Abigail Hing Wen holds a BA from Harvard, a JD from Columbia Law School, and an MFA from the Vermont School of Fine Arts. Like Ever, she is obsessed with musicals. When she's not writing stories or listening to her favorite scores, she is busy working as an attorney in venture capital and artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley, where she lives with her husband and two sons. Loveboat, Taipei is her first novel, and you can find her online at www.abigailhingwen.com.
When Ever Wong's parents send her away for the summer, she's expecting Chien Tan: a strict, educational immersion program in Taiwan. Instead, she finds the infamous "Loveboat." There, Ever is surrounded by prodigies: like Rick Woo, Chinese American wonder boy and longtime bane of her existence; Ever's roommate, the confident and clever Sophie Ha, as glamorous as she is sharp; and the intimidatingly cool Xavier Yeh, heir to an international tech empire. But her classmates are more interested in the nonstop Taipei nightlife than anything to do with the curriculum. Hookups abound, snake-blood sake flows, and adult supervision is nonexistent. For the first time ever, Ever is discovering what freedom tastes like, and it is exhilarating. But summer will end and Ever will be back to her parents and the future they've planned for her. Will she let this glimpse of freedom go—or will Loveboat give her the courage to pursue the future she dreams of, and the Ever Wong she wants to be?
Ever has multiple interpersonal relationships throughout the book: her relationships with Sophie, Xavier, and Rick all take centerstage, but the biggest relationship discovery and arc she has is with herself. Ever's voices and concerns are incredibly well written. She's vulnerable in the midst of finding herself, which is such a perfect way to begin the story, for the beautiful way that it builds up to the ending. Ever is battling so much: she's fighting against her desire to be a dancer, grappling with the warring sides of her identity, and warring with her own wants out of life because of what she's been taught. Each of these struggles composes a pillar of her identity that she slowly but surely knocks down and rebuilds anew by the end of the book. She learns to accept all the parts of her identity, and to learn how to be herself. In general, this is an incredibly powerful storyline and lesson, which is made even more powerful by the addition of the immigrant parent experience element. Some beautiful lines describe the complexity of this experience—one of my favorites is when Wen writes that Ever is carrying the weight of two lost lives on her shoulders. We as readers want so badly for her to follow her dreams, but we're caught in the middle just like Ever, knowing that it's just not possible because of her parents and their need for her to do what they gave up their lives for.
One small note about Ever's character that I appreciated: she is conscious about her money. Regardless if it's because she just doesn't have as much money as the other prodigies at Loveboat, or if she's always just been frugal and cautious, I love that thread of fiscal responsibility that is drawn out throughout the story. I feel like too often there are kids who don't see their responsibilities depicted in literature, and I found this to be another way Ever's story was so relatable, in addition to Wen's depictions of the immigrant experience and the Asian American experience and the teenage experience.
Ever's relationships with Sophie, Xavier, and Rick are incredibly important, however, and part of the reason this book is as brilliant as it is. In an 88 Cups of Tea episode, Wen reveals that the earliest drafts of Loveboat, Taipei included alternating chapters told in all four of these characters' points of view. In my opinion, this definitely helped Wen flesh out each of these major characters. As I read, I felt like I knew Sophie, Xavier and Rick personally, based on how much detail Wen depicted them with. Even though we were in Ever's head, the intimacy with which Wen had with her side characters pervaded throughout the novel. The early development of the side characters led to their more realistic depiction, and they were easier to connect to because of it. This created a more immersive reading experience. Each of these four characters is defying a stereotype, and Wen brings that critique and also the heart of their character to life flawlessly.
I was not expecting there to be a love angle—where two side characters express romantic interest to the main character, but the side characters don't express romantic interest towards one another. Xavier and Rick are almost like two sides of the same coin. It's easy to see why Ever took an interest in both of them—in fact, it's more than easy to see, because at times even I had a hard time choosing between the two. Wen does an incredible job at building the romantic tension between this angle, and revealing the obstacles in a timely in shocking matter. In fact, there is so much about the plot that was delightfully unexpected! The amount of twists and turns was incredible, making for one of the most refreshing and surprising reads I've had in a while. This was definitely aided by Wen's translation of Loveboat from life to text. Wen does a lot of good work to make Loveboat look incredibly fun, while also showing readers how risky it is for Ever to participate at first. I greatly enjoyed entering into Loveboat through Wen's writing, and loved the ways in which Wen complicated Ever's story through other character interactions. This made her story strong and exciting in ways I've never seen before.
Wen's writing is intoxicating—before you know it, you're sucked into Ever's story, and fifty pages, then a hundred, fly by. It all starts with how she decides to open the book: with college application rejection/waitlist/acceptance letters. You're immediately invested in Ever's future endeavors. When the Tisch letter arrives, there is a gorgeous line about how it drops through the mail slot like a love letter, and that Ever catches it before it kisses the mat. This immediately forces Loveboat, Taipei into a larger literary conversation: the legitimacy of young adult fiction as a literary genre. Throughout the novel, Wen has beautiful moments of description and introspection that rival that of literary adult fiction novels, bring recognition to the importance and necessity of young adult stories of discovery. Wen expertly navigates through all the nuances of Ever's story: from her love of dancing to experience as a Chinese American, from her confusion regarding the boys to her excitement at having more female friends, Wen depicts the young adult experience brilliantly. The tensions and confusions and frustrations of being a young adult are all brought to light with a sensitivity and a seriousness to them, validating a young adult experience and championing all of its aspects.
While this may seem like the ending of Ever's story, it certainly isn't the end for all of our favorite characters from Loveboat, Taipei—a second book in this contemporary series is slated for release in 2022, and I will definitely be on the lookout for more fun, fresh, and exhilarating reads from Abigail Hing Wen!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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