Monday, March 23, 2009

Review: Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka

book 3 of 10 for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge
genre: young adult
rating 3.5/5

The tale of Third Sister, Ailin, begins in turn of the century China. Even at the age of five, Ailin knows that having her feet bound will not give her the kind of life she wants – she’d no longer be free to run and play. As a coming of age story, we get to experience China first-hand as Ailin grows older and begins to suffer the consequences of her decision. With her family against her, Ailin has to find the courage to stand up to traditional Chinese culture and find her own way to be a woman.

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break reads like a simple memoir, although it is fiction. The first person narrative is certainly readable and could probably be enjoyed by readers ages 10 and up. For me, it was a bit too simple. Characters didn’t have enough time or energy devoted to them for fleshing out, although you get a good sense of the main character and the way she thinks about things. For young adults that are interested in more modern China, especially in the foot binding practice, they would probably find this an interesting read. The time period is interesting and you do get a sense of the lives of upper class Chinese and the traditional way of life. It just didn’t have enough meat for me.

3 comments:

bermudaonion said...

This book sounds like it had a lot of potential. Too bad it wasn't better developed.

Anonymous said...

旅行社

婚禮顧問

婚禮錄影

網頁設計

seo

網路行銷

關鍵字

網站優化

a383

s383

love104

a383

s383

租屋網

租屋

洪爺

室內設計



2008年08月06日 本公司提供7-11等五大超商+郵局繳費機制 2008年07月09日 本公司提供關鍵字SEO排序服務 2008年08月06日 山鉧科技網頁設計 ... 完善的網頁設計和程式設計 搭配SEO關鍵字廣告創造企業佳績 優秀的設計團隊,完美的網頁設計支持 ...



4

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

Bummer! Hope your next journey is better :) You are whipping through your OT books like crazy!! Good for you.

Happy reading friend!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...