So I decided to spend the week reading Gloria Chao’s catalogue of books. Which okay that was easy since there’s only four and she’s addictively readable. While each premise seems light, she also deals with the more difficult frustrations of coming of age as a Taiwanese American daughter of immigrants and the difficulties of communication between generations. Even though the parents and daughter hurt each other in harsh ways, there is still optimism and humor interspersed throughout plus swoonworthy romances.

I already discussed American Panda so I’ll tackle her other three books.
First up, Our Wayward Fate focuses on Ali Chu who is the only Asian American in her bread white town in Indiana. To deal with the constant microagressions and her family’s passive aggressive silence with each other, Ali tries to assimilate as much as she can until Chase Yu comes to town. Though she doesn’t want to conform to stereotype of the two Asian kids getting together, Chase and her do hit it off and she likes that he gets her and the specific shared cultural traditions, jokes and pride in heritage. He inspires her to reclaim it instead of holding back and accepting her friends’ racist comments.

Yet her relationship with Chase is threatened by her mother’s insistance that he’s bad news and not explaining why. Obviously I cann’t spoil those family secrets but it takes a journey to Taiwan that spills out the decades long secret that has tied all their fates together. Ali is a wonderful protagonist, spirited yet vulnerable in navigating first love and stubborn as she makes mistakes, unwilling to believe she inherited her mother’s worst traits when it comes to communication. Chase is also an amazing love interest- equal parts competitive playboy and subversive part bad boy with an actually interesting backstory that doesn’t excuse his negative actions but encourages him to grow.

Rent a Boyfriend is based on an actual thing in China where single women hire dates to pose as boyfriends (particularly Lunar New Year) to get parents off their backs. Here, she expands the premise as an actual company who Chloe hires so she can avoid the worst fiance in the world. Chloe is an “Eliza Schuyler” type. Someone who is selfless, putting her parents’ desires before herself because she believes that if she tries hard enough they will be satisfied and then she can find a way to be happy in these circumstances.

Obviously, the books deals with Chloe coming to the realization that she can no longer sacrifice her happiness for her parents, just to save their face and reputation in the community, even though it’s painful as she realizes that it seems they care more about money than happiness (because seriously, the guy they want to pair her with is the WORST. Like imagine Gaston on steroids). A reoccuring theme is the need for communication as Asian culture is more on respect your elders and don’t question them, but the Americanized children seek to break the cycle of silence. Another reoccuring ending is that the communication is slow but they’re trying and Chloe (and to extent Ali) comes to accept that things might always be strained but they can all work together to do better. I like this as it’s realistic and nuanced in taking in the cultural/generational differences that affect how everyone approaches these situations.

That is helped by Drew who becomes unwillingly close to Chloe as he poses as “Andrew,” perfect Type C Asian parent boyfriend. Though he doesn’t want to cross the line of getting feelings for his client, he does sympathesize with her position as he dealt with his own family cutting him off when he decided to go become an artist. But even though he made the decision to choose a career he wants, it is clear he still has those scars that fuel his work to help his clients that also feel to be stuck in these situations of family vs self. He also has a very relatable insecurity of doing art but not ready to show it to anyone, because he fears his art isn’t good enough and that means he left his family for nothing.

Together, Chao takes my favorite trope of two being helping each other heal and find their own paths. It is also different from other love stories in that even though they’re attracted to each other, their relationship grows over the space of six months, deepening the bond as the readers fall more in love with the characters. Or I did at least. Also it’s punctuated by some of the most awesome “If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me” scenes ever.

Finally, her latest When You Wish Upon a Lantern is different from her other novels in that it doesn’t delve too deeply into parental miscommunication (although it is still present) but focuses on the childhood friendship turned romance between Liya and Kai who the whole Chinatown community ships but they’re still stuck in their own insecurities. Mainly because each of their family stores are struggling. Liya’s family store, When You Wish Upon a Lantern is facing eviction and she has lost her heart for granting community wishes behind the scenes since her grandmother’s death.

Meanwhile, Kai’s father and brother are turning the bakery which they technically own but he acutally bakes and upkeeps into a wannabe Dave and Buster’s. They’re not the worst but damn they’re jerks. Such jerks!

But Kai and Liya team up to create more wishes and drum up business for their stores, embracing the traditions of the pan-Asian community and are simply adorable, warm cinnamon rolls. Seriously, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face at the sweetness. But it’s no sappy sweet but shows the ordinary magic of real life, where one good deed ripples over and creates an impact even when one doesn’t know it. It’s an ideal book if you’re looking for a book that emphasizes how community should be, lifting others up and looking out for each other’s interests. Also sweet romance!

I highly recommend all these books for the well-rounded characters, optimism, family struggles and coming of age themes. You won’t regret it and I can’t wait for more.