Transplants

by Daniel Tam-Claiborne

A harrowing and poignant novel following two young women in pursuit of kinship and self-discovery who yearn to survive in a world that doesn’t know where either of them belong.

On a university campus in rural Qixian, Lin and Liz make an improbable pair: Lin, a Chinese student closer to her menagerie of pets than to her peers, and Liz, a Chinese American teacher grieving her mother’s sudden death. They’re each met with hostility—Lin by her classmates, who mock her for dating a white foreigner; Liz by her fellow English teachers, who exploit their privilege—and forge an unlikely friendship.

After a startling betrayal that results in Lin’s expulsion, they swap places. Lin becomes convinced to pursue her degree at a community college near Liz’s Ohio hometown, while Liz searches for answers as to what drove her parents to leave China before she was born. But when a global catastrophe deepens the fissures between modern-day China and an increasingly fractured United States, Lin and Liz—far from home and estranged from themselves—are forced to confront both the familiar and the strange in each other.

Unspooling over the course of a single extraordinary year in our not-yet-distant past and in small towns from Dandong to Deadwood, Transplants is a piercing story of migration, belonging, and the parts of ourselves that get lost in translation. Alternating between Liz and Lin’s perspectives, it is a lyrical and moving exploration of race, love, power, and freedom that illuminates the limits and possibilities of what can happen when we open ourselves to the unknown and reveals how even our fiercest differences may bring us closer than we might ever imagine.

Genres: Fiction, China, Audiobook, Contemporary

256 pages, Hardcover

Published May 13, 2025

About the author

Daniel Tam-Claiborne is a multiracial writer, multimedia producer, and nonprofit director. He is the author of the short story collection What Never Leaves, and his writing has appeared in Catapult, Literary Hub, Off Assignment, The Rumpus, HuffPost, and elsewhere. A 2022 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, he has also received support from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Kundiman, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and others. Daniel holds degrees from Oberlin College, Yale University, and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he lives with his wife and daughter in Seattle.

Reviews

[Jo Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a little bit torn on my rating. For huge chunks of this book I thought I’d rate it four or five stars but something nagged at the back of my mind, I can’t quite put my finger on it, it lacked authenticity. I actually initially thought I’d dnf but I went back to the beginning and tried again, I’m glad I did, as I think I’d have been sorry to miss out.

There were lots of really interesting moments, about the meaning of belonging, how finding your place in the world varies greatly from person to person and experience to experience. Lin is a Chinese student in America struggling to fit in. Liz is a Chinese American teacher in China struggling to fit in, while their paths do cross the main points of the story are of their lives separately.

Glad I didn’t miss this. But I wasn’t hooked either.

The narration was nice!

Huge thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook which is available now 🎧

[Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lin is a Chinese person who doesn’t fit in with her university peers in rural China. Liz is a Chinese American who doesn’t fit in with the other white, foreign English teachers at the same university. Lin dreams of having more freedom to be herself without the judgment of others, and Liz dreams of an alternate life where her parents didn’t immigrate to America. Both feeling like outsiders in their own home, they transplant themselves to each other’s respective countries.

Transplants is one of those rare books where the writing is well done and eloquent, yet the story is action-packed without meandering along. There’s a lot of code-switching to Mandarin (grateful that I took Chinese but you would be fine if you didn’t!), and both heroines are complex and unconventional, wrestling with their place in contemporary society and their sense of identity. I think that many Asian/Asian Americans will be able to relate to being from two different worlds and not fitting into either, and the struggles that both protagonists face are very real, especially in the context of the pandemic and lockdown. I personally always felt distant from my hometown, so I definitely related to this book.

Fans of Ling Ma’s Severance will also like this one due to the common themes of being uprooted and facing a pandemic.

Special thanks to Post Hill Press, Regalo Press, and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest, independent review.

[Cal Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Transplants leaves a lasting impression on me because it tells stories that haven't been told before. The China expat literature world is a niche world, but it's centered around urban experiences. Both Liz's and Lin's stories occur mainly in rural spaces. Lin's story, from Anytown, Ohio through to National Park campgrounds, is particularly unconventional but reflects a reality in the changing of Chinese student experience in America. Through the well-illustrated backdrops of a small Chinese college town and rural America, the writing truly makes the reader care about the consequences suffered by the main characters. The characters are flawed and their lives are rarely glamorous, but there's emotional depth interlaced with the descriptions of the banal aspects of their experiences.

I wish the secondary characters were more fleshed out. Some of the villainous characters were not only shallowly written, but their actions hard to believe. The Chinese American group at the university and the brother Phil particularly stand out.

But the book stands out for its unique take on an important and underserved niche, the relationship between the US and China.

[Elisabeth M · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ARC via NetGalley] Tam-Claiborne dives into the themes of belonging and identity in this stunning novel, Transplants. It is such an engaging story that I found myself sitting down for hours at a time just to understand our protagonists, Liz and Lin, a little bit better and watch them grow.
T-C deftly examines the foreigner experience by juxtaposing the characters’ journeys in China and the US. While both are of Chinese descent, their experiences couldn’t be more different, and we read about the inner conflicts and nuances of cultural expectations and assumptions. I can relate to Liz, as a Chinese American with guilt for not speaking the heritage language well enough, and the very real Asian-but-not-Asian-enough turmoil.
I love the twists and journey the book takes,
traveling through both China and the states, seeing slices of life in each area, and greeting a diverse cast of characters from different backgrounds. What I found to be the most unique and fascinating about this book was that it took us into the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries with varying perspectives on the virus and its effect on daily life. This is something American literature or media hasn’t delved into yet, and I’m glad Transplants is opening up that space. Overall, I found this to be a brilliant book with lovely, imperfect characters taking ownership of their place in the world.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I picked this book solely on cover and it’s easily one of the most beautiful books I’ve read all year. The story centers around two women who are feeling lost in their cultural identity, and then between them something shocking happens and it changes the course of things for Lin.

This was an unexpected pickup for me and I really enjoyed it. Thanks Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this audiobook.

[Boooks with Tokyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4’3/5⭐️ First of all, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an arc of “Transplants”. I love reading books about the main characters’ life experiences, I found them very interesting and I learn a lot. In this case, I really really liked learning about the development of Lin’s and Liz’s lives. It’s crazy how life experiences can affect us in different ways and make a change in our life paths. Such a compelling read!

[Darya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel follows two protagonists: Lin is a freshman at a rural Chinese university, while Liz, a Chinese American who is only a few years older and a recent college graduate herself, is an English teacher there. Both struggling to fit in, they eventually become friends.

But the story is not so much about the friendship between the two of them. Rather, their story lines are juxtaposed to paint a more nuanced picture than to address the idea of friendship per se. And choosing them both as focal points allows for a lot of, let's say, mirroring: a third-tier college in China - a third-tier college in the U.S.; Lin's coming to the U.S., which she knows so well from popular culture - Liz's coming to China, with the specter of which she grew up but has never visited. Leaving behind the space where things were understandable - for a chance to find something new, especially within themselves - on both trajectories. And a lot of discussion about never quite belonging anywhere, as a human condition, I guess. (Liz could blame her in-betweenness, too Chinese for America, too American for China - but I loved that this was juxtaposed with Lin's struggles with meaningful human connections within her home culture, where she is not marked as an "Other" in ethnic or cultural terms).

What really surprised me was that this is a story with a very precise chronology - set between the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2020, - so the pandemic, the lockdowns, and the two nations' handling of the crisis is a major theme there.

This was a very satisfying read, stylistically, and a thought-provoking one. But I found myself wondering: I would really like to read this (similar, comparable) story written by a female author, since the experience of girls in particular with the demands of their cultures is such a central theme here.

I also wonder what was that about - the whole "prefers to communicate with her pets over human friends" thing that I am sure is repeated in every review, because that is how Lin is introduced to us readers in the first chapter of the novel. Based on this initial portrayal, I would expect that there's something profound going on here, but then everything that this characterization hinted at just fizzled out. Was it all just to mark her as a "weirdo", a "manic pixie girl"?

Publication date May 13 2025.

I received a review copy of this title through NetGalley. The opinion above is my own.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautifully written, deep but fast-paced story. I loved the characters and their relationships, loved the Chinese culture and language in the book! A timely and needed book about belonging and finding pieces of ourselves around the world

[Pudsey Recommends · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To migrate is to disappear and then to be reborn. To migrate is to be reborn and then never to disappear.”
—Sami Nair and Juan Goytisolo

Transplants opens with this quote and it perfectly sets the tone for a novel that is searching, layered, and deeply humane. I listen to it all in one sitting on a quiet Sunday, completely captivated from start to finish.

This poignant and thought provoking story follows two characters: Lin, a Chinese student navigating isolation and cultural tension in both rural China and later in small-town Ohio, and Liz, a Chinese American teacher grieving her mother while seeking connection in a homeland she’s never truly known. Their stories span continents, crises, and internal reckonings, exploring migration, race, belonging, and what it means to live between worlds.

Natalie Naudus, an Audie and Earphones Award-winning narrator I know for One Last Stop and She Who Became the Sun, delivers an exquisite performance. Her voice is perfectly suited to this story, capturing both Liz’s emotional introspection and Lin’s quiet resilience. She conveys every nuance with empathy and precision, bringing the characters’ pain, joy, and uncertainty to life in a way that made the listening experience deeply immersive and affecting.

Tam-Claiborne’s prose is observant and tender, drawing out the complexities of identity with care and clarity. Lin’s journey from China to America is filled with disillusionment, and yet, moments of quiet grace: “In every river, there are small fish and big fish. But they swim just the same.” He doesn’t shy away from the sting of cultural alienation: “You’re not one of us anymore. Maybe you never were.” “She decided to embrace her foreigner status: a person who belonged nowhere.” Yet, there is hope—in connection, in shared struggle: “We may never fully be accepted,” Ruth said, “but we’re something, aren’t we? This is our home, too.”Liz and Lin’s chapters are equally powerful. So many quotes I have noted down. I’m grabbing a hardcopy of the novel next.

Transplants is a lyrical, thought-provoking meditation on identity, loss, and survival. It resonated deeply with me as someone who have/lives between cultures; it will also speak to anyone looking to expand their understanding of experiences beyond their own. This is a beautiful, necessary novel, stunningly narrated by Natalie Naudus. and I highly recommend it.

Huge thanks to Blackstone Publishing – Audiobooks and NetGalley for the advance listening copy. #pudseyrecommends

[Michelle Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is such a privilege to have read this book and to share it with everyone. Daniel Tam-Claiborne's *Transplants* was not on my radar, but its beautiful cover drew me in on NetGalley. Thank goodness, because it is a beautifully written novel—so beautiful and captivating that I resented real life on more than one occasion for taking me away from reading. One of the best parts of reading is inhabiting another person's experience far removed from your own. That's why fiction can transform the world—it's such a vehicle for empathy.

*Transplants* follows two young women, Lin and Liz. Lin is attending college for the first time. She feels weighed down by the collective cultural expectations imposed by her mother and society. She finds freedom in speaking English and interacting with the young American English teachers. Liz is one of those teachers. She is Chinese Canadian and feels sadness about not fitting into China. She always feels removed, just as she does in America. In the U.S., she is too Chinese, and in China, she is too American. Lin and Liz become friends, and the story moves back and forth between them.

This book encompasses a multitude of themes—the struggle against collective identity, questions of freedom, the pandemic experiences in both China and the U.S., anti-Asian racism, and the persistent feeling of never truly belonging, regardless of location. Coupled with America's trade war with China, this book feels profoundly relevant. It also highlights the similarities between the Chinese authoritarian government and the American government of 2025.

Ultimately, the narrative revolves around two young women striving to define themselves and navigate their lives. I really recommend it! Thank you to #netgalley and Post Hill Press for the opportunity to read it early.

[Maura Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Transplants, debut novelist Daniel Tam-Claiborne has crafted an engrossing story laced with specificity of time and place. So much contemporary fiction about China is set in Shanghai; while a few chapters of Transplants take place in the metropolis, Tam-Claiborne’s knowledge and descriptive abilities really come out to shine when his story lingers in the country’s third-tier cities. Main characters Lin and Liz meet at a backwater university in Shanxi, and Liz later spends time in both Dandong and her family’s ancestral home in Fujian. In each place, Tam-Claiborne sprinkles in small details—the restaurants, the hotels, the streetscape—that add texture and convey just how far away much of China is from the flash of Shanghai. Similarly, Lin’s road trip across the United States brings readers to out-of-the-way towns and empty highways during the height of Covid stay-at-home orders in spring 2020.

Tam-Claiborne introduces Lin and Liz to each other early in Transplants, but the book is not quite the story of their friendship. Instead, the two are like pool balls that have collided and bounced off each other, the force of their meeting sending both into new directions and permanently altering the trajectories of their lives. Each young woman is trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs. Neither one has ever felt fully comfortable in her home environment, but both learn that moving to a new country involves its own kind of alienation. Tam-Claiborne skillfully and patiently brings the reader along on these two personal journeys, which are intimately intertwined yet ultimately about achieving independence.

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Danni · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow wow wow. this is a novel that hits hard and lingers long after the last page. this was set between rural China and small-town America, it follows two women—Lin, a Chinese student more comfortable with animals than people, and Liz, a Chinese American teacher grieving her mother’s death—who form an unlikely connection in a world that often pushes them to the margins. their ake a sharp turn after a betrayal leads to Lin’s expulsion from her university in Qixian. all of a sudden, Lin is navigating the unfamiliar world of an Ohio community college, while Liz retraces her family’s past in China. but as global tensions rise and cultural divides deepen, both women are forced to confront uncomfortable truths about home, identity, and what it really means to belong.

this story was so heartfelt to me cause of how effortlessly it moves between personal and political, showing the messy, often painful realities of migration, race, and power. the writing was so good that it will pull readers into Lin and Liz’s inner worlds while painting a vivid picture of the places they inhabit. it also raises important questions about privilege, assimilation, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

overall, this whole thing was about connection—the kind that defies borders and expectations. it really was a smart, deeply moving read that challenges the way we think about identity and the ties that bind us. if you love books that are as thought-provoking as they are beautifully written, this one belongs on your shelf.

thanks Post Hill Press for a copy!

[Reads by Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Remember the best parts, the most important parts, and leave the rest behind”

This novel is a powerful and lingering read, set between rural China and small-town America. It follows Lin, a socially withdrawn Chinese student, and Liz, a Chinese American teacher grieving her mother’s death. Their paths intertwine, but a betrayal leads to Lin’s expulsion from her university in China, forcing her to navigate life at an Ohio community college, while Liz retraces her family’s past in China. As global tensions rise, both women confront difficult truths about identity, belonging, and home.

The story seamlessly blends the personal and political, painting vivid portraits of the places the characters inhabit while raising important questions about privilege, assimilation, and survival. At its core, it explores deep connections that transcend borders and expectations.

Both protagonists feel like outsiders—Lin in her own country and Liz among her American colleagues—leading them to seek belonging in each other’s worlds. The novel’s writing is eloquent yet action-packed, with elements of code-switching that add authenticity. Many Asian and Asian American readers may relate to the themes of dual identity and the struggle to fit into two cultures. With its thought-provoking narrative and emotional depth, this is a must-read for those who appreciate beautifully written, socially relevant fiction.

Thank you Post Hill Press for the ARC!

[Laurie Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I did enjoy this advanced copy of "Transplants", thanks so much for the advanced copy Net Gallery. Lin and Liz are two women who are just trying to figure out who they are. Both struggle with loss, identity and place in the world. Liz travels to China to teach English, but also is on a bit of a journey, after the loss of her mother.
Liz is first generation American, and both her parents are Chinese, but she has never been. Her father left, her mother is dead, her brother is ignoring that he is Chinese, all of this help make the decision for Liz to go to China, maybe to try to find out more about her history. Lin is a Chinese college student, who excels at English and taking care of her animals, but not much else. Her mother is overbearing and concerned. She has always felt out of place, and uses college to connect with her English teachers from America. After a startling betrayal from Liz, that results in Lin’s expulsion, Lin moves to America to go to college and ends up on a real adventure. A journey of discovery and racism and the endless expanse and greed of America.

Liz stays in China and tries to learn who she is and how to stand on her own.

Set just before and then during the COVID era, this adds another layer of place and identity.
I enjoyed listening to the audio recording. The narrator did a great job, and as someone who lived in Taiwan for a while teaching English, I could relate to a lot of this and I loved hearing the Mandarin bits.

[HoneyBunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2/5 star

So grateful to NetGalley for the ARC

I went into Transplants intrigued by its premise and ready for depth, reflection, and emotional resonance. The book certainly strives for that — you can tell it wants to be meaningful, contemplative, and layered. There are moments where that effort comes through, particularly in the larger thematic gestures about identity, belonging, and human connection. The concept has potential, and readers who appreciate slow, meditative literary fiction might find more to hold onto.

That said, something about the writing style felt off to me right from the beginning. The prose leans in a direction that seems profound, but often ends up feeling more performative than genuine — like it’s trying to convince me it’s deeper than it really is. Instead of sinking into the story, I found myself kept at arm’s length, noticing the effort rather than the emotion.

There are flashes of thoughtful observation and the structure hints at interesting possibilities, but ultimately the delivery didn’t land for me. It’s a book that aims high, but I wish its substance matched its ambition.

I’d recommend it only to readers who are patient with experimental tones and don’t mind style taking precedence over engagement.

[Bloss ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This hard-hitting and poignant novel really surprised me. Despite its short length, it covers a breadth of time, distance, and themes. I really liked how this book drilled into the 'grass is greener' themes and didn't shy away from the massive racism and inequality problems that plague The States. Too often in fiction, The States are portrayed as some sort of mecca, which couldn't be further from the truth! This book examines both Chinese and American cultures, warts and all.

I came to root for Lin and Liz over the narrative. Both of them made frustrating choices at times but it was impossible not to cheer them on. But, due to their similar names, I found myself having to pause to remind myself whose story I was in. (The ARC sometimes even had the wrong names which didn't help!)

The storytelling style was straight forward, the pacing was good, and the senses of place felt strong. The writing style felt rough around the edges at times, but Tam-Claiborne shows immense promise.

I'm glad I spent time with this book! Thank you to Regalo Press for making this available to review on NetGalley.

[Rina B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

“Transplants” is the story of Liz and Lin who are both different in culture and identity, but also same in their search for true meaning and what it means to be Chinese living in China and America. The author does a good job balancing the time spent on both of their perspectives, and the pacing of the story was just right. There are a lot of moments of introspection for both characters, which could have made the story’s pacing slower, but the writing made it seem as eventful that allows the reader to stay invested in Lin and Liz’s journeys. I was particularly interested in the characters’ respective pandemic experiences, especially since it is such a recent event and each reader will definitely recall their own experiences and resonate with the feelings of uncertainty and isolation.

I appreciated the novel’s hopeful and encouraging tone, as the main characters find their confidence to forge paths for themselves where they truly feel that they belong.

[Harvee Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quiet and reclusive Lin, from a rural town in China, promises her mother to make at least one friend at her new university. Liz, who longs to be seen for who she really is, comes to China to teach English as a Second Language and to find out why her parents migrated to Ohio in the U.S. years ago.

They become friends and soon find what they are looking for when they decide to swap places - Lin to study at a college in Ohio and to travel by car to Yellowstone Park on the west coast, and Liz to travel to Shanghai with friends, where she visits her estranged father and meets a young man, Stephen.

Lin becomes more outgoing, and Liz feels seen for the first time in this new world and place, finding someone to become her partner. Both women are constrained in different ways by their pasts and the expectations of family and culture but find ways to find the freedom they search for.

The excellent character delineation of both women and the men they fall in love with, for bad or for good, carries much of the story.

[Laura Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Transplant is a solid listen, though not particularly gripping. I found it hard to fully connect with either of the main characters—their emotional journey felt distant at times, making it tough to truly empathize. I would have preferred more interaction between Lin and

One notable drawback was the pandemic setting. The plot’s handling of that period, especially moments like Lin’s trip to Yellowstone, didn’t feel entirely realistic or well-researched. Since the pandemic was such a significant backdrop, this lack of authenticity pulled me out of the story more than once.

What kept me engaged, though, was Natalie Naudus’s exceptional narration. Her tone, pacing, and emotional nuance elevated the material and kept me listening. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have finished the physical version of this book without her.

Overall, while Transplant didn’t quite hit the mark for me in terms of plot and character depth, the audiobook version is worth a try for Naudus’s performance alone.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Transplants was a hard story to get into for me. After taking quite a long break I was able to pick back up the story and finish it.

I really struggled with this author’s writing. I don’t know if that had to do with the characters names both being so close together, but it made for a confusing storyline. I felt as if we were supposed to know things that we didn’t.

I debated on DNFing this story Early on, but Stuck it out due to it being an ARC.

I felt like a very slice of life was not much depth. We see both Lynn, a Chinese student in America struggling to fit in and Liz a Chinese American teacher in China struggling to fit in. Largely told from their separate lives, however there is a connection in the story.

I was not taken in by the story from the very beginning. I loved the cultural aspects and language in the book. However, I did not realize if it was as authentic and did not see much growth beyond the synopsis.

Thank you to Netgalley and Regalo Press for this e ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kamila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was one of my favourite books that I've picked up through NetGalley this year. It had both, an incredibly fascinating story and very well written characters that all match the title and the main theme of the story in their own original way.

The main two characters are both trying to find their own way to fit in, and to make a living in the place they ended up with. I can't say I agree with some of those choices, and saying that I liked all of the characters would be a lie, but overall it was a very interesting and entertaining journey. I think that their names, Lin and Liz are made similar on purpose, to show them as two sides of one coin, but it was confusing at times.

There was some switching to Chinese, but thankfully I had some lessons at uni, so I could manage somehow.

I'd like to send my thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly, this book is eye-opening and so completely beautiful in many ways. It hurts to read, it’s hard to read, even, but I’ve never felt so close to an experience that’s not my own. Transplants is slow and meticulous. It took me a long time to get through, but I don’t think it’s something you can rush; this is a depiction of life, is it not? At the end of the day Lin and Liz are people, and they make the difficult choices that many people have made before, and will make again. To me, Transplants is about connection. About making a home for yourself in every liminal space you think you have no control over. About creating your own version of home, even when you’re haunted by the homes you’ve lived in before—because nothing is so rigid or so fluid that you cannot carve out a space for yourself that fits exactly who you are now.

Trigger warning for anyone not in the headspace to read depictions of Anti-Asian hate and racism, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Therissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley, Regalo and Post Hill Press for the ARC, this review is of my own opinion.
I truly enjoyed Transplants. Lin and Liz, both trying to fit in and break the preconceptions of who they are. Lin, a Chinese student struggles to fit in with others, feeling more comfortable around animals, after a great misjustice, finds herself in the United States. The opposite situation with Liz, a Chinese American, returns to China and her life becomes intertwined with Lin’s. Liz, grew up not knowing a lot about her heritage, and is acclimated to life in the US. With the world suddenly thrown into chaos, both Lin and Liz have to navigate a hostile environment not of their own making, where they are seen as outsiders again.
With Lin, I found her struggles to be completely relatable, it is not easy trying to fit in when you are an outsider and then to go to a new place and learn that despite having the same ancestral home, the cultural difference between those who are from there and those who have never set foot in the country can be an insurmountable gulf. It something that we see in every group and the author portrayed this eloquently. Also with Liz, I found her journey to rediscovering her roots and her family, heartfelt. I highly recommend.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for anyone who would hide animals in her dorm...Lin is a college student who has been bribed by her mom to do well in school with animals and is considered a bit off by everyone else... Liz is also going thru it, they decide, you know what sounds like a good idea? Let's swap places...
Lin moves to middle-of-nowhere Ohio (poor girl), and Liz heads back to China to dig through her family’s generational trauma like it’s a clearance rack at TJ Maxx.
The prose is lyrical without being indulgent, and the alternating perspectives lend a sense of intimacy and nuance that would be lost in a more linear narrative. It captures the painful in-between feeling of not fitting in while trying to make sense of two cultures that claim and reject you equally.
I really enjoyed it and I think if you liked Central Places you would like this!
Thank you for the ARC netgalley!

[Jill Dobbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fictional novel is about the lives of two women, one Chinese and the other Chinese-American, and how their lives intertwine. The author illuminates the notions of being Chinese in the U.S. and China and also how, despite being born in the U.S., a Chinese-American never truly feels American. Familial relationships play a substantial role in both women's identities.

Written in a culturally sensitive and political manner, the author touches on fundamental issues, making this a thought-provoking read. The main characters' names are so close that there were instances of using the wrong name, but despite that, Transplants was an engrossing read.

Thank you, author, publisher, and Netgalley, for this ARC.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This is an incredible story about the resilience of two young women: one an English-speaking college student in China, and the other an American-Chinese teacher teaching English in China. They're both essentially shunned and excluded by their peers, both have baggage about their mothers, and both are alone and craving connection. They become friends due to some lies and bad behavior, which catapults each in different directions, one a Chinese woman in the US during Covid, and the other an American in China during Covid. It's a fascinating and lovely story of generosity, cruelty, self-reliance, sacrifice, grief, belonging, forgiveness, and connection. I loved both of these women and would have read more had this followed them to their deaths.

[Shahana Kothari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book that starts off slowly but gradually pulls you in with its rich, well-developed characters. Lin and Liz are both compellingly portrayed, offering a profound glimpse into the experience of being Chinese during the pandemic. The story unfolds with a haunting, contemplative mood, and while the story takes its time, it mirrors the unpredictability and beauty of life itself. As the narrative progresses, you grow alongside the characters, sharing in their emotions and struggles. It’s a deeply thought-provoking exploration of belonging, one that resonates long after the final page.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one helped me understand what "literary fiction" means. Listeners of the audiobook version need to pay close attention. Liz and Lin are distinct characters with many overlapping patterns to their hearts and stories. It's easy to get lost in the narrative ... in both senses. There's much to love here about the immigrant and racialized experiences in two major nations ... but something felt inauthentic. Maybe because the author is not a Chinese/American woman. The narration by Natalie Naudus was superb.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for the advance copy of the audiobook.

[Kimfu]

The book was good and discussed many interesting points.

However, I was troubled by the way the author in such an off-handed manner described how one of his protagonists abandoned her much-loved pets. After volunteering in the Humane Society for 10+ years, I've seen first-hand the cruel way people treat animals and pets. I was, therefore, upset to see how the same behavior was so easily -- without a care in the world -- described in this novel. It's as if the author really feels that abandoning pets is really not a problem that needs to be reckoned with.

二零二五年： 第二十九本书

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An American of Chinese descent takes a job teaching English in China, and a Chinese student of English travels overseas to study in America. These are the primary Transplants of the novel, their stories intertwine yet their experiences are vastly different.
I found the novel well written but not compelling. An interesting comparison of expectations, prejudices, and values. A well-narrated audiobook. 3.6 rounded up.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @BlackstoneAudio, and #NetGalley for access to the audiobook of #Transplants for review purposes. The book and audiobook are now available.