Jaclyn’s Review: Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

Searching for Sylvie Lee
written by Jean Kwok
published by William Morrow, 2019

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, Target, Walmart, Kobo, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book? I couldn’t stand this book!!! Oh my goodness! I picked this up because it was the Today Show book club pick–and boy was that a mistake! This book is about a Chinese American woman who is, quite literally, searching for her sister, Sylvie Lee. The book is told in alternating voices as well as alternating timelines. I found the characters in this book to be completely unlikable and unbelievable. The story tries very hard to be a mystery, but I just couldn’t care about what was happening or what the ultimate ending was. I kept reading this book because I expected it to get better. I thought there would be some magnificent plot twist or deep connection I would eventually feel with one of the characters. All I found at the end was a profound sense of disappointment.

Would I recommend it? This was a horrible book, and I would absolutely not recommend it.
 

 

About the book – from Goodreads:

A poignant and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge, from the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation

It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes.

Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.

But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined.

A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone—especially those we love.

 

 
 

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** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on October 3, 2019.