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Mythology. Humor (Fiction.) Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie's every waking thought. But when she discovers she's a celestial spirit who's powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered. Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie's outrageous transformation�??sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively�??as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell-spawn. This epic YA debut draws from Chinese folklore, features a larger-than-life heroine, and perfectly balances the realities of Genie's grounded high school life with the absurd supernatural world she finds herself commanding. … (more)
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Genie Lo is tall, very tall, and she possesses confidence in her abilities to handle school and life, which serve her
Quentin Sun appears suddenly in Genie's life. Odd things happen around him. The first time she sees him, he's being beaten up. She tries to stop the aggressors and then finds it odd that he is unharmed after such a beating. He follows her home, so she runs home only to find him already there charming her mother. How did he get there? Then, a weird man appears another time and they proceed to fight. Oddly, with each strange encounter Genie finds a new talent. He finally explains that he is the Monkey King from Chinese folklore and demons are coming to the Bay Area to take over. They need to fight them together because she 's not what she thinks she is.
It truly is a really fun novel keeping you smiling at Genie. She doesn't give Quentin an inch even though he is THE Monkey King.. Enjoy this entertaining novel and have fun with it!
I LOVED THIS BOOK.
Like omg. I loved literally almost everything about it. I read it in less than a day because I couldn't stop. IT WAS SO GOOD.
First off: the characters were so amazing. They were
Second: HOLY GOOD PLOTTING AND PACING BATMAN!
One of my most oft-repeated critiques of YA books is about pacing. The pacing is always slightly...off, in a lot of books, which can impact the overall success of the plot. BUT THIS BOOK OMG. The pacing is LEGIT ON POINT. It starts fairly in media res but then it steps back a bit, rounds out its world, then heads right back into the action. It has well-defined peaks and valleys as far as plot, quiet character moments and big fight sequences happening in a rhythm that makes it eminently readable. I wish we could have seen more demon-fighting scenes but I ALSO understand how and why too many of them could drag the story down. Yee has paced this book so well it's like...I can't stop flailing about it.
Third: I LOVE THE MYTHOLOGY
THIS IS WORLDBUILDING DONE RIGHT.
It makes sense! Like it questions its own internal logic while at the same time keeping that logic consistent. The creatures and gods and demons all exist in a way that MAKES SENSE.
Fourth: THE ENDING.
Books in a series can have issues with endings because you're setting up other books of course, which means the current book can always read somewhat...unfinished. But this book doesn't do that; this book closes up its own storyline really well while setting up storylines for future books at the same time. You don't feel cheated; there are character arcs and lessons learned and goals accomplished but there are also lots of reasons to DESPERATELY NEED the next book.
My one criticism is I wish Genie and Yunie's relationship had been given a bit more attention, a bit more development. I wish they'd had more scenes together to emphasize their closeness. It would've been wonderful to see them interact more but hopefully we'll get that in upcoming books.
ANYWAY IN CLOSING READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY
-This may sound weird but this book was cute and adorable.
-I first heard of Journey to the West when I watched the anime Gensōmaden Saiyūki. I liked that anime; and it was far from being cute and adorable. I also had such a crush on Genjo Sanzo. He was as far from Xuanzang as he could get,
-I don't have an issue with the stereotypical depiction of an Asian mom. I'm giving the author the benefit of the doubt here since might've experienced the same or runs in the same societal circles and expectations.
-I liked Genie. She was a no-nonsense, solid type of girl who just would get to the thick grit of things.
-Will there be a sequel?
The acting was very overly dramatic as Chinese TV series in that period (maybe it still is today – I haven’t watched any new ones), the make-up and special effects horrendous (although
And that’s where I learnt about Sun Wukong (the monkey king), Zhu Bajie (part-human part-pig), Tang Sanzang (the monk), and Sha Wujing (an exiled Imperial Guard) as they traveled to obtain… ok I have no idea what the journey is about, I just remember that they always got into some trouble with yaoguai (demons) and there would be fighting and whatnot.
So it was an absolute delight for me when I learnt that this legend was incorporated into this YA book.
Eugenia “Genie” Lo is just one hell of a feisty character:
“What you get from me is jack and squat, regardless of whether or not you understand. Ming bai le ma, dickhead?”
She’s a 16-year-old Chinese-American who learns that she’s the reincarnation of the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the magical staff wielded by Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
Yes somehow a staff has become a human. Crazy, fun, but so is this book.
And it turns out that Quentin, the new kid in school, is Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
That however means nothing to Genie.
“You’re Chinese and you don’t know me?” he sputtered. “That’s like an American child not knowing Batman!”
“You’re Chinese Batman?”
“No! I’m stronger than Batman, and more important, like — like. Tian na, how do you not know who I am?”
I love how Yee has blended this Chinese legend with American high school life. It’s charming, just hilarious, and such a rolling good time of a read. Also there are demons.
Author was born in the US. This is the first book and there is a second book coming out in 2020. THE IRON WILL OF GENIE LO. (1/2020) Available for preorde
The big "reveal" towards the end was predictable but it was still good escapist YA fantasy.
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