“The Bride Test” - Helen Hoang
✈️ This is the second book in a series that seems to be all over Instagram these days. The premise of the first book (“The Kiss Quotient”) just didn’t seem interesting to me, but several bookstagrammers assured me that I could pick up book 2 without issue. Book 3 does revolve around a secondary character (and possibly the most likable) in book 2, so there is that continuity to consider.
✈️ After all the glowing reviews of this series, I am disappointed to say that I had to force myself to finish this one. It was all so very predictable. TBT is full of one-dimensional characters and a tiresome plot. I’m not much of a romance reader, but Hoang is apparently known for her steamy scenes which she uses liberally to punctuate the plot. To me, it read like a sentence with too many <!!!>.
✈️ Esme Tran is an impoverished, biracial Vietnamese woman who snatches a highly unorthodox chance to better her family’s lives. Khai, is Esme’s love interest as arranged by his mega-meddlesome (but goodhearted) mom. Khai has Asperger’s Syndrome and has difficulty processing emotions as well as sensory issues. Esme has exactly one summer to convince Khai that a) he is capable of loving another person, and b) that person should be her.
✈️ What is noteworthy about this series, is that Hoang anchors the stories with characters on the Autism spectrum. I believe Charlotte in the Lady Sherlock series would be considered a neuro-atypical main character, but TBT is the first book I have read where it is explicitly so. I think it’s important to note in terms of authenticity, that Hoang herself has Asperger’s Syndrome.
✈️ Unfortunately, being neuro-atypical seemed to be the most salient feature about Khai. I’m in no way qualified to assess portrayals of characters with Asperger’s Syndrome, but to me, it read as though Khai’s sensory complexities were oversimplified; that they could be overcome simply by sex appeal and persistence.
✈️ Start to finish, the plot is far-fetched. A major issue I had was that savvy and clever Esme never bothered to google Khai, or learn more about autism? She is entirely out of her element in the U.S., and yet she thrives, but we are to believe that she was this clueless?I’d have thought she’d google him before she set foot in an airport. Also, it’s a minor point, but as a former immigration attorney, I have to point out that American student visas would not permit Esme to bring her mother and grandmother to the U.S. I’m all for happy endings, but inaccuracy annoys me.
Comments
Post a Comment