Maxwell Suzuki
  • Home
  • Books
  • Writing / Art
  • Reviews / Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Books
  • Writing / Art
  • Reviews / Blog
  • Contact

Reviews / Blog

Review of Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

4/7/2022

0 Comments

 
​Searching for Sylvie Lee is a novel by Jean Kwok which focuses on the disappearance and death of the character Sylvie Lee in the Netherlands. It is split into three narratives: the mother, Amy who is the sister, and Sylvie Lee before she goes missing. I found the threads of Asian themes worked well to show the alienation and distancing that Asians face in other countries. And I felt that the story was elegant in continuing to hold tension about Sylvie’s death up until the last moments. The reports, phone calls, messages, and emails felt natural in the novel and worked to vary the way the story was told. I enjoyed the drama, suspense, and action that existed, but I felt there were a few things that didn’t work as well.
 
First, I think that the thread that follows the mother is too static and acts to slow down and work against the narrative. For the majority of the story, up until the last chapter where the mother is the narrator, nothing happens to her or there isn’t a driving force for her. I think Kwok may have also realized this too as the chapters with the mother are barely three pages long each. There isn’t much ground covered in those moments, and so I didn’t feel personally attached to the character. And while I realize that she can’t speak English well, I didn’t think the intentional use of improper grammar worked to enliven the character. If anything, the grammar forced the mother character into an Asian stereotype. I would’ve liked to either have seen more of the mother in moments with Willem or her own struggles, or taken her narrative thread out altogether. The only thing that would require reworking is her reveal about her affair with Willem, but that could just be added in as dialogue.
 
I had initially enjoyed the sayings that all the characters used that acted as direct metaphors to the situations, but I felt that there were far too many. The metaphors lost all their subtly and felt far too heavy-handed. For example, the lines, “’You guys are bad influences. Those who associate with dogs get fleas,’” are redundant even though one is a metaphor. It would make sense to me if only a single character said these lines, but the grandmother, mother, Amy, and Sylvie all say them at one point, and so it felt like their meanings were deluded.
 
Overall, I enjoyed the suspense and the drama that unfolded in the novel. Generally, the weaving of the narratives held up, and I found myself reading that last hundred pages in a sprint. Though, the novel doesn’t come without its faults, which I felt worked to slow down the pace and box in certain characters.
 
Final Rating: 3/5
0 Comments

    Author

    Maxwell Suzuki is a writer, poet, and photographer based in Los Angeles.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021

    Categories

    All
    1/5
    1.5/5
    2/5
    2.5/5
    3/5
    3.5/5
    4/5
    4.5/5
    5/5
    Ada Limón
    Ada Zhang
    Adrie Rose
    AI
    Aldous Huxley
    Alexander Chee
    Ali Araghi
    Andrés N. Ordorcia
    Anne Lamott
    Anne Sexton
    Anthony Veasna So
    Augusto Higa Oshiro
    Austin Kleon
    Benjamin Cavell
    Blog
    Bob Kan
    Book Reviews
    Brandon Taylor
    Brett Biebel
    Brit Bennett
    Bryan Washington
    Caleb Femi
    Carlos Fonseca
    Cathy Park Hong
    Charles Jensen
    Chen Chen
    Chris Santiago
    Christine Angot
    Clara Drummond
    Cleo Qian
    Colson Whitehead
    Comic
    Cormac McCarthy
    Dang Thuy Tram
    David Martinez
    David St. John
    Delia Owens
    Devon Capizzi
    Dianne Suess
    Douglas Stuart
    Édouard Louis
    Elie Wiesel
    Elizabeth Genovise
    Esteban Rodriguez
    Ethan Chua
    Faith Shearin
    Fiction
    Frank O'Hara
    Gabrielle Zevin
    Garth Greenwell
    George Saunders
    George Watsky
    Hanya Yanagihara
    Haruki Murakami
    Hiroko Oyamada
    Interview
    James Baldwin
    Jane Austen
    Jay Aquinas Thompson
    Jean Kwok
    Jen Michalski
    Jinwoo Chong
    John Green
    John Steinbeck
    Jonathan Escoffery
    Jose Hernandez Diaz
    Joy Kogawa
    Juhea Kim
    Julie Otsuka
    June Jordan
    Justin Torres
    Katsu Kokichi
    Kaveh Akbar
    Kenzaburō Ōe
    Kiese Laymon
    Kiley McLaughlin
    K-Ming Chang
    Kobo Abe
    Kurt Vonnegut
    Lafcadio Hearn
    L.A. Johnson
    Lan Samantha Chang
    Laura Van Den Berg
    Lawrence Matsuda
    Ling Ma
    Madeline Miller
    Magazine
    Maggie Nelson
    Marc Lamont Hill
    Masaki Fujihata
    Matt Broaddus
    Matthew Salesses
    Melissa Broder
    Michael B. Tager
    Michelle Zauner
    Mike Fu
    Morgan Talty
    Nardine Taleb
    Natalie Diaz
    Natsuo Kirino
    Nick Flynn
    Non Fiction
    Ocean Vuong
    Osamu Dazai
    Oscar Wilde
    Percival Everett
    Philip Smith
    Photography
    Poetry
    Prageeta Sharma
    Prince Shakur
    Rafael Zepeda
    Reading
    Richard Phillips
    Richie Hofmann
    Rooja Mohassessy
    Ryunosuke Akutagawa
    Sally Rooney
    Sarah Fawn Montgomery
    Sean Enfield
    Sequoia Nagamatsu
    Sherman Alexie
    Stephan Talty
    Stephen King
    Steven Pressfield
    Ted Chiang
    Thomas Grattan
    Toni Morrison
    Tony Tulathimutte
    Torrey Peters
    Tracy K. Smith
    Translation
    Truman Capote
    Vanessa Chan
    Victoria Chang
    Viet Thanh Nguyen
    Virginia Woolf
    William Faulkner
    William Maxwell
    Writing
    Yoko Ogawa
    Yoshiko Uchida
    Yukio Mishima

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly