Out of nowhere, instead of spending her last summer with her friends, she’s shipped out to Taiwan for a program (which is actually a real program!) called Chien Tan. Unfortunately, coming from a strict Taiwanese family who immigrated to the United States, she is somewhat forced into studying and going into a career in Medicine even though she faints at the sight of blood. We are introduced to Ever Wong, this young, passionate character who loves dancing more than anything else and wants to pursue it as a career. Things that are important to communicate and talk about to the young adult audience whether they can directly relate to it or not, and Loveboat, Taipei definitely came through with some of those themes. Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.įree for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules-but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?Ī concept in books that I personally adore and think a lot of authors should incorporate more into their novels are important themes that can create change in the real world for readers. When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine-and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life. Goodreads Blurbįor fans of Crazy Rich Asians or Jane Austen Comedy of Manners, with a hint of La La Land Now that we’re well into 2020, and I’ve been reading everyone’s list of anticipated reads for this year, I’m starting to realize how much people want to read this novel – and I can confirm that I’d definitely recommend you to do so. Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen Book Review

Part of your world a twisted tale