Stacey Lee (1)Recensioni

I really enjoyed reading this book! I loved the mystery, the action, the sense of family and community, and the little bit of romance sprinkled in. The author did such an amazing job of bringing 1930's Hollywood to life and wove a story together that was engaging and heartfelt.

I didn't realize it was a young adult book until I came to write this review and that's not a bad thing. The two main characters are girls in their late teens, but they were so mature and had a lot on their plates to handle. Maybe they were so mature because of the decade they were in, because of having to step up while their father was ill, or maybe because of being Chinese American in a country that treated them so poorly they had to be perfect at all times to avoid censor. Just from the feel of the book, I think it could appeal to a wide variety of audiences, not just YA. It was that good.

The book did start off kind of slow for me and there were a few moments throughout that lagged a little bit. These moments never lasted too long though before something else drew me in and dragged me along. I did love the small romantic storylines. My heart broke for Lulu and what could have been for her. *Maybe a spoiler, but I was kind of disappointed in how Gemma's story ended. Then I had to remind myself she is still pretty young and maybe something could be worked out in the future. And May and Wallace were so cute. I loved them!

My favorite part of all though, was the sister dynamic between May and Gemma. They seemed to be such opposites, but at the same time, so similar. They played off each other really well, knowing what the other needed and when a nudge or restraint was necessary. I loved the nicknames of Cloud 1-3 and how it tied into the saying that, "Separately, each cloud can block the wind. Together, we might determine its flow." This book was very empowering for woman and what they can accomplish. I felt I learned a little bit more about Chinese culture and the struggle it can be to combine it with the way of life in America. For what they have to change, but also to what they hold on to no matter what. Honoring family, building a community of respect and helpfulness, and tradition.

All of these things, plus there was a murder mystery! This book had a lot of layers to it and it all went together so well. Every part was needed and had meaning, and it was great how everything intertwined.

Thank you to Bookishfirst and PenguinTeen for allowing me to read this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Historical mystery

While I enjoyed the dual point of view between Gemma and May, I felt as if this divided the book too much and I needed more depth of character from each sister.

The setting felt so real and the tough issues facing Asian people during this time felt painful, frustrating and more than maddening at the unfairness and cruelty. After reading the author's note, I know this novel was well researched, making it feel so authentic.

The mystery had so much potential and I never figured out who the murderer was so this part was excellent. The use of monologuing was disappointing and I had hoped for a different way to learn all the facts about the crimes. I had issues with the pacing, however, as this seemed to move too slowly until the final chapters. The stakes were high enough and the danger level could have been elevated to increase suspense.

I really enjoyed the sister relationship and this was my favorite part. May and Gemma truly love and support each other and I enjoyed how they teased and joked too.

The first half was incredibly slow to the point where I almost quit. It got better towards the very end.

3 Stars

Content: one off-page kiss, a naked man, racism

This was really good and fascinating! I highly recommend

An OK book that I'm rounding up to four because the characters and historical perspectives are so underrepresented in other books, not to mention other YA or other Westerns. At the same time, I wasn't in love with this book, and I hope it paves the way for bigger and better ones.

Unfortunately, it was pretty obvious Andy's brother was a Broken Hand Gang member: Lee hammers Chekhov's Gun hard. I liked that Andy pushes back on Sammy's Broken Hand obsession---just because they're both Black doesn't mean that they're related! Sammy meets Badge and the Broken Hand subplot temporarily becomes something else---a story about the unjustness of the law and of slavery, and about Sammy's expanded view of the world. To go back on that at the very end, in a sequence that doesn't quite make plot sense (how does Andy suddenly know where Harp Falls is, way off the beaten path, when the entire problem was that she had no idea where to find it and it wasn't on their map? why didn't Isaac recognize Andy before?) is a letdown.

An actress's fate is linked to Chinatown's in this gripping historical thriller.

During the golden age of film, Lulu Wong was a Chinese actress on the rise, until her body was found dumped in Chinatown. Two sisters, Gemma and May, frustrated by the police's lack of action, take it upon themselves to investigate. But the closer they get to the glitter of Hollywood, the harder it is to decipher friends from enemies.

This book takes on prejudice head-on as it shows the impact on Gemma and May's life, from not being allowed to sell their flowers certain places to top Chinese film roles going to white actresses who taped their eyelids. It also shows how conflicted even so-called good people can be in the face of the prevailing culture.

The mystery was engaging, with lots of great twists and turns. I didn't see the final villain coming, so that was fun! It also has a great fake-dating side plot between May and Walter, the Chinese boy picked by her parents. All of these elements combine to make an unforgettable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book.

Kill Her Twice is a murder mystery set in Chinatown -L.A. Lee did a good job of catching the readers' attention quickly in the first few paragraphs. Lee introduced sisters who are just trying to keep their family afloat when they discover the body of a friend-former neighbor and current movie star Lulu.
The two main characters, Gemma and May, are easy to like and contrast each other as real siblings would do. You very much very the traditional birth order stereotypes in this story. Serious May, adventurous Gemma and baby of the family Peony. As the sisters work to solve the mystery, we are given a glimpse of what the world was like for Chinese immigrants in the early 1900's.
Was the plot a little simple and slightly unbelievable, perhaps but Lee made the story go down smoothly. Instead of an edge of your seat thriller, this murder mystery is perfect for a cozy weekend.


# Kill Her Twice
# 1/29/2024 ~ 2/12/2024
# 4.0 / 5.0

"Kill Her Twice" by Stacey Lee was interesting enough. The plot follows the lives of sisters, Gemma and May Chow. They live in Chinatown with their sister, Peony and mother. Their Ba (father) is in a sanatorium for the treatment of a lung disease. The reader is led to believe that he suffers from tuberculosis. While he is away, Gemma and May have dropped out of school in an attempt to keep the family's flower business afloat. As the sisters deal with racism, fewer rights than their American counterparts, and the upcoming birth of their newest sibling, they come face-to-face with the murder of their dear friend and famous movie star, Lulu Wong. Their predictions become fact, when the local policemen and politicians attempt to blame a local Chinese man, Gee Fa aka Guitar Man, for the murder. The sisters decide to investigate the crime on their own. Will their suspicions prove to be fact? Can they obtain enough evidence to bring justice to Lulu, her family and the Chinese community? There are definitely enough twists and turns to keep this novel interesting, and most readers will be surprised by the ending. My only negative comment is that the novel did drag on at times. Otherwise, a good read. I would recommend.

More historical fiction with ABCs! Boarding school hijinks!Genuinely good female friendships, and a mean girl who doesn't twirl her mustache and becomes a fully developed person!

I am delighted to live in an era of #ownvoices work that include expanding to periods of history people just aren't as aware of- especially under the current administration I feel like I repeatedly bring up the Chinese Exclusion Act and smaller state-level laws that were designed to box in 'undesirable' immigrants, and here it is, right on the page (my other longtime favorite historical YA is Laurence Yep's [b:The Traitor|25261|The Traitor (Golden Mountain Chronicles, #4)|Laurence Yep|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348823964s/25261.jpg|2675977] about the Rock Springs massacre). We were the first people this country legally denied on the basis of nationality, but thanks to the persistence of some, there are families like mine with long roots.

Mercy Wong is tough and persistent- in 1906 when women's worth is largely still defined by marriageability and having children, Mercy finds a book about becoming a businesswoman and dreams of having a global tea-shipping empire. But, as educational opportunities are limited for Chinese, especially girls, she plans on entering the illustrious St. Claire's school for girls. She's admitted, but only if she pretends to be a Chinese heiress which leads to some hilarity as students & faculty ask her about China... when, as someone born here, she has no idea what it's actually like.

Once the earthquake hits, we genreshift a bit into survival mode and don't shy away from the tragedy and chaos, but with a satisfying ending. I do wonder if Stacey Lee will write a historical fiction in the future dealing with the aftermath: because the records for Chinese Americans burned in this earthquake's fires, many illegally immigrated as 'paper sons', claiming that they were born here but their birth certificates were burned. Immigration officials countered this by detaining would-be children and grilling them and their alleged parent for days, corroborating interview answers checking for slipups on # of stairs in a house, who your neighbors were, etc. I really would love to see some Paper Children historical fic, because there's so much drama you can play with while also tying to modern concerns.

I preordered this book last year, but it sat in my TBR until I got around to it this year for #asianreadathon and... I definitely should've gotten to this earlier because I love it! It covers #2 for me: read a book featuring an Asian character or by an Asian author similar to you, and both the protagonist Jo and I are Chinese American girls from the South y'all. I *really* liked this, because I adore historical fiction and this is a protagonist I can fit myself into too (and in an era with pretty hats).

There's a fair amount of plot threads going on (Jo's Miss Sweetie column and staying anonymous, her working relationship with Caroline and the Payne family, keeping their household hidden, wondering who Shang is, what's Old Gin up to, etc.) and they do get woven together like an elaborate Chinese cord knot. Jo is witty and often has a hard time filtering her tongue which is very relatable. YA protagonists have teenage feelings and it's nice that they're present here but also not stupidly boneheaded. Race in America is often literally black and white, so as a minority of a minority it's hard to tell where we're supposed to be if anywhere, especially in structurally rigid Reconstruction South (more often than not in cases like the novel, Asian Americans are more of a curiosity than considered actual people :| also, resonant in 2020!) Also: historical white feminism with the suffragettes! There's a lot in the book I really liked.

A couple brief references to the bachelor Chinese community in Augusta tickles me because that's where my maternal side hails from- periodically videos about the Mississippi Delta Chinese American community make the social media rounds and people are often like, "it's weird to see thick Southern drawls out of a Chinese face" and to me that's... normal? Because that's literally how a lot of my aunties and uncles talk, also my mom? I just find it incredibly wonderful to be represented in this very specific context.

Such a good read!! I read this book super early but loved it! It was such a delightful read. I loved how this book weaved chinease mythology and also other elements to craft this read. It gave me major teen wolf vibes at moments. I also loved the focus on a main character and how all the characters are dealing with grief. This book also focsued on dealing with greif and also friendship was a highlight. I really loved this characters and exploring this world, i hope we get more books in this world!! It was fun and if you have been reading the other books in this series, def check this out!

Such a good read!! I read this book super early but loved it! It was such a delightful read. I loved how this book weaved chinease mythology and also other elements to craft this read. It gave me major teen wolf vibes at moments. I also loved the focus on a main character and how all the characters are dealing with grief. This book also focsued on dealing with greif and also friendship was a highlight. I really loved this characters and exploring this world, i hope we get more books in this world!! It was fun and if you have been reading the other books in this series, def check this out!

Jo and Old Jim (the man who took her in as a baby when her parents abandoned her) secretly live in the basement of a newspaper print shop. During the day they both work for the same family – Old Jim as a stable hand, and Jo as a lady’s maid to the family’s daughter. But after working hours, Jo starts writing an advice column for the upstairs paper and manages to keep the secret of her identity along with her residence. The revelation of either one would be ruinous, since the people of Atlanta would hardly stand to be given advice by a young Chinese woman. As she is stirring up the public with her opinions on freedoms for women (including the right to vote and to ride a bicycle), she also sets out on another secret mission: to unfold the mystery of the old letter she’s found among Old Jim’s things, which may lead her to discovering just who her parents were and why they left her.

An engaging-enough story, and the characters are interesting, but the ending is way too pat and rushed, and that took away from the overall goodness. I did enjoy the way bits of the advice column are interspersed with the narrative in a way that mirrors what’s going on in the plot.

I found The Downstairs Girl on a list of banned books and gave it a try. None of the content struck me as worth banning it... dark times when we strive to ban books.

I didn't know the history of Asian-Americans/Asians in early America, and I'm glad to have read this historical fiction to have gleaned some insight.

4 stars
I liked this book, it was interesting and thought-provoking. I really liked April, she was my favorite character as she was witty and semi-realistic. I liked her backstory as well.
I would like to read more of this author's works, as her writing was well-researched without being pretentious and felt real.

A different Hardcover (May 4, 2021) ISBN 10: 1524740985 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1524740986

I found this to be a rather delightful, engrossing, and intriguing story. I've always been interested in the history and stories about the Titanic as a lot of people are, but this was a very interesting and different story spun with the Titanic coming from the fact that there were 6 Chinese survivors. The author imagined a sister of one of the Chinese men who survived the sinking of the Titanic and created this amazing story, which made me want to go research and learn more about the Titanic and everyone and the stories on it.
The characters come alive and have such great personalities too. Valora and Jamie Luck are twins, who are raised to be British Chinese acrobats and Valora has a ticket and sneaks onto the Titanic to find and meet up with Jamie. Jamie is with a group of Chinese men who are all working together shoveling coal and down in the 3rd class and with Valora's ticket she ends up in the first class. Valora wants to get Jamie to go with her to America and star as acrobats and Jamie has his own plans. Valora and Jamie meet and have relationships and friendships with a few others on the Titanic that are entertaining, important and also there's a little bit of swoony romance thrown in as well.
The ending of the story is, of course, one of the most intense things with everything that happens with the Titanic and each character and what happens with them. This is a very well-written and great historical fiction story that you should have on your radar to pick up to read and enjoy as soon as you can!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group for letting me read and review this amazing book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one! Jo is fiery and opinionated and relatively unafraid to show it - she handles her position in life with careful grace and does it so well! My only complaint is that it took SOOO long for the main conflict to come to a head that the end felt really rushed and a little unsatisfying.

Audiobook 3.5

Stacey Lee was inspired to write this story by learning about six (out of an original eight) Chinese survivors, presumably serving as seamen, of the Titanic disaster. Not much is known about them, so she had relatively free reign to use her imagination to flesh out details set within the well-researched aspects of the tragedy.

The heroine of the story is Valora (“Val”) Luck, 17, whose twin brother Jamie was working as a coal fireman on the Titanic. Their parents had died, and Jamie was all Val had left; she wanted them to be together again.

On April 10, 1912 Val attempted to board the Titanic in Southampton, England as a passenger, but was prevented from doing so because the Chinese Exclusion Act forbad her to enter the US, which was the ship’s destination. Not one to be deterred, she used her skills as an acrobat to board the ship as a stowaway.

[The Chinese Exclusion Act was a US federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats. Passage of the law was preceded by growing anti-Chinese sentiment and anti-Chinese violence, as well as various policies targeting Chinese migrants. While the act was initially intended to last for 10 years, it was renewed and strengthened in 1892 and made permanent in 1902.

The law remained in force until the passage of the Magnuson Act in 1943, which repealed the exclusion and allowed 105 Chinese immigrants to enter the United States each year. Later laws abolished direct racial barriers.]

In the short time Val was on the ship from its departure until it hit an iceberg late in the night on April 14, she made some good female friends and formed a romantic attachment, but the main thrust of the plot was her filial love for her brother and their ties to each other as twins. Other plot threads included the racial and class prejudices of the era, as well as the inadequate safety preparations of the ship, which was, after all, supposed to be “unsinkable.” The available lifeboats on the ship could carry only half the passengers at best. [When the ship sank, many of the lifeboats that had been lowered were only filled up to an average of 60%. ]

The main story ends with the ship’s sinking, although there is an Epilogue that takes place two weeks later.

Evaluation: There are so many good aspects to this story. Val is a wonderful character. She has been brought up to understand the world through Chinese folk sayings and astrological precepts, but lets experience and compassion guide her actions rather than superstition. She is strong, resourceful, bright, brave, and spunky. In her short time on the ship she matures into someone who knows she cannot dictate the dreams of someone else, no matter how important it seems to her. It is a lovely story that will stay in readers’ hearts.

First sentence: Dad used to say that qi, like the Force, ran strong in our family. That if we nurtured this life energy, we could heal a broken bone, even change the flow of water. Bet he never thought I would use the Chu family qi to bake the most gooeylicious shoofly pie on the planet.

Premise/plot: Winston Chu loses his pie and gains a broom and dustpan. If I wanted an inadequate, awkward one-sentence summary, that's what I would go with. Winston has a great group of friends, and, he relies on them a great deal since the death of his father, a veteran. His older sister is grieving in her own way. His younger sister can't remember her father at all. Winston--and his friends--encounter a mystical, magical, whimsical here-today-gone-tomorrow shop of oddities with a super-strange-and-suspicious-shop-keeper. He's allowed a magical item--in return for "scaring" away hoodlums--but it will be the first thing he touches. And that something--was it a trick???--was a broom and dustpan. His life--and the lives of his friends--will never be the same again. This broom and dustpan will wreak havoc on their personal lives....and they will have to risk everything to hold onto what matters most.

My thoughts: This was one strange book. I guess I didn't realize it was a changeling story--involving his younger sister and a creepy doll. If I'd more fully known where this fantasy book was heading, I personally wouldn't have picked it up. Of course, it's equally possible that a reader would pick it up simply because they want a changeling story.

This one wasn't for me. But it might work better for other readers.½

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't all about escaping the sinking of the Titanic but escaping the shadow of the family and moving forward on one's own. The ending reminded me of the movie Titanic but didn't truly take away from the story itself. The "luck" isn't just the name but the luck of the family, the twin sibling being able to be reunited and move on, with or without each other.

I loved this book so much. The main character, Jo, is very inspiring. I admire her confidence and bravery. She was definitely my favorite character. I also loved the character Noemi. I loved the social topics this book used as a backdrop/discussed. They were relevant to what goes on in the world today. The book was a little bit predictable, but I still loved Stacey Lee’s writing and storytelling. I hope to check out more of Stacey Lee’s books soon.

Took the afternoon yesterday to read this and it was brilliant. I was hooked from page 5 and absolutely fell in love with Jo! Her wit and advice are spot on and I laughed a lot during this book. Jo is a Chinese teenager growing up during the 1890s in Atlanta. She lives underneath a house in which ones of the local newspaper is printed out of - leading her to hear some interesting things, leading her to create Miss Sweetie. Miss Sweetie is an advice column in which she writes articles as well as answers letters written to her. As life often goes, she finds herself in a predicament and the truth leads her down a path where a whole hosts of truths are revealed. The last eight chapters were my favorite. But the real secret is there isn’t a character in this book that I don’t end up loving. There’s some twist and turns and surprises that keep readers interested and wanting more! This is a brilliant book and I’d recommend it to anyone wanting a good laugh or just a good story to fall in love with at the end of the day!

Acting on impulse, Valora stows away to the ill fated voyage of the Titanic. Even though her ticket is invalid, even though the Chinese Exclusion Act has forbidden anyone with Chinese Ancestry from entering the United States, and even though it's not a guarantee it will work out, she has a plan. Her twin brother Jaime and her were one of Britain's best acrobat acts, and with a Wringling Brother's executive on board as well as her brother, all she has to do is convince both of them a circus act may be their ticket to freedom. But even the most well thought out plans fall apart on this ill fated journey recounting the 6 Chinese survivors of the historic shipwreck.

What I Liked:
Val is a determined and headstrong character and is fun to watch make her own choices- even if they get her into trouble. She was fun to follow around the boat, connecting to historical figures as well as adding stories of what could have happened on that fateful voyage.

There is a discussion of how when we grow up, our thoughts on our parents, their wishes and their action start to evolve. This book takes that on with such grace and thought provoking ways to balance seeing our caregivers as human, flaws and all.

What I Missed:
In an attempt to show life on all classes of the ship, there are multiple storylines our main character has to keep track of, this makes the book as long as it is. If it had a few stories lines edited or omitted, the book would have been more concise without the need for some repeating themes and scenes.