Reviews for Short Girls

The average rating for Short Girls based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-01-22 00:00:00 Alexander Platt I wanted to read this book even though I've read other Asian immigrant stories, just to hear a Vietnamese-American voice. The story is of 2 sisters, quite different in nature, who come together to help their dad celebrate his citizenship. The typical themes found in immigrant literature are here, but there isn't anything particularly remarkable about the way they are presented. Especially at the beginning, the story is mired in an excess of minute details. Even if you happen to be Vietnamese and to have grown up in a suburban setting in the same time period, the constant drumbeat of details that (I suppose) are meant to resonate with you become tiresome. If you don't share those same cultural reference points, my guess is that the details quickly get tedious. Many points are forced. For example, there is a scene in which Linny, the younger sister, is mistaken for a manicurist when she meets her friend at a salon. To me, that scene works well and already says a lot. But then, the author felt the need to immediately explain what the scene meant and then invokes the nail salon stereotype repeatedly. All right already! We get it. The character development also left something to be desired. We gain some insight into the sisters, Van and Linny, but their father and Van's husband--both important figures--remain caricatures. There is also not enough to help suggest why the girls are not only ungrateful to, but somewhat hostile towards, the family who sponsored their parents. I did care enough about the characters to want to see what happened to them, and the story did pick up as it went along, but I found myself restless while reading and anxious just to be done with it.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-04-03 00:00:00 Josh Brunsell When reading the book, I sometimes had the urge to scream at the submission of some character: "This is so stupid. Why did she tolerate that?", but then I realized that that character is Vietnamese and I've been so familiar that that kind of submission in Vietnam. This book is helpful for me to understand what's it like to be a first-generation Vietnamese in the US.