter follows two women from childhood to adulthood. The story begins in 1996 Singapore as Gen, who is eight, is introduced to her new younger sister Arin, part of a secret second family her grandfather kept hidden in Malaysia. Their relationship is an interesting and rocky one, ranging from love to bitter rivalry. After that, the two sisters take very different paths, to be reluctantly reunited in 2015.

It was interesting to see all this through narrator Gen's eyes. She's a sympathetic but often frustrating character. But I really enjoyed this story of love, resentment, ambition, estrangement and reluctant reconciliation.

“Many people go their whole lives not quite believing it is theirs, feeling out of sorts in their body, convinced real life lies just beyond their grasp.”

I haven’t heard anyone talk about this book yet but it was recommended by Roxane Gay so was an easy choice to pick it up. And couldn’t be happier that I did.

Five stars. Please check content warnings.

If you love to read about sisters this book is for you! Fun read and going straight on display.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I didn’t dislike this one at all, but I also found myself ready for it to be over, which is not really a great thing in my reading world. Since I enjoyed the characters and some parts of the story, I still gave it an average rating. I enjoyed the narrator and the stories of her life and family and I feel it was well-written, but it did drag for me without a whole lot of stuff happening. I think this is a decent debut novel, maybe just not the best for me overall.

This book is a masterpiece, one of the best depictions of the complexities of parenthood and sisterhood that I’ve ever read. It paints the depth and breadth of human emotion, the desperation and deep scars of betrayal and abandonment, the cruelty that these scars engender but also the restorative power of love. Gen is a hard character to like but an easy one to understand. She is petty and cruel, deeply wounded and lonely, unfathomably insecure. She lashes out, treats the people who love her badly, and it is not until the very end that she understands that the reason she has felt free to push everyone away is because she never truly believed that they would leave her. The magic trick that Wei is able to pull off with such skill and nuance is that we deeply and truly understand where Gen is coming from every step of the way. We feel her deep hurt, her feeling of betrayal, her fear of being inconsequential, replaceable. We empathize with her paralyzing inability to overcome failure, perpetually underachieving and selling herself short. And we’re rooting for Gen to finally use her mother’s death as the wake up call she needs to stop muddling through life, nurturing and festering her old wounds, and find a way to start over. This book is powerful and insightful and beautifully written. Highly recommend.

While the novel’s pace is deliberately slow in places, allowing room for psychological complexity and emotional tension, some readers may find it emotionally heavy. But for those willing to engage deeply, The Original Daughter offers a resonant and rewarding reading experience.
The Original Daughter is a striking debut that balances poetic language with raw emotional truth. Jemimah Wei has delivered a novel that lingers long after the final page—I just struggled a little with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Enjoying new authors is always good and this book sounded promising, so I picked it up. It is Jemimah Wei's debut novel.

Description:
Before Arin, Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat in working-class Bedok, Genevieve is saddled with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead. As the two girls grow closer, they must navigate the intensity of life in a place where the urgent insistence on achievement demands constant sacrifice. Knowing that failure is not an option, the sisters learn to depend entirely on one another as they spurn outside friendships, leisure, and any semblance of a social life in pursuit of academic perfection and passage to a better future.

When a stinging betrayal violently estranges Genevieve and Arin, Genevieve must weigh the value of ambition versus familial love, home versus the outside world, and allegiance to herself versus allegiance to the people who made her who she is. In the story of a family and its contention with the roiling changes of our rapidly modernizing, winner-take-all world, The Original Daughter is a major literary debut, rife with emotional clarity and searing social insight.

My Thoughts:
The intensity and feeling of responsibility placed on these children was smothering and oppressive. I can't imagine growing up in such an environment. Also, it would be hard not to resent parent for taking in another child when they already have so little space and so little money. The bond between the children, Genevieve and Arin, grows strong, but the rivalry was just as strong and emotionally destructive. Wei deep dives into the characters and brings them to life - their hopes and dreams, and the hurdles in their lives. This is an emotional family drama.

Thanks to Doubleday Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Genevieve was an only child with her parents in Singapore, then Arin joined the family. Arin was the granddaughter of Genevieve’s grandfather’s other wife (a secret family they didn’t know about) and her parents couldn’t care for her. Genevieve’s mother welcomes Arin as if she was her own and the girls became very close. But after Arin betrays Genevieve they become estranged and Genevieve has to decide how and when to forgive and how strong their bond truly was.

I really did love this story; I enjoyed reading about the dynamics of the sisters both when they were together and apart. I am finding that family dramas really do appeal to me and this one was no exception. The weaving of the characters’ stories and their parents’ was done so well. Even though I didn’t really love either sister, I still became invested in their lives and relationships. There was one point in the story that I felt got a little slow and I didn’t enjoy as much, but it was short and the rest of the book made it worth it. The novel was chosen as the GMA read for this month and I can see why, this character driven debut is a definite read!

4.25 stars

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Any book that makes me feel the strong emotions that this has invoked is always five stars for me. I chuckled, cried, and felt so moved by this story.

The story is a bildungsroman of the protagonist, Genevieve Yang, and her sister Arin, from their childhood in Singapore in 1996 to their lives in 2015. The novel spends time in these different eras and jumps back and forward in different acts, maintaining some suspense about the events of the past, since it starts off with details about the sisters' enstrangement in the future. The plot is heartbreaking and believable, banal at times recounting daily happenstances, yet poignant.

Jemimah Wei is so talented at weaving the bittersweet banalities of life into a brilliant narrative. If I didn't know this was her debut novel, I wouldn't have believed it. This is prose and characterization reminiscent of Elena Ferrante, not a budding debut author. It's difficult to have a book have gripping plot without relying on some fantasy, sci-fi or mystery concept, and yet I was reading this compulsively, and was deeply affected by the ending.

Recommended to anyone who likes strong character-driven, women-led stories about identity rooted in family, community and loyalty to one another.

Thank you Netgalley and Doubleday books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Genevieve (Gen), her parents, and grandmother are all residing in a cramped flat in a Singaporean town when a shocking revelation comes to light in the form of a new sister, Arin. Despite being forced to live under one roof, the two girls gradually grow closer together in their pursuit of success until a painful betrayal drives them apart.

I thought this was a fairly well written story that delves into the pasts of Gen and Arin with a narrower focus on the present. I particularly liked that it primarily takes place in Singapore (and New Zealand to an extent), where class differences, academic pressure, and an evolving digital/media landscape can be seen shaping the sisters’ lives.

That being said, this is a highly character-driven book told from Gen’s POV, who is depicted as a flawed, selfish, and resentful individual. Arin isn’t wholly perfect either, but I struggled to emotionally connect to either them or to any other character for that matter. While the writing was poignant at times, I wish the author had opted for more showing than telling and included Arin’s perspective as well.

While not my favorite, I can see why this would be an appealing selection for book clubs. Read this debut if you enjoy narratives on the complexities of sisterhood, dysfunctional families, and ambition featuring unlikeable characters.

Thank you Netgalley and Doubleday Books for the eARC!

A gripping, intense story of a Singaporean working class family. In her debut novel, author Jemimah Wei depicts the life of Genevieve Yang Si Qi over the course of two decades, from her academic successes at primary school and introduction to her half-cousin, adopted sister, and best friend Arin Yang Yan Mei to her unexpected professional and personal struggles in her 20s. Wei covers a lot of issues and emotional territory—toxic family dynamics, abandonment, co-dependency, sexual assault, self-harm, and illness—while vividly describing characters and settings. Sometimes characters are unlikable and plot developments become unrelentingly grim, but overall 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 is a well-written and engrossing family drama and a window to another kind of life across the globe. Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The titular original daughter in Stegner Fellow Jemimah Wei’s remarkable debut novel is Genevieve Yang whose life is upended when a second daughter is unceremoniously dumped on the Yang family. Arin arrived in Singapore in 1996, when Gen was eight, “dropped into our lives fully formed, at age seven.” Gen’s grandmother learned that her husband, who had been politically “disappeared” and presumed dead when Gen’s father was a child, had actually been alive and well in Malaysia raising another family. He had just died, and his secret family could no longer afford his gaggle of grandchildren, so Gen’s family was taking in Arin, the youngest girl. Although the family was struggling — Gen’s father drove a cab and her mother, Su, worked in a library (although she later shows off her business acumen — and lacked space in their tiny public housing apartment, the Yangs tried their best to welcome the little girl.

A bereft Arin, who could not believe that her family had relinquished her with “such savage ease,” initially rejected Gen’s overtures of friendship. Yet, the girls eventually created an emotional connection so strong that they drew up and signed a “contract of sisterhood.” Gen excelled in school, routinely defending her position as top girl, and choosing the most difficult subjects to be even more impressive when she received straight As. While Gen “delighted in inflaming jealousy and embittering hearts,” Arin quietly won a prestigious reward for an essay that Gen claimed “air[ed] out our dirty laundry.”

Gen aced the O levels and had her pick of junior colleges, selecting the most rigorous. She then failed her A levels and her confidence flagged. Arin learned from Gen’s mistakes, selecting a different junior college, and acing the A levels. She was also a standout at acting, while Gen was toiling in an ice cream shop. Sibling rivalry was heightened because Gen was being surpassed by an “outsider.” Gen strikes out on her own, moving to Christchurch. Arin’s visit in the midst of shooting a film becomes the turning point in their relationship.

The reader knows from the opening of the book that the relationship between Gen and Arin fractured as the first paragraph states, “My sister and I hadn’t spoken for years, not since she first got famous, not even when my mother was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer a couple of years ago.” We also know that Arin was famous enough to be on the cover of Life magazine and to have her picture plastered on the side of a bus.

Wei masterfully creates family lore and microscopically explores the aspirations and hopes of these increasingly co-dependent, and then estranged, sisters. She sets her tale in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore, and meticulously crafts the social milieu in which her characters lived — the insistence on achievement, the shame of infidelity, the neighborhood that ran “smoothly on the currency of gossip,” the void deck aunties who are deeply hurt by Su’s admission that she was born to something better. An accomplished debut novel that is emotionally engaging and thoroughly absorbing. Thank you Doubleday and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this spectacular novel.

This review will be posted on BookwormishMe.com

Singapore may appear as a wealthy country, but for the working class there, not so much. Genevieve lives in a one bedroom flat that her grandmother purchased a very long time ago. Genevieve lives there with her parents and paternal grandmother. She shares the bedroom with her parents, while her grandmother lives behind a screen in the living room. It’s a tiny space for a lot of people.

Many years ago Genevieve’s grandfather disappeared. The assumption was that he was dead. Until he really dies, and the family finds out that he had a second family in Malaysia. Now this second family is providing Genevieve with a sister. Arin is one year younger than Genevieve and has no understanding of how her family could just give her up. With Genevieve’s persistence, they become inseparable.

Eventually the girls grow up. Their lives diverge. When one takes advantage of the other, a rift ensues and causes them to become estranged. Estranged to the point that the family might not survive this. Mistakes are made, and sometimes we can’t fix the problems we cause.

Great novel. Slow at times. Told from Genevieve’s point of view, sometimes it’s hard to like her. The characters are very in-depth and well structured. A beautifully written novel, I struggled through parts of it, but overall really enjoyed it. Especially learning about a culture so different from here in the US.


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I liked this book for several reasons. First, it showed a Singapore that I didn't know existed. Wei showed a side of Singapore that is rarely seen, but is the backbone of this young, successful country. They are good, hard-working people who want more for themselves and celebrate when one of them gets it. They are community. And then there's Gen and Arin. Gen loves playing big sister and helping Arin navigate her new surroundings. She delights in Arin's success until that success surpasses hers. Without that success, Gen has lost her self-identity and she struggles to reclaim it. But everything she tries seems to fail, often due to her own self-inflicted wounds. For me, that's success in a character, someone one you really dislike, but want to help. She's is so frustrating, so easily derailed by a less than perfect outcome. I empathized with her, but also just wanted to shake her and say, "Get Over It!"
In the end the book is about family love, betrayal and loyalty. Great debut!

“The Original Daughter,” by Jemimah Wei, Doubleday, 368 pages, May 6, 2025.

Genevieve Yang, 9, is an only child. Genevieve, her parents and her grandmother live in a single-room flat in working-class Singapore. Her father is a taxi driver. Their hopes for the future are pinned on Genevieve's academic promise.

Then it is revealed that her grandfather, long believed dead, had a secret family and has since died. They are living in poverty, so his daughter, Arin, comes to live with them.

Told primarily in a flashback, Genevieve becomes completely unhinged with jealously and resentment since as "the original daughter" she believes she is entitled to everything. Her psychological issues result in self-destructive behavior. Arin grows up to be a famous actress. Genevieve thinks her most important thing is her independence from Arin.

Genevieve moves to New Zealand and refuses to speak to family members for months. When she visits friends after an earthquake damages their property, she tries to bring pity on herself because she is so self-centered. Then she returns to Singapore.

When her mother is dying of cancer, she wants Genevieve to call Arin because she wants to see her again. Genevieve refuses. She spent most of her adult life trying to divorce herself from Arin and isn’t about to reconcile now.

I was put off by Genevieve’s extreme self-centeredness and total lack of empathy. Genevieve sees everything through the lens of “poor Genevieve.” She is a really unsympathetic character.

I rate it three out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei is a captivating story that delves into the complex dynamics of family relationships. This epic saga explores themes of redefining family bonds, abandonment, estrangement, resentment, guilt, and the dysfunctional yet unbreakable bond between sisters. From the very first page, I was drawn into the intricate web of emotions and experiences that the characters navigate throughout the years.

This is a book about sisters, about Singaporean culture, about growing up together and growing apart, and so much more. I ached with the pains the characters felt, and I hoped along with them through trials. Jemimah Wei has written a phenomenal novel about two sisters (by choice, truly, not by birth) who mean everything to each other. They cling together despite mistakes each one makes until one that threatens to tear them apart forever, and perhaps the only thing that could ever bring them back together is realizing they've lost an irreplaceable amount of time together. I look forward to reading Wei's next book.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and Jemimah Wei for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.