Exciting Times

"Very wordy, but VERY good. "

"This was a slow burn. Actually there was no burn, it was just slow. It felt like how accrual humans experience life and relationships. True human emotion. Not my favorite book ever but nice for what it is."

"Yessss! This authors first book, which is insane, because the story was captivating and addictive and intriguing and juicy all at once"

"Ava (the main character) is relatable and insufferable, you feel yourself wanted to tell her to stop making horrible life decisions, but all you can do it watch. Overall, a good and reflective, but frustrating read, that makes you want to not ever do anything Ava does throughout the book. Also at points makes you wish it was Edith’s story instead. "

"I couldn't put it down"

"It was a fun read and had a pretty nice build up, I really liked how realistic and relatable the characters were "

"I don’t have a favorite I think, but I always think back to ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt"

"Will try to re-read, but Ava was just such an irritating character whom I could not relate to. "

"I wish I could articulate a proper review for this one. I am rating this four stars because it's been ages since I read a book I would casually reread.<br/>I definitely loved the writing in several parts. In some places I thought the sentences stretched on for too long, but is that what's called "stream of consciousness" writing?<br/>I did not care that there was no plot, because the characters were developed so fully that it's almost hard to remember they're totally imaginary. The full book spans only some 18 months, so with seemingly realistic characters, it would have been either jarring to see an drastic plot for that short span or it would have to be madly emotional, in the sad way. It would also have been out of character for the protagonist.<br/>The location does not seemingly have any role to play but with the main character being so self absorbed, that adds up. I have never been to Hong Kong, nor am I close to anyone from there, and this book will not be shaping my opinions either. I also think I missed a lot of political context.<br/><br/>There are no superlatives for this book. It was quite good and there's a particular type of reader who won't enjoy books like this in general - no plot, unlikeable main characters, strings of lengthy monologues about insignificant things, no moral preaching, ambiguous ending, nothing that will change you after you've read it. <br/>It does a great job at keeping you company and keeping your brain working.<br/><br/>P.S. also, a pet peeve? this books ends in first week of Dec 2017. At one point in the middle, the protagonist mentions instagram highlights. Highlights was launched on 05 December 2017 :3"