ARC Review: The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh

Genre ~ contemporary fiction

Featuring ~ debut, family drama, Vietnamese culture, racism, a curse and a lot of cursing

POV ~ multiple 3rd person

Release date ~ September 6, 2022

Page count ~ 271

Audio length ~ 9 hours 29 minutes

My rating ~ 3.5⭐

My review:

I appreciated the note at the beginning stating how she wanted to make Vietnamese American Women a forefront to a story, since normally they are background characters in fiction. “Vietnamese women are happy, loud, stubborn, angry, dramatic and loving. We are everything”. All of those elements definitely came through in this book at one time or another.

Family drama mama! There is a long cast of characters to keep track of that I can’t even begin to name them all. It was a nice added touch in the e-book to have a family tree to help keep track of all the characters, however I wasn’t about to go back and forth on my kindle, so a print form would be best to view this.

Overall, this was a solid debut that dove deep into the Vietnamese culture and how racism plays a factor in their lives. I am always happy to read about cultures I am not familiar with.

I was able to listen to the final version as well, so I went back and forth reading and listening.
Narrated Vyvy Nguyen by for 9 hours and 29 minutes. I think she did a lovely job and really brought the story to life, although it sounded like she was really yelling at me at times.

*Thanks to the author, Atria Book and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

Add to your never ending TBR  ~ goodreads

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read it.

Book blurb:

Everyone in Orange County’s Little Saigon knew that the Duong sisters were cursed.

It started with their ancestor Oanh who dared to leave her marriage for true love—so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons.​

Oanh’s current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. She’s divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, she’s estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the middle and the mediator) and Khuyen Lam (the youngest who swears she just runs humble coffee shops and nail salons, not Little Saigon’s underground). Though Mai’s three adult daughters, Priscilla, Thuy, and Thao, are successful in their careers (one of them is John Cho’s dermatologist!), the same can’t be said for their love life. Mai is convinced they might drive her to an early grave.

Desperate for guidance, she consults Auntie Hua, her trusted psychic in Hawaii, who delivers an unexpected prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son. This prophecy will reunite estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins—for better or for worse.

A multi-narrative novel brimming with levity and candor, The Fortunes of Jaded Women is about mourning, meddling, celebrating, and healing together as a family. It shows how Vietnamese women emerge victorious, even if the world is against them.

Connect with Carolyn ➡ Goodreads ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Website

Connect with me ⬇