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A review by ambershelf
Rental House by Weike Wang
5.0
4.5/5 ARC gifted by the publisher
As Keru, the only daughter of strict Chinese immigrant parents, and Nate, from a rural and white working-class family, navigate their marriage with two perfectly planned family vacations, the results are disastrous and revealing. How strong is a family when faced with conflicts from in-laws, debts, and wayward siblings?
Weike Wang reminds me, yet again, why I love her so much. Her humor is my kind of humor—sharp, understated, and perfectly timed. RENTAL HOUSE is the kind of book that made me laugh out loud while also leaving me quietly reflective, precisely what I look for in literary fiction.
At its core, RENTAL HOUSE explores an interracial relationship—this is exactly what I meant when I said I want deeper explorations of Asian women and white men relationships. It's not just surface-level tension or stereotypes; Wang dives into the complex dynamics, subtle power imbalances, and cultural dissonance in a way that feels authentic and deeply nuanced. As an Asian immigrant married to an Asian American partner, I still found so much of myself in this story—especially in the narrator's moments of self-doubt and humor-tinged introspection.
Some of the parents' experiences and comments also struck close to home. Wang captures the absurdity and pain of the immigrant experience with a clarity that made me both wince and nod in recognition. And her exploration of the so-called white "middle class" is razor-sharp—not just about their privilege but also about the erosion of that identity altogether.
One of my favorite things about Weike Wang's books is how they seem to match the stages of my life perfectly. I read CHEMISTRY right after graduating, which spoke to that disorienting post-PhD uncertainty. Then, JOAN IS OKAY came during the pandemic when I had my own existential crisis about work and healthcare. And now, RENTAL HOUSE feels like a mirror to my mid-30s—navigating marriage, living a DINK life, and pondering what comes next.
Wang's brilliance is in her ability to make you feel seen while also forcing you to think. RENTAL HOUSE is another testament to her gift for writing stories that are as hilarious as they are devastating, as specific as they are universal. Highly recommend.
As Keru, the only daughter of strict Chinese immigrant parents, and Nate, from a rural and white working-class family, navigate their marriage with two perfectly planned family vacations, the results are disastrous and revealing. How strong is a family when faced with conflicts from in-laws, debts, and wayward siblings?
Weike Wang reminds me, yet again, why I love her so much. Her humor is my kind of humor—sharp, understated, and perfectly timed. RENTAL HOUSE is the kind of book that made me laugh out loud while also leaving me quietly reflective, precisely what I look for in literary fiction.
At its core, RENTAL HOUSE explores an interracial relationship—this is exactly what I meant when I said I want deeper explorations of Asian women and white men relationships. It's not just surface-level tension or stereotypes; Wang dives into the complex dynamics, subtle power imbalances, and cultural dissonance in a way that feels authentic and deeply nuanced. As an Asian immigrant married to an Asian American partner, I still found so much of myself in this story—especially in the narrator's moments of self-doubt and humor-tinged introspection.
Some of the parents' experiences and comments also struck close to home. Wang captures the absurdity and pain of the immigrant experience with a clarity that made me both wince and nod in recognition. And her exploration of the so-called white "middle class" is razor-sharp—not just about their privilege but also about the erosion of that identity altogether.
One of my favorite things about Weike Wang's books is how they seem to match the stages of my life perfectly. I read CHEMISTRY right after graduating, which spoke to that disorienting post-PhD uncertainty. Then, JOAN IS OKAY came during the pandemic when I had my own existential crisis about work and healthcare. And now, RENTAL HOUSE feels like a mirror to my mid-30s—navigating marriage, living a DINK life, and pondering what comes next.
Wang's brilliance is in her ability to make you feel seen while also forcing you to think. RENTAL HOUSE is another testament to her gift for writing stories that are as hilarious as they are devastating, as specific as they are universal. Highly recommend.