Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

[Anonymous]

The plot was silly and the characters had no life (and SO MUCH exposition), but occasionally, her language still sings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After The Bad Art Friend debacle, I will never buy a book of hers again. She is the ultimate mean girl, and continues to be rewarded despite the fact, even by the likes of Reese Witherspoon. Reese champions women, but then supports Celeste who tried to help ruin a woman's career. It reminds me of all the posts saying the mean girls will eventually fall..."nope."

yep yep yep

i'm not saying i will NEVER read a book of hers but that whole bad art friend thing really really left a bad taste - and gives me the teeniest bit of schadenfreude, hearing when someone doesn't like this book

look it's still a bestseller. but still.

[Anonymous]

I feel like at some point the powers that he got together and decided that women like Chardonnay, shoes, and rote literature with manufactured drama between women. I don’t care for any of it. I’ve basically stopped reading because it is so hard to find fiction that I’m not incredibly irritated by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like at some point the powers that he got together and decided that women like Chardonnay, shoes, and rote literature with manufactured drama between women. I don’t care for any of it. I’ve basically stopped reading because it is so hard to find fiction that I’m not incredibly irritated by.

Same. I still find plenty of writers I like, but I steer clear of young writers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like at some point the powers that he got together and decided that women like Chardonnay, shoes, and rote literature with manufactured drama between women. I don’t care for any of it. I’ve basically stopped reading because it is so hard to find fiction that I’m not incredibly irritated by.

Lauren Groff, Jennifer Egan,Madeline Miller, Emily St. John Mandel, Sara Gran… All interesting, ambitious books; certainly not rote!

Just read this debut novel by a young author - so strange, brilliant and opposite of Chandonnay/shoes (18 year old female narrator goes to remote Alaska in search of ‘sleaze’)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58537060

[Anonymous]

I hadn’t realized/remembered that Ng was part of the Bad Art Friend thing!

So there. Another reason I am not going to read more of her write-by-numbers books!

But just judging it by its merits, it left me cold. The characters felt thin and predictable, the plot was easy to see coming, and it felt somehow too timely. Like, too political or something. Hitting me over the head with it all.

[Anonymous]

Did not care for this at all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like at some point the powers that he got together and decided that women like Chardonnay, shoes, and rote literature with manufactured drama between women. I don’t care for any of it. I’ve basically stopped reading because it is so hard to find fiction that I’m not incredibly irritated by.

Lauren Groff, Jennifer Egan,Madeline Miller, Emily St. John Mandel, Sara Gran… All interesting, ambitious books; certainly not rote!

Just read this debut novel by a young author - so strange, brilliant and opposite of Chandonnay/shoes (18 year old female narrator goes to remote Alaska in search of ‘sleaze’)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58537060

This looks great - thank you!

And I so agree about Groff, Egan, Miller etc. So much interesting and original writing out there that does not involve cliche suburban mom drama or hater-to-lovers rom-com silliness. Keep those recommendations coming!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like at some point the powers that he got together and decided that women like Chardonnay, shoes, and rote literature with manufactured drama between women. I don’t care for any of it. I’ve basically stopped reading because it is so hard to find fiction that I’m not incredibly irritated by.

Lauren Groff, Jennifer Egan,Madeline Miller, Emily St. John Mandel, Sara Gran… All interesting, ambitious books; certainly not rote!

Just read this debut novel by a young author - so strange, brilliant and opposite of Chandonnay/shoes (18 year old female narrator goes to remote Alaska in search of ‘sleaze’)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58537060

This looks great - thank you!

And I so agree about Groff, Egan, Miller etc. So much interesting and original writing out there that does not involve cliche suburban mom drama or hater-to-lovers rom-com silliness. Keep those recommendations coming!

NP. Do you like Margaret Atwood? I loved Cats Eye, Alias Grace.
I like Jhumpa Lahiri, Donna Tartt. Some of my favorite authors are men too.

[Anonymous]

Here are some of my favorite authors writing right now: (I agree Celeste Ng is meh)

Hilary Mantel (yes, she sadly just passed away)
Kate Atkinson
Eleanor Catton
Eowyn Ivey
Marilynne Robinson
Hannah Tinti
Chimamanda Adichie
Margaret Atwood
Madeline Miller
Esther Freud
Siri Hustvedt
Ottessa Moshfegh
Charlotte McConaghy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After The Bad Art Friend debacle, I will never buy a book of hers again. She is the ultimate mean girl, and continues to be rewarded despite the fact, even by the likes of Reese Witherspoon. Reese champions women, but then supports Celeste who tried to help ruin a woman's career. It reminds me of all the posts saying the mean girls will eventually fall..."nope."

Same here. Lost all respect for her based on the way she handled that (both the back story and the way she doubled down when the story went public.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After The Bad Art Friend debacle, I will never buy a book of hers again. She is the ultimate mean girl, and continues to be rewarded despite the fact, even by the likes of Reese Witherspoon. Reese champions women, but then supports Celeste who tried to help ruin a woman's career. It reminds me of all the posts saying the mean girls will eventually fall..."nope."

Same here. Lost all respect for her based on the way she handled that (both the back story and the way she doubled down when the story went public.)

I'm the pp you quoted, and your comment made me realize that if an author misses their own character arc (i.e. shows no growth), they are bound to write flat characters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After The Bad Art Friend debacle, I will never buy a book of hers again. She is the ultimate mean girl, and continues to be rewarded despite the fact, even by the likes of Reese Witherspoon. Reese champions women, but then supports Celeste who tried to help ruin a woman's career. It reminds me of all the posts saying the mean girls will eventually fall..."nope."

Agreed. She's quite problematic. (And I don't really like her books, anyway.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After The Bad Art Friend debacle, I will never buy a book of hers again. She is the ultimate mean girl, and continues to be rewarded despite the fact, even by the likes of Reese Witherspoon. Reese champions women, but then supports Celeste who tried to help ruin a woman's career. It reminds me of all the posts saying the mean girls will eventually fall..."nope."

Same here. Lost all respect for her based on the way she handled that (both the back story and the way she doubled down when the story went public.)

I'm the pp you quoted, and your comment made me realize that if an author misses their own character arc (i.e. shows no growth), they are bound to write flat characters.

So true. Great observation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After The Bad Art Friend debacle, I will never buy a book of hers again. She is the ultimate mean girl, and continues to be rewarded despite the fact, even by the likes of Reese Witherspoon. Reese champions women, but then supports Celeste who tried to help ruin a woman's career. It reminds me of all the posts saying the mean girls will eventually fall..."nope."

Same here. Lost all respect for her based on the way she handled that (both the back story and the way she doubled down when the story went public.)

I'm the pp you quoted, and your comment made me realize that if an author misses their own character arc (i.e. shows no growth), they are bound to write flat characters.

Just like in Little Fires Everywhere.