Samantha Parker
Northwest Asia Weekly
Mimi Lee between the lines
Author: Jennifer J. Chow
Berkeley, 2020
Things are going well with Mimi Lee. Her pet grooming business is booming, her relationship with her boyfriend Josh is going well, and she also has a smart talking cat. Therefore, when Mimi passes by the elementary school where her sister works, all she expects is a fun girls night with Alice. The last thing she wants to happen is a murder investigation. But this is exactly what happened when Mimi and Alice found a school teacher, Helen Reed, collapsed in her car.
As the last person to see Helen alive, the police are treating Alice as the main suspect. So Mimi knew she had to work hard to clear her sister’s name—especially with a detective. Brown (who listed Mimi as a suspect in a previous murder) led the case. When she spied around, Mimi found a long list of suspects. With the help of Marshmallow, the aforementioned talking cat, and a cute kitten named Nimbus who appeared on the scene, Mimi needed to work quickly to find the bottom of the case.
In the second part of the Sassy Cat mystery series, everything is related to Mimi and her sister. Zhou did a good job in the interaction between the two women, especially Mimi as the older sister. We see that Mimi will do her best to protect Alice. This reminds me of my relationship with my sister, and the dynamics between other sisters I know, and whether any of us would behave like Mimi. Obviously, the situation in this story is exaggerated, but I believe we will do our best to be there for each other.
In addition, readers can see how the relationship between Mimi and Marshmallow developed. It’s interesting to see how they reconcile with each other and deal with the case together. This makes me look forward to seeing what kind of adventure this pair will take in the future.
yolk
Cai Meili
Simon & Schuster Press, 2021
Sisters Jayne and June Baek Can’t be different. Three-year-old June is a typical eldest son, with a high-paying job in the financial industry, and a beautiful but soulless apartment (according to Jayne). If you ask Joan, Jayne is emotionally retarded, narcissistic, has poor taste for men, needs to live his own life, and needs to stop wasting his parents’ money.
The two used to be inseparable, but now, even if they move from Seoul to San Antonio, Texas, to New York, they hardly know how to move around each other.
But then, June got cancer, and Jayne was the only one who could help her.
Suddenly, the two sisters who hadn’t really spoken for many years were thrown together by the environment and had to find a way to become sisters again. In the exchange of identities, what you get is an interesting and touching story about what family means.
“Yolk” is told from Jayne’s perspective. As a younger sister, I am connected with her on many levels-from her insecurities about having a more successful sister, to the desire to keep things in June, Because she was embarrassed and didn’t want to be tried. There are also some small things, such as June will tell (rather than ask) Jayne to do something for her, and Jayne will do it automatically, such as giving her sister a glass of water. This is definitely what happened to me and my sister.
Regarding the relationship between “Yolk” and the sisters, one thing I particularly appreciate is that June’s illness may make Jayne worry and fear for her sister, but it did not prevent her from yelling at June and fighting with her. Illness will change how others think about you and the way they treat you, so seeing Jayne sometimes forgets this instead of giving Joan any special treatment, because they have been alienated for several years.
The person we want to find
Author: He Qiong
Roaring Brooke Press, 2021
For three years, Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island and can’t remember how she got there, nor can she remember her life before she arrived. The only thing she knew was that she had a younger sister named Kai—somewhere in the world—he wanted to find her.
Elsewhere is the 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara. She lives in an eco-city, built to protect the people of the earth, but due to climate change, it is now necessary to protect them from the increasing natural disasters. In exchange, residents must spend at least one-third of their time in the detention cabin and conduct business in a virtual way to reduce the impact on the environment.
The introverted Casey doesn’t mind the lifestyle, but her more outgoing sister Celia prefers to spend time in the outside world. However, the last thing no one thought of was that Celia went out on a boat and never returned. Three months later, Casey finally gave up hope and accepted the fact that her sister must have died. But this does not prevent Kasey from tracing Celia’s last step. Casey’s continued journey is full of twists and turns, and every turn will surprise readers.
“The Ones” tells about the love between two sisters and their efforts to find each other. He did a good job showing that you don’t have to always agree with someone or have everything in common with them to build a strong bond. Cee and Kasey are two very different people, but their love is so strong that they will cross the ocean for each other.
In addition to the fetters of the two sisters, the story has a science fiction side. Although things certainly tend to be fictional, the reasons for their existence in his universe-climate change and the destruction of the planet caused by mankind-are very real. The measures taken here may be extreme, but due to the crazy heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and the current annual wildfire season, after all, the stagnation cabin and the eco-city seem not far away. ν
Samantha can be info@nwasianweekly.com
