Winnie is a
goal-driven student with no respect from her peers, colleagues, and especially
her family. Coming from a traditional Asian upbringing, Winnie’s task was
rooted in her from the start: get a job and find a husband. But she didn’t want
to get married. Her only focus was on her medical career.
For Winnie,
having a Chinese mother was grueling and overbearing. The mantra that “boys
were preferable to girls” was an established fact in Chinese families, making
it harder for Winnie to be independent. Girls from most cultures would be able
to relate and attest to this. Winnie’s mom is so bossy with ordering her to
come home for Chinese New Year and telling her that she will marry this Chang
fella. Kinda scary. What was Winnie
supposed to do? She couldn’t ignore her family duty, but she also refused to
get married. Maybe if she were to show up with a boyfriend, she might get her
mother off her back.
Kai is an IT
guy moonlighting as a taxi driver just to earn money to pay for his mother’s
hospital bills. Then he hears about an article about posing as a New Year
boyfriend for Chinese girls that just need a front for the family. Hey, if it
pays, right?
Right away,
you feel for each character’s predicaments.
Story was a
little lagging and the writing was fairly simple. It actually takes a while for
this deal to be made. A lot of family drama made the whole thing draining. A few of the tid bits on Chinese culture was
interesting, but I wish the story would’ve been more amusing. The obligation of
family was an overbearing weight on independence. I could totally relate to
Winnie wanting to be her own woman and liver her own life.
I’m all for multicultural
fiction, and this one was a decent read on love and Chinese culture.
My rating: 3 stars
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