Review of "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See: See is known for her ability to transport
the reader into a different time and place, and out of her three
bestselling books (which include Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and
Peony in Love, both set in old-world China) the concept of "Shanghai
Girls" sounded most appealing. Shanghai is a beautiful city, often
described as the "Paris of Asia," and the 1930's was a time of great
change as the world was on the brink of war. According to the summary,
this book starts off in 1930's Shanghai but the characters end up in
San Francisco, which obviously is another amazing city. Setting aside,
the characters are what really make this book, and I can see why See
(haha) is such a popular writer. Her actual writing style is not
particularly standout, you wouldn't be able to recognize it, but she
is able to choose and capture characters and setting in an engaging
way that makes it hard to stop reading. The main characters in this
book are sisters Pearl and May Chin, and anyone who has a sister can
immediately relate to them. I have an older sister (who is amazing and
I love to pieces) and I definitely saw her mature, hardworking type-A
personality in Pearl, while I saw a lot of myself in the impulsive,
immature younger sister May (hey, gotta keep it real here). Although I
can't relate, I'm sure many sisters could relate to the rivalry and
jealousy between them, but that drama filled relationship is part of
what makes the story interesting. here were points in the book where
the dialogue was a little ridiculous and contrived, but maybe that's
how they roll in the 1930's. There were also a few wartime scenes that
were painful to read or seemed to drag on too long, but otherwise this
was a terrific, and SISTER-rific, read.