Reviews: HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford

Well, real life got in the way, and we’re a bit behind in posting reviews.  Slowly, but surely, we’ll catch up.  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is a popular book these days, with several of you posting reviews recently.

Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea wrote:

I thought Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet:  A Novel was a very good debut novel, there were parts when the story seemed to drag, but in the end I was I happy that I chose this book. (Read her entire review here.)

Nise’ from Under The Boardwalk wrote:

A wonderful, emotional story that was a page turner as I had to find out what happened. (Read her entire review here.)

Mari from MariReads wrote:

The novel jumps from the time of the war to 1986. Which usually I don’t like, but here it works well in setting the tone of the book. You get to see him as a young kid and experience his life in Chinatown and around Japantown of Seattle during this difficult and sad time in American history. You then see how different his life is as an adult and parent as he searches for items that once belonged to Keiko. (Read her entire review here.)

Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty wrote:

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a delightful and tragic book all in one. It is full of hope even during the direst of moments. Crossing over time lines, the novel goes back and forth between the sort of present (1986) and the past (World War II). It is the story of Henry Lee, a young Chinese-American growing up in Seattle, Washington, and an older Henry, who is searching for something even he is not sure he will find and trying to piece his life together as he makes peace with the past. (Read her entire review here.)

Kris from Not Enough Books wrote:

I loved learning about this aspect of WWII. It’s something we, as Americans, know happened but for the younger generations, we don’t hear about it. It’s not something that is readily talked about. When I think of WWII I think of the Nazi’s and their concentration camp. I loved that this book was from a different viewpoint and it showed what happened and what those times were like for an Asian living in the US. (Read her entire review here.)

Helenita from A Reading Collection wrote:

Now a national best seller, this debut novel has become one of my favorite books. Set in Seattle during the 1940’s, this is the story of Henry Lee, son of Chinese immigrants. Though he is an American citizen, he endures the prejudice of his peers. Yet he gains a friend in Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American. (Read her entire review here.)

I hope to read this one at some point myself.

**Attention participants:  remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**