Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined.
Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny's lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can't stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan.
When Danny digs deeper into his parents' past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him.
MY OPINION: *****
BONUS Summer Reading Challenge #6: A book with the LGBTQ+ community
For Pride Month, I read one of the most amazing books I've read in a while. Because I've been in such a bad reading slump (seriously, the worst one of my life), I loved this book so much that lo and behold, I rated it
six stars. It's been a while since that's happened and I'm so glad that I came across this book.
There was such a large amount of things that happened in this book that I can't even explain it. My feelings about this book cannot even be put into words. I loved it so much and finished it too quickly. I am keen on reading Gilbert's other book after this one, especially because it's an award winner.
I went into this book not at all knowing what to expect and ended up more than surprised and pleased.
CHARACTERS
Danny Cheng just got into his dream school, RISD (Rhode Island School of Design). He's a talented artist who has worked his whole life to go to the best design school in the country. He's known his whole life that his parents have a large amount of secrets. When he finds a box with strange names he's never heard of and pictures and articles about said people, he starts to question his parent's pasts. He also has his own secrets, such as his confusing feelings for his best friend, Harry, and the things he did for him, despite the fact that he was hurting his other friend, Sandra. He constantly asks himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend and Danny's other best friend, Regina.
Harry Wong is a hardcore smart and academic Asian. I feel as if many Asian parents have very high expectations for their kids when concerning careers and college. Harry's dream is to go to Princeton University, the only Ivy League that rejected his sister. He's been student class president since first grade and on top of that, he's popular. Everyone likes him. He's perfect and Danny both admires and (I personally think) secretly envies him for what he has and his ease with everything.
Regina is an aspiring journalist who also deals with "tiger" parents who expect a lot from her. Her dream is to go to Northwestern, the best college for journalism in the country but her parents don't want her to. Her best friend, Sandra, left her and she's never quite recovered from it.
WRITING
The writing in here is not only beautifully written, but also provocative and informative and real. I truly felt everything that the characters felt because of the tangible emotion that Gilbert managed to convey through her words. I loved everything about it. The texting at the end from Harry was so simple and yet still managed to KILL me. You could feel the emotions and the thoughts of Danny and you completely understood his pain and guilt and confusion.
OTHER THOUGHTS
I loved how true the Asian traditions in this book was. They are constantly eating rice and dumplings hahaha, and they expect a lot from their children. I also loved how this book showed a spectrum of different types of Asian parents: some were extreme Tiger parents and some (like Danny's) were low-key and just wanted to see their son succeed.
OVERALL
I cannot believe everything that happened in this book. By the end, it was like I was shell-shocked. I finished this sometime in the wee hours of the morning and I sat there in the dark thinking about everything that just happened. I won't spoil anything but the secret his parents are keeping from him are truly earth-shattering and I couldn't believe everything that happened. The nascent romance throughout the book was not the highlight, believe it or not coming from ME. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing, jaw-dropping, romantic, and dramatic read, full of Asian characters and a large turn of events in the span of 350 pages.
Main Character: Danny
Sidekick(s): Harry, Regina, parents, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, secrets, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book is all very real to life
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