Author: Andrew Xia FukudaRelease Date: April 27, 2010
Pages: 214 (ARC)
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Where I Got It: For review from author
A loner in his all-white high school, Chinese-born Xing (pronounced “Shing”) is a wallflower longing for acceptance. His isolation is intensified by his increasingly awkward and undeniable crush on his only friend, the beautiful and brilliant Naomi Lee. Xing’s quiet adolescent existence is rattled when a series of disappearances rock his high school and fear ripples through the blue collar community in which he lives. Amidst the chaos surrounding him, only Xing, alone on the sidelines of life, takes notice of some peculiar sightings around town. He begins to investigate with the hope that if he can help put an end to the disappearances, he will finally win the acceptance for which he has longed. However, as Xing draws closer to unveiling the identity of the abductor, he senses a noose of suspicion tightening around his own neck. While Xing races to solve the mystery and clear his name, Crossing hurtles readers towards a chilling climax.
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I have some mixed feelings about Crossing.
When I was contacted to review Crossing, I was skeptical as it's not my usual type of book. But the plot managed to keep me interesting and guessing until the end. It was a raw story of an immigrant's life in America.
The main problem I had with it was our main character, Xing. At the beginning of the book I liked him, but as it went on it was made clear that even the reader can't take his word. He lies almost compulsively and does odd, impulsive things without giving any reason as to why. So I didn't really connect with him, no matter how hard I tried. There are very few other characters, and we didn't get to know them very well.
The writing was truly brilliant. It sucked me in even when the characters failed to. I will be interested in reading what Andrew Xia Fukuda puts out next.
The ending was vague, sad, but somewhat satisfying. Overall, not too bad. I've read a lot of other reviews raving about this novel, so maybe my problem with Crossing is my issue.
Nice review!!! I really wanted to read Crossing...I am glad that it is one of those "keep-you-guessing" books, but, (I'm like you) it's not really my type of story. But I will definitley check it out! Thanks for the review! =D
ReplyDeleteI read this book last week and I also had mixed feelings. I loved the writing. The story didn't seem to drag, and I was interested the whole time. I didn't seem to notice that he was so untrustworthy. Either I didn't pay enough attention, or I just felt so sorry for him.
ReplyDeleteI HATED the ending though. Ugh! It was like the author ran out of paper and he figured he would go with what he had. I expected a bit more considering how much I liked the rest of the book.
Hmm.. Maybe I will put this one on the back burner. Great review
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