The publishing story of this novel and its setting really intrigued me but I just can't get into it. For lack of a better description, the writing is just a little too precious for my taste.

The first half of the book broke my heart, made me smile, charmed me and, at one point, gave me an anxiety attack. The second half (chapter twenty-three) gave me post-traumatic flashbacks, so i skipped a lot of pages. I flipped back and forth so I could piece together what happened. The way a major plot point happened was underwhelming. I wanted drrraaaama, aaaction, and to completely bawl. Multiple vowels added for emphasis. Instead, I sighed in disappointment and actually at one point, rolled my eyes. The epilogue was well-put together. ( )

Why this book? I just watched Better Days (currently a Best International Feature Film nominee) starring Zhou Dongyu, who was also in Under the Hawthorn Tree, based on this book. Also, the reviews of this book are so polarized, I want to see which side I end up on.

I enjoyed reading this book about life and love in China under a communist dictatorship. The main character, Jingqui, was very naive and innocent, almost too much so, but still had many great qualities. The romance itself was almost believable, but not quite. I found the translation to be very simple and slightly awkward in places; I don't know if she was trying to remain too true to the Chinese novel or if there were some difficulties with word meanings. I would recommend this book to readers of romance and those who like learning about foreign places.

* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads. ( )

The expression “May you be cursed by living in interesting times” has been attributed to the Chinese. No doubt by their history, they have had their share of interesting times. Political upheaval, war, revolution has dotted their history. But the Chinese are also human like us. They endure love, hate, gossip, desire and so forth like we do. Ai Mi’s Under The Hawthorn Tree not only enlightens us in the west about life in China in the 1970s but also enlighten us about the human condition in general, making us not feel alone with our fears and desires.

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