#bookreview: The Friend Zone Experiment | Zen Cho

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho

Renee Goh is a successful businesswoman blazing her own trail in London, away from her patriarchal Singaporean family. Then her father offers Renee the one thing she's been hankering after: approval in the form of offering her the chance to take over the family business. But is that what she really wants? (Insert break-up drama, family feuds, old-flame reunion, plus that one skeevy ex.)

I'm trying to figure out what I feel about this one. I do quite like Zen Cho's fantasy works - and I especially love the Malaysiana she brings into her stories. She's especially deft at capturing the Malaysian Auntie Voice.

The usual "not quite my genre, bla bla" comments apply here. This is straight up realistic fiction, not a ghost or supernatural creature in sight! The style feels like a throwback to her earlier short story style, not so much her long-form fantasy style. (I haven't gotten round to Black Water Sister, which may have been the beginnings of the shift?) This isn't a bad thing. I do like that voice and I want to see more of it in fiction. However, I don't think I've read a romance (as the main plot) in a while (if I have ever! haha), so there were bits that felt a little draggy here and there, especially where everyone's keeping secrets and not telling anyone important stuff. Then again, that's also the bits I get annoyed with in all kinds media and without which there would be no story, so, eh.

MAYBE what's throwing me off is the whole, uh, sub-plot that it's wrapped around. It hits very close to real-life happenings in Malaysia. Maybe someone who isn't based here would just read it as fiction (I'm seeing a lot of K-drama references in other reviews) but I'm also going like OH THE SARAWAK REPORT. OH CLARE REWCASTLE-BROWN. OH 1MDB! ALL THE ILLEGAL LOGGING. OBVIOUSLY THEY KIDNAPPED AND KILLED HIM WHAT DID YOU THINK. Which also makes me wonder whether the stuff we read as fiction from other countries hits as hard for their readers in the same way.

Cho brings up the Malaysian/Singaporean family dynamics really, really well - which adds to the ultra-realism of this novel. The family squabbles! The expectations of marriage (and grandchildren)! The fight over who pays for dinner! All that annoying one-upmanship... ugh. Though I can't help but feel that Ket Siong is something of a wish-fulfilment fantasy - he's a little too good to be true.

There's also a lot of corporate drama (and some sexual harassment) going on, plus a heavy dose of family loyalty vs ethics considerations. Do you keep the peace in order to save your family's face/reputation? Do you let yourself love the person whose family has destroyed your own? CAN you put aside your own personal boundaries if that's going to help your family business?

It isn't quite a light read (despite "romcom" being thrown around), but it does have a Happily Ever After. I don't know the genre well enough to say if it'll be a hit for romance readers, but I'd say it's a solid rep of how Malaysian society works (even displaced as they are in London) if you're looking for that.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Pan Macmillan via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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If you're looking for a GREAT Zen Cho book to start with, I'll always recommend The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water. (Get it here)

#bookreview: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water | Zen Cho

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Some of the most difficult reviews to write are the ones that you love so much for undefinable reasons. Do I say I like The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (Pure Moon for short) because of the way it's written? Do I say it's AMAZING because, on the very first page, I paused and thought it really sounded like the corner coffee shop? Do I count the times I chuckled because those situations and responses are legit what (and how) the aunty or uncle down the road would say?

"You hexed a customer?" he roared. He smacked her on the side of the head.
"I didn't say that, Mr Aw," protested the waitress, rubbing her head. "I just said I didn't deny only."

It's really not what I expected to find in a Tor book. Even though it's rather par for the course with Zen Cho's other (Malaysian-published) work. But better. Much better. I was looking at texts to use to illustrate using Malaysian English in writing, and I have to say, this is it. THIS is pretty much it. I spent a lot of time reading the text (especially the dialogue) in my head with the intonation of a Cinapek-uncle-next-door, if you get what I mean. But it's not that foreign that you can't read it in a normal quasi-British tone. Though, where's the fun in that?

Pure Moon's world seems to be a rather thinly veiled pre-independence Malaysia: the Reformists/bandits (Communists) and the Protectorate (the British) banding against Yamatese (Japanese) occupation, only for the Reformists to be outlawed again once the war was won.

What's the novella about? Well, a nun joins a group of bandits, hilarity ensues.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tor via Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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#bookreview: Without Anchovies, Tiger's Adventure and The Terracotta Bride

Without Anchovies by Chua Kok Yee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Without Anchovies starts with the title story, Sambal Without Anchovies, a bittersweet story about Hanif's ongoing spat with his father regarding improving his nasi lemak stall. It ends with a strange little Twilight-like story, Vampire and Werewolf where an unnamed protagonist recounts her love for Joe, whom she suspects is a murderer. In between, you find robberies, murders, ghosts, cats, abusive Datuks, kiasu strangers, strange feng shui, civilian vigilantes, morphing geckos and much more.

I devoured this slim book of short stories in the span of a day.
Well - to be honest, the stories are on the shorter end of short stories and some veer into flash fiction territory.
Quibbling on terminology aside, the stories are entertaining, absorbing and thoroughly Malaysian.


Tiger's Adventure by Hussain Ajina
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tiger's Adventure is a really short read at 76 pages. Which means, you can finish it in like what, 20 minutes? It's the story of a really fat cat named Tiger who runs away from home and discovers a wonderful Catopia, or well, at least, a city of cats run by cats for cats. It's a cute, entertaining read, with some subliminal political messages, maybe - but probably not, because, you know, cats.

Thank you, Michelle, for passing me this book! :)
(This book is available on Lulu)


The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Siew Tsin's early death has landed her in an unexpected place - in the tenth court of hell, where the dead bribe the hell officials to keep them out of torment and to keep them from being reborn. But Junsheng, her husband, is playing a dangerous game, and Yonghua, his terracotta third wife, is at the centre of it all.

I don't know how to describe this novelette other than it's East meets West. It's a fascinating look into Chinese beliefs of the afterlife versus simplified versions of Christianity as disseminated by well-meaning nuns in mission schools in Malaysia (Popular theology is not always accurate).
Yangsze Choo delves into this in The Ghost Bride too, and I suppose I find it fascinating mainly because I have no personal experience of learning these things while growing up.

Cho's writing is exquisite, as usual; simple, and yet enticing, witty in an understated way. She pulls you into the story, spitting you out at the end thoroughly satisfied.

Get it here!

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#bookreview: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am probably superbly biased in rating this book, because, well, Zen Cho.

I first read one of Zen Cho's works when she submitted to my anthology, Love in Penang. My first reaction was WHO IS THIS PERSON AND WHY HAVE I NOT HEARD OF HER? I have read several of her online works since then, but also, being a picky AND distracted reader, I have yet to get round to her award-winning Spirits Abroad. (I should! I will!) Sorcerer to the Crown ("SC") has been on my radar since then, and... I really couldn't resist this pretty cover. :D

Zen has this knack of fitting very Malaysian/Asian voices into diverse settings, and I was wondering how that would fit into this extremely British sounding book. To be honest, there are times when I think SC is overly upper class British, making it a slightly harder read than necessary.

Zacharias Wythe, England's first African Sorcerer Royal, is having a hard time of it. He has taken up the role out of duty and obligation, but it seems that factions of the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers are trying to depose him for performing his duty. Part of this is due to the fractious nature of England's thaumaturges, part of it due to personal ambition to the Staff, most of it is due to plain old racism. Yet Zacharias does the best he can for England; first in trying to restore their supply of magic, and secondly, in trying to avoid magical wars with foreign entities, including the French, the witches of Janda Baik, and the Fairy Court, even if the Government's policies and requests seems to be intent on spurring on the war.

I kind of liked Zacharias - a kind, gentlemanly soul put into a difficult situation. On a magical scale, he doesn't seem to be the best of Sorcerers. It seems like most of his work as the Sorcerer Royal is avoiding the use of magic. In a sense, this puts me a little in mind of Gabriel De Witt as the Chrestomanci (Dianna Wynne Jones).

Prunella Gentleman, on the other hand, reminded me starkly of Sara Crewe in A Little Princess - orphan of unknown origins, taken in by the school; not quite student, nor teacher, nor servant. But Prunella has grand ambitions, as well as a secret treasure, and she has the will to make it happen. And the magic. In a time where gentlewomen are not allowed to practice magic for the fear of the damage it would do to their delicate frames (hah), Prunella is a magic user - and the strongest one that Zacharias has seen so far. In the midst of all his troubles, Prunella poses the most critical. Teaching her magic will definitely get him deposed if he is found out; not teaching her magic might result in disaster for England.

Zen Cho addresses broad themes in SC. In her very choice of protagonists, she raises the issue of race and gender. Zacharias is a manumitted African. His gratitude to Sir Stephen and Lady Maria Wythe, who purchased, manumitted and raised him, giving him opportunities and privileges unknown to any of his race, is tinged with anger and confusion, as well as the unspoken need to constantly prove himself worthy and grateful. Prunella, with her clear brown skin, is often an outsider. But more than that, it is her gender that provides the biggest barrier to her advancement, despite her obvious talents. In Mak Genggang, Zen Cho provides a powerful role model - that a leader need not be white nor male (nor Christian) to be strong - and right. She is the one who provides guidance to Prunella as well as helps put to a stop the impending war between Janda Baik and England.

This has been an extremely long review - but overall, I would say that Sorcerer to the Crown is an extremely brilliant read. In publishing a very English book in England, it would seem that Cho might have forgotten her roots in Malaysia. I am glad to say that this is not the case. What she has done instead is to somehow marry her South East Asian sensibilities and heritage with her current place of residence.

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I'm launching Coexist with a cover reveal in March and a blog tour in April. Let me know if you want to help host!