I enjoyed the historical fiction aspect of this. The experience of picture brides--what led them to make that decision, and how some of them ended up getting a low-tech version of catfished--was really interesting to learn about. I also enjoyed learning about this perspective of the fight for Korean independence. I had no idea how much the different factions played out in Hawaii, and what that did to communities and families.
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However, and I seem to be in the minority here, I didn't really like the rest of the story at all. I found myself completely unconnected to Willow and her plight, and it's written as a series of things that happened to her, but without any real emotional attachment.
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The epilogue happens 18 years later, and throws in a twist that was so completely unnecessary and came out of nowhere. You seriously didn't know certain characters existed, so there was no reason to care about this twist. It had an element that was interesting about Korean identity in Hawaii and how that was different from 20 years earlier, but that was a side point that should have gotten more attention
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Overall, I learned a lot from this book, but I didn't actually enjoy the experience of reading it.
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However, and I seem to be in the minority here, I didn't really like the rest of the story at all. I found myself completely unconnected to Willow and her plight, and it's written as a series of things that happened to her, but without any real emotional attachment.
*
The epilogue happens 18 years later, and throws in a twist that was so completely unnecessary and came out of nowhere. You seriously didn't know certain characters existed, so there was no reason to care about this twist. It had an element that was interesting about Korean identity in Hawaii and how that was different from 20 years earlier, but that was a side point that should have gotten more attention
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Overall, I learned a lot from this book, but I didn't actually enjoy the experience of reading it.