A review by cheuksin
Soy Sauce for Beginners by Kirstin Chen

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

  • Interesting small introduction to Singapore culture 
  • What happened between Paul and Sumiko?
  • Did Paul actually have a fetish for east-Asian women?
  • I feel like we’ve to easily push past the fact he started a relationship with his 21 year old research assistant/student,  and the power imbalance there   “His page listed his name, the introductory class he taught at Berkeley, and a single posting: “Pretty cool dude, but flirts with female students.””
  • Some parts were written too fast paced especially 
      Gretchen’s ‘relationship’ with James
     
  • I hated the way Gretchen treated Frankie, just because Frankie doesn’t derive all her self worth from a relationship with a man i.e shaming her for not going on dates 
  • Considering the title is soy sauce for beginners, I thought there would be at least one scene  of someone cooking with the soy sauce (besides the soy braised peanuts mention)
  • Gretchen is an ugly name
  • Gretchen also isn’t likeable or hateable 
  • Categorically subpar