kerry reviewed Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Review of 'Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Lots and lots of historical authenticity dulled by an unsophisticated writing style and overly simplistic plot.
I was very interested in learning about the Asian-American community in Seattle during the 1940's. Actually, in the context of this book, "Asian-American community" is a misnomer; the relationship between Chinese Henry and Japanese Keiko was unusual partly because the ethnic groups lived in such separate worlds.
My favorite character was Sheldon, the black musician who takes the father-figure role for Henry. My favorite scene took place in the jazz club, where Henry and Keiko manage to sneak in for a performance.
The book spent so much time with the pre-teen Henry that I started to think that this was a book written for young adults. Other contributing factors: short sentences, easy words, "flat" characters.
Perhaps this is me being overly sensitive (my father's family was in an internment camp), but I felt that …
Lots and lots of historical authenticity dulled by an unsophisticated writing style and overly simplistic plot.
I was very interested in learning about the Asian-American community in Seattle during the 1940's. Actually, in the context of this book, "Asian-American community" is a misnomer; the relationship between Chinese Henry and Japanese Keiko was unusual partly because the ethnic groups lived in such separate worlds.
My favorite character was Sheldon, the black musician who takes the father-figure role for Henry. My favorite scene took place in the jazz club, where Henry and Keiko manage to sneak in for a performance.
The book spent so much time with the pre-teen Henry that I started to think that this was a book written for young adults. Other contributing factors: short sentences, easy words, "flat" characters.
Perhaps this is me being overly sensitive (my father's family was in an internment camp), but I felt that the episodes focusing on Keiko's family in camp painted too-rosy a picture.
My final criticism is aimed at the publisher, and not the author: I read an Adobe Digital ebook edition that had far too many typos (punctuation errors).