I like the cover and its incorporation of many outlines of China. The author's writing style was a little offsetting at first, as it is mostly short sentences and not very elegant. As I read on and learned more about the main character, I began to realize this writing style is perfect for the character's personality and makes the whole story more real and jarring. I believe this book is a collection of many stories and we were only able to read the first, but I am so interested to read the rest of the book. Te-Ping Chin is certainly using realism to weave a jarring picture of China that can't help but feel in your soul as the truth.