I loved the premise of this novel, and the cast of characters (as well as the shifting POVs) and the way it moves through time. It didn't hold my attention quite as much as I would have liked it to, so I had to push a bit to stick with it and reach the final pages.

I received this book as an ARC on Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my very own. This book really hit close to home for me. Also being a first generation born and raised in the U.S. this book resonates the hopes and dreams an Asian parent bestows on their child and the pressures one may feel not to be a "bad Asian". This group of friends going through life trying to discover who they really are outside their parents wishes is a fascinating one. I loved how the book thoroughly went through each characters' stories because you become invested in what is going to happen to them next. I also love at how the end you get to learn more about the parents and their backstories. Even if you are not of Asian decent, I feel like we can all relate to not wanting to disappoint our families. This book will make you feel all of that.

Bad Asians by Lillian Li is a sharp, emotionally layered portrait of identity, ambition, and what it means to be a “good” child in the eyes of immigrant parents—especially when the economy is collapsing and your twenties feel like a string of missteps.

Meet Diana, Justin, Errol, and Vivian—four Chinese American friends trying to stay afloat in the wake of the Great Recession. To their parents, they’re not thriving.

When Grace—the one everyone held up as the example—drops out of Harvard Law to make a documentary, they welcome her back into their circle. But as she turns her camera on them, their private vent sessions become public narrative. When the footage becomes “Bad Asians”, a viral sensation, the fallout forces each of them to reckon with who they are, who they’ve let themselves become, and the weight of community expectations.

This novel isn’t a comedy, though it has biting moments of irony. It's a ideal meditation on exploration of:
Performative identity, internalized cultural pressure and friendship, and failure
#BadAsians #LillianLi #HenryHolt #AsianAmericanFiction #MillennialLiterature #IdentityAndBelonging