Carolyn Huynh (The Fortunes of Jaded Women) Recommends Five Asian Books That Explore A Mother-Daughter Dynamic

In September 2022, a multi-narrative novel showed how Vietnamese women emerge victorious, even if the world is against them. An ancestor cursed by a fearsome witch for daring to leave her marriage for true love; a current descendant who knows this curse well: women of this family would never find love or happiness, and would…

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An Arrow to the Moon: Emily X.R. Pan Beautifully Blends Love and Lore in This Magical Mix of Romeo & Juliet and Houyi & Chang’e

Retellings have been trending on book lists and for all the right reasons. Whether it’s Chloe Gong’s YA romantic historical fantasy, These Violent Delights, or CB Lee’s fresh exploration of Treasure Island, as part of the “Remixed Classics” series by BIPOC authors, A Clash of Steel. Even reimaginings of Hindu epics like Ramayana (Vaishnavi Patel’s…

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A Magic Steeped in Poison: Judy I. Lin Brews Loyalty & Treachery in Beautiful Cups of Aromatic Magic

Blending threads of mythology with courageous heroines and hints of romance against a mysterious fantastical backdrop inspired by folklore has recently found a huge space on bookshelves, and deservedly so. Whether it’s the recent YA fantasy, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh that retells a Korean folktale or the recent adult…

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