Loved the premise of this book. Who wouldn't like to find a cafe where you can come and find someone to listen to you and enjoy some good food. I was less taken with some of the family dynamics and dysfunction that occurred outside of the cafe concept. I was expecting a little bit more. I will keep an eye out for other books by this author. For me, her books almost satisfy, but not quite.

3.5 Stars

First of all- love the colorful cover! The book begins with the main character Joan who was born in China, but is now a college student at Stanford in California. The beginning of the book "popped" for me with a first marriage and a riveting incident that took place in a video store. The rest of the book settled in for a "quiet read" where Joan's life pleasantly unfolded into a second marriage with a much older man of means, living in a lovely, expansive home. It wasn't until much later in the book that the so called "Satisfaction Cafe" appeared. I thought this business concept was financially untenable; the idea of hiring hosts that could sit and have conversations with you while you had a slice of lemon cake. It's a cute and therapeutic idea, but the black and white way I look at things made me cynical that such a business could prosper. Call me "devil's advocate", but I think it would have been very interesting to explore what was happening during the video store incident that exploded at the beginning of the book. This was an OK read that went a little off the rails at the end.

Thank you to the publisher Scribner for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

In 1973, Joan Liang left Taiwan with the hope of a more fulfilling life in the United States. She moved to Palo Alto, California, and attended Stanford University. By 1975, she is married to fellow Chinese student Milton Liu, but she quickly realizes this was a huge mistake and moves on. She soon meets and marries Bill Lauder, a wealthy, older white man, and moves into his huge home, Falling House. She is Bill's fourth wife. While she loves Bill, she must adjust to his life, which includes his siblings, grown children, and busy social life, where she is the only Asian spouse. Motherhood follows as Joan dreams of running a café. Life continues, with its ups and downs. When Joan eventually opens the Satisfaction Café, she finds satisfaction of her own by creating a unique experience where people can truly connect.

Kathy Wang's The Satisfaction Café is Joan's search for meaning in her life. There are many interesting characters in this quiet book. They are all seeking fulfillment, with varied success. Life is bittersweet for us all. There's no getting around it. I enjoyed Joan's journey.

And what a beautiful cover!

4.25 stars.

I thought this novel was very well-written and provided a nuanced portrait of a woman over her lifetime. I liked the asides with the commentary about her situation from different perspectives (like Bill's children) and I thought Joan grew significantly over the course of the novel.

The first half of the book was just okay, but it doesn’t really get into the actual plot until around 75% in. By then, I found it hard to stay interested. The pacing felt off, and unfortunately, the ending really didn’t work for me. Disappointed overall, though the premise had potential.

I chose to read The Satisfaction Cafe because it was compared to being similar to Hello. Beautiful & Pineapple Street. It actually made me think of The Measure, but without the red strings. The book spans several decades from before Joan gives birth to Jamie all the way through her life in middle aged. The book shows how "time is truly unstoppable." The character development is fantastic. The book will make excellent dialogue and discussion for book clubs. Among the food for thought are the following ideas:

"Happiness was only a concept. A clever slippery creature that slips through your hands right at the moment when you think you've finally caught it."

Joan "understood a person couldn't have everything they wanted without trade-offs.."

Most people are more male than the opportunities they were presented with.

I found the book very absorbing and will def read more books by this talented author.

An interesting but excruciatingly slow book to reach the satisfaction opportunity for the heroine. I enjoyed reading about the various cultures and California life during the era. Please see reviews as other readers thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the opportunity to read this ARC.

“Sometimes we cry and have no idea why.”

I tend to be quick to write a review once I’ve finished a book but after finishing The Satisfaction Cafe I wanted to sit with my thoughts for a bit. Kathy Wang crafted a story that has me reflecting on my own life, the people in it and whether or not I’m satisfied.

“…happiness was only a concept, anyways: a clever, slippery creature that slips through your hands right at the moment when you think you’ve finally caught it.”

This is a story about Joan and her life she has created after moving to California from Taiwan. Her marriages, in-laws, step children and her own children all play a major role in her life at times joyful and others devastating. She poses the questions about satisfaction and can anyone feel truly satisfied.

“Sometimes there were people like this who might be a part of your life, who you wished could be a bigger part-but it wasn't meant to be, and you had only that limited share.”

I’m in a bit of awww how I journeyed through Joan’s life in 352 pages. I felt connected to not only her but other characters… Lee, Ellison, Misty, Nelson… just to name a few. I think it’s important to note… Yes the cover is stunning and bright, bold and beautiful… but this story is heartbreak with redemption written all over it. There is a Part… I believe it was Part 2… I sat up in bed and would not go to sleep til I reached Part 3. A bit of a pager turner. Yet quiet and reflective. This would make for a wonderful Bookclub pick. A book that feels inspiring and begging to be discussed.

Thank you Scribner
Releases 7/1

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The Satisfaction Cafe is a quiet and deep book that will stick with the reader for days and weeks. Joan and the life she's built for herself and her family is powerful and heartbreaking all at the same time, and I found myself wanting to walk into the doors of the Satisfaction Cafe.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved this - a beautiful story following the life of an ordinary woman as she moves into rebelling from the life she was born into as an immigrant from Taiwan, to Stanford for grad school, to an early failed marriage to another Taiwanese grad student, to being the second wife of a wealthy Silicon Valley CEO, always being a wife and a mother. There’s the exterior life of in the facts on paper - this was a beautiful exploration of the inner life of a woman developing over her lifetime into a beautiful life. Beautiful and sad - bittersweet.

From the title and the synopsis, I expected Kathy Wang's The Satisfaction Cafe to be about just that--a café where patrons can sit down, enjoy some sweets or Chinese dishes, and engage their choice of disparate hosts in a satisfying conversation. I found that premise fascinating, but unfortunately, it didn't come to fruition until the book was about 70% complete.

Mostly the story is a character study of Joan, who moves from Taiwan to California to attend grad school at Stanford. She has a brief first marriage, then a much longer one with a much older man, has a son and adopts a daughter. Her story is told in third-person narrative in a matter-of-fact style, and the same is true for her children and other characters. Even the moments that should be the most emotional didn't elicit any emotion from me.

I think the author missed an opportunity to expand on the Satisfaction Cafe idea and explore the lives and desires of the panoply of subordinate characters who seek fulfillment there. Sadly, this book just wasn't for me.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

I was invested in what was happening with Joan as a main character, it was everything that I was looking for and was engaged from start to finish. The plot was everything that I was wanting from the genre and the found family element in this book. The characters were realistic and had that feel that worked overall in this universe. I thought Kathy Wang wrote this well and was excited for more.

very well written story that is quietly moving and very realistic. felt like an actual life. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

An interesting look at loneliness and the search for belonging across a lifetime, and the way one can create the spaces we want to see exist.

This is a quiet, lovely book that started out with focusing on family and wealth and what it meant to enter a family as a third wife when your husband already has grown children. And there were bits that made me mad when she didn't stand up for herself and bit that made me feel devastated.

But then the book moved to being about community, creating your own community and the loneliness so many of us carry in so many ways and how we can help each other and how most of us just need to talk to someone.

It was a warm and surprising book and I really enjoyed my time with it.

with gratitude to netgalley and Scribner for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I adored the writing and the understated glimpse into the lives of the many surrounding characters were uniquely captivating. This was a family drama I could not put down and I could not help but root for and (ugly) cry for Joan and all the important people in her life!

Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader!

Thank you to the publisher (Simon & Schuster) and the author for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy!

I am a sucker for a good family drama, so I was excited to dive in here. I loved the writing here - so bold and descriptive without being boring.

Joan was a very real character in my mind. I liked her, Lee and Jamie’s contradictions as that made them more real. I wanted them to be a closer family the whole time, but I also know that culture was a huge theme here and really shone in Joan’s parenting and how her children made decisions.

I will probably always wonder if Lee and Jamie turned out okay, and if they are happy. I think that's a sign that the characters were well developed. They certainly made a mark.

As the title suggests, The Satisfaction Cafe leaves readers with a quiet sense of fulfillment. This deeply human character study follows June, a young Taiwanese immigrant navigating life from her days at Stanford University through the many seasons of adulthood. Along the way, we also come to know her children, Jamie and Lee, whose stories unfold with just as much tenderness and complexity.

What makes this novel so compelling isn’t grand plot twists, but the richness of everyday moments. It’s incredibly easy to become invested in the lives of these characters—their choices, their struggles, and their quiet victories. As the final pages draw near, readers are left contemplating a simple yet profound question: What do people really need?

With its thoughtful exploration of human connection and personal satisfaction, this book surprises in the most unexpected ways. It’s a poignant, emotionally resonant read that lingers long after the final page, leaving a soft ache of sadness and ultimately a sense of peace.

Thank you to Scribner for providing a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 30%; I enjoy Kathy Wang's writing and my experience with Impostor Syndrome made me stick with this longer than I should have. The tone is not what I was hoping for.

Although the writing style is somewhat detached and lacks emotion, I nonetheless found THE SATISFACTION CAFE to be an enjoyable read. Joan's character is not immediately relatable, but she definitely grew on me. The long flashbacks to her former life could have been shortened to improve the pacing. I became frustrated with Joan as she continued to let her stepson and others walk all over her. This could be due to cultural differences between myself and the character/author. I tried to keep an open mind as Joan struggles through life's misfortunes and I found the overall reading experience to be extremely rewarding.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.