I feel like most of the mainstream books that get recommended with Asian main characters always have them dealing with some sort of trauma that has to do with them being Asian, like generational trauma, interfamilial trauma, or immigration trauma and honestly I’m over it and i wanna see my people be happy!
I’m looking for a book that has Asian main characters where they can just have a silly goofy time. I appreciated crazy rich asians for this, because I felt the conflict was more universal rather than being traumatized just for being Asian.
Some books that I’ve read with Asian MCs have been pachinko, beasts of a little land, the many daughters of afong moy, the fortunes of jaded women, and Tokyo ever after to name a few.
But this isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy those books! I rated many of them very high and thought they were well written, but Im getting kind of tired!
I usually prefer literary fiction and dystopian fiction, but I do enjoy romance from time to time. I recently read your utopia by bora Chung and I think that became the catalyst for me to post this cause I really enjoyed that one!
by tartenny
1 Comment
Catfish and Mandala – Andrew X Pham. He travels Vietnam on his bike and he talks about his adventures. But he also laces in the “generational trauma”
Pioneer Girl – Bich Minh Nguyen. Mostly literature based, but “generational trauma” is baked in.
The Commited – Viet Thanh Nguyen
I think most books in English with Asians as the main characters have some sort of trauma involved.