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Boring Asian Female
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Expected 28 Apr 26Win a free print copy of this book!
6 days and 20:55:05
25 copies available
U.S. only
“Thank you for your interest in our school, but we regret to inform you that…”
you’re not special. You’re too average. You’re too boring.
Well, in that case, she’ll have to show them just how interesting she can be.
Elizabeth Zhang is well aware of her place in the world. She’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics. While she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, she knows she has the intelligence and ambition to achieve her greatest dream: Harvard Law School. But when Harvard rejects Elizabeth for not standing out enough—which she knows means she's just another boring Asian female—her carefully constructed life falls apart. What shocks her even more is that Laura Kim, a classmate at Columbia, got in. Elizabeth can’t figure out how this could have happened. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?
At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All of these things must contribute to her overall package, what makes her an acceptable person to Harvard. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot.
A spot that she knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered and subversive, this novel brings to light how, in the face of societal expectations and self-inflicted pressures, a person can unlock the darkest parts of themselves and show how far they’re willing to go to achieve their vision of success.
Well, in that case, she’ll have to show them just how interesting she can be.
Elizabeth Zhang is well aware of her place in the world. She’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics. While she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, she knows she has the intelligence and ambition to achieve her greatest dream: Harvard Law School. But when Harvard rejects Elizabeth for not standing out enough—which she knows means she's just another boring Asian female—her carefully constructed life falls apart. What shocks her even more is that Laura Kim, a classmate at Columbia, got in. Elizabeth can’t figure out how this could have happened. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?
At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All of these things must contribute to her overall package, what makes her an acceptable person to Harvard. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot.
A spot that she knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered and subversive, this novel brings to light how, in the face of societal expectations and self-inflicted pressures, a person can unlock the darkest parts of themselves and show how far they’re willing to go to achieve their vision of success.
336 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication April 28, 2026
10184 people want to read
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Wow that was wild! A first person POV but we don't get the character's feelings, only her thoughts. Just so wild.
Pre-Read Notes:
Honestly, anything Berkely publishes in lit fic, women's fiction, and horror just really really hits my happy reader buttons. This press and I definitely have aligned aesthetic sensibilities. I love it when they give me a chance to read early! I'm looking forward to this dark coming of age story and dip into morally subversive women's rage.
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) The middle section of the book is sort of dull by repetition. The character escalates her actions but for some reason neither story conflict nor stakes escalate with her.
My Favorite Things:
✔️ "I’m not so pretty that women find me intimidating, but I’m pretty enough that men want to be friends with me." p11 That's the sweet spot if you're lucky enough to land in it, but it's a very very small sweet spot. And it's brutal and infuriating that most women are left out of this privilege, which can honestly take a woman a long, long way. I'm only just starting this book and I can already feel the rage vibrating between the lines.
✔️ "No, I’m not racist. I’m just finely attuned to how our society is racist." p11 This is just freaking brilliant, a cleanly stated rejection of "you're racist against whiteness!"
✔️ This book makes some astute and nuanced statements about growing up in the US with our capitalist values. It makes me feel so seen in this respect. "It’s a blend of independence and vulnerability that characterizes people who had to at least partially raise themselves." p22
✔️ Oof. "I knew that rock bottom was only something humans made up to convince themselves that life could only get better. But the secret was that rock bottom didn’t exist. Each time you thought you had reached the lowest point you could go, the floor would fall out from under you, and you’d simply be demoted to an even lower level of failure and despair. It was oddly comforting, the inverse of climbing a mountain. Just like how there were no limits to how high you could go, there were no limits to how low you could fall." p225 This book is relentlessly cynical. I kind of have to admire the dedication.
Content Notes:
racism, wealth disparity, end stage capitalism, immigrant experiences in the US, racial purity tests, colorism, nepotism, performative cruelty, stalking, sabotage, pregnancy, abortion (off page), lying, cheating (academic),
Thank you to the author Canwen Xu, Berkeley Press, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of BORING ASIAN FEMALE. All views are mine.
Pre-Read Notes:
Honestly, anything Berkely publishes in lit fic, women's fiction, and horror just really really hits my happy reader buttons. This press and I definitely have aligned aesthetic sensibilities. I love it when they give me a chance to read early! I'm looking forward to this dark coming of age story and dip into morally subversive women's rage.
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) The middle section of the book is sort of dull by repetition. The character escalates her actions but for some reason neither story conflict nor stakes escalate with her.
My Favorite Things:
✔️ "I’m not so pretty that women find me intimidating, but I’m pretty enough that men want to be friends with me." p11 That's the sweet spot if you're lucky enough to land in it, but it's a very very small sweet spot. And it's brutal and infuriating that most women are left out of this privilege, which can honestly take a woman a long, long way. I'm only just starting this book and I can already feel the rage vibrating between the lines.
✔️ "No, I’m not racist. I’m just finely attuned to how our society is racist." p11 This is just freaking brilliant, a cleanly stated rejection of "you're racist against whiteness!"
✔️ This book makes some astute and nuanced statements about growing up in the US with our capitalist values. It makes me feel so seen in this respect. "It’s a blend of independence and vulnerability that characterizes people who had to at least partially raise themselves." p22
✔️ Oof. "I knew that rock bottom was only something humans made up to convince themselves that life could only get better. But the secret was that rock bottom didn’t exist. Each time you thought you had reached the lowest point you could go, the floor would fall out from under you, and you’d simply be demoted to an even lower level of failure and despair. It was oddly comforting, the inverse of climbing a mountain. Just like how there were no limits to how high you could go, there were no limits to how low you could fall." p225 This book is relentlessly cynical. I kind of have to admire the dedication.
Content Notes:
racism, wealth disparity, end stage capitalism, immigrant experiences in the US, racial purity tests, colorism, nepotism, performative cruelty, stalking, sabotage, pregnancy, abortion (off page), lying, cheating (academic),
Thank you to the author Canwen Xu, Berkeley Press, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of BORING ASIAN FEMALE. All views are mine.
January 11, 2026
Hope the author gets the help they need
Currently reading
March 24, 2026RTC
📚 buddy read with Zana
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley
📚 buddy read with Zana
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley
December 9, 2025
Thank you to Berkeley Publishing Group for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu is the story of a diligent, motivated Columbia University student named Elizabeth. Elizabeth is singularly focused on one goal: Harvard Law School admission. When she finds that she isn’t, in fact, going to be attending the dream school that has occupied so many years, she begins a downward spiral of self-loathing, obsession, and amoral desperation.
This book was absolutely riveting for the absolutely brilliant character work the author has done with Elizabeth, our main character. While she’s our main character, she’s far from a protagonist. Xu has created such a perfectly loathsome narrator. Each time you think Elizabeth is close to making a breakthrough and realizing how messed up she is, she veers in an equally terrible direction. She’s judgmental, self-loathing, myopic, Machiavellian and pathetic. The story arc about her attempting to keep a pregnancy for the sole purpose of a graduate school admissions essay is the perfectly sociopathic icing on the terrible narrator cake. While some reviewers didn’t like just how detestable Elizabeth was, for me, this was half the fun. Sometimes you don’t want to root for the narrator-instead you just want a wild ride.
I think that the author also touches on some very interesting themes throughout the book. Something that I really loved was the way she talked about social media and its influence on people’s lives. At various times social media is deployed to create drama, do research, or even attempt ruining different characters. Social media has become omnipresent, and it has a great influence in this story as well. I also loved the way that the author discussed internal/private struggle versus observed privilege. Certain characters that do have an obvious amount of privilege also carry immense baggage and trauma.
I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I devoured it. If you’re looking for a young woman behaving absolutely unhinged, Xu’s story is going to be a must-read. 5/5!
Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu is the story of a diligent, motivated Columbia University student named Elizabeth. Elizabeth is singularly focused on one goal: Harvard Law School admission. When she finds that she isn’t, in fact, going to be attending the dream school that has occupied so many years, she begins a downward spiral of self-loathing, obsession, and amoral desperation.
This book was absolutely riveting for the absolutely brilliant character work the author has done with Elizabeth, our main character. While she’s our main character, she’s far from a protagonist. Xu has created such a perfectly loathsome narrator. Each time you think Elizabeth is close to making a breakthrough and realizing how messed up she is, she veers in an equally terrible direction. She’s judgmental, self-loathing, myopic, Machiavellian and pathetic. The story arc about her attempting to keep a pregnancy for the sole purpose of a graduate school admissions essay is the perfectly sociopathic icing on the terrible narrator cake. While some reviewers didn’t like just how detestable Elizabeth was, for me, this was half the fun. Sometimes you don’t want to root for the narrator-instead you just want a wild ride.
I think that the author also touches on some very interesting themes throughout the book. Something that I really loved was the way she talked about social media and its influence on people’s lives. At various times social media is deployed to create drama, do research, or even attempt ruining different characters. Social media has become omnipresent, and it has a great influence in this story as well. I also loved the way that the author discussed internal/private struggle versus observed privilege. Certain characters that do have an obvious amount of privilege also carry immense baggage and trauma.
I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I devoured it. If you’re looking for a young woman behaving absolutely unhinged, Xu’s story is going to be a must-read. 5/5!
Currently reading
November 12, 2025My first Berkley arc approval 🥹🥹🥹
October 14, 2025
What a wild ride! Elizabeth was a terrifying yet still relatable character. She becomes consumed with wanting to attend the school of her dreams and when she doesn’t get in she seems to spiral. The spiral is such a wild ride and at times I was cheering her on but other times I found myself so nervous for her and the lengths she would go to just to get what she wanted and felt she deserved. With themes of societal pressure, race, a campus death, identity theft, and academic scandal there are so many ups and downs throughout this book. I gasped at the twists and felt the heavy burden of guilt Elizabeth did. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I love reading about envy and I love an academia setting. This novel was perfect if that's your style, we follow Elizabeth, a Chinese American student at Columbia who is trying to get into Harvard but is rejected, apparently for being too stereotypically Asian: a Boring Asian Female. When she finds out that fellow Asian student Laura, a talented Korean American, has been accepted, Elizabeth feels there is something wrong: either Laura shouldn't have been accepted, or she must have lied on her application. She starts studying Laura to find out, scrolling her Instagram endlessly, following her around campus, and becomes obsessed with her.
Elizabeth is a great villain because she isn't outright awful, her awfulness is mostly inside her own head. She is convinced of her own greatness. She categorises people, including her friends, in percentiles: she is in the 70th percentile for looks, 90th percentile for intelligence. She rates Laura in the 90th percentile for looks. She considers having a baby at 21 to have something to write about in her Harvard application. She uses her friends for social credit. She becomes gradually worse at every page, and she has no redeeming feature. I loved reading about her and I loved the pace of the novel, I found it really entertaining and a pleasure to read.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
Elizabeth is a great villain because she isn't outright awful, her awfulness is mostly inside her own head. She is convinced of her own greatness. She categorises people, including her friends, in percentiles: she is in the 70th percentile for looks, 90th percentile for intelligence. She rates Laura in the 90th percentile for looks. She considers having a baby at 21 to have something to write about in her Harvard application. She uses her friends for social credit. She becomes gradually worse at every page, and she has no redeeming feature. I loved reading about her and I loved the pace of the novel, I found it really entertaining and a pleasure to read.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
‘Geez, for someone who obsessively wants to go to Harvard Law School, this girl made some pretty dumb decisions’ is what went through my mind every time the protagonist ruins her life once again. Elizabeth is one of the most insufferable main characters everrrr, and yet I GOBBLED this up. This was a very frustrating but entertaining read and I’m really curious what this debut author has to offer.
Read if you loved Yellowface!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for the arc!!
Read if you loved Yellowface!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for the arc!!
November 9, 2025
I am extremely grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the privilege of reviewing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
Boring Asian Female is another take on the familiar "envy-driven" narrative, this time set in academia. The story centers on Columbia University senior Elizabeth Zhang - an overachieving daughter of Chinese immigrants. Although Liz's application for Harvard Law School ticks all the boxes - stellar LSAT scores, nearly perfect GPA, powerful immigrant story - she finds herself turned down by her dream school...and several of her backups. When Liz seeks answers as to why she wasn't good enough she is hit with the reality that she may be just too boring.
The rejection begins a downward spiral of declining mental health and a dark obsession with a classmate, Korean-American student Laura Kim, who DID make the cut for Harvard Law. Elizabeth becomes consumed with figuring out what Laura has that she doesn't, to the point of stalking her and trying to emulate her every move. When Elizabeth's mind starts to fracture and she imagines herself becoming the girl that Harvard wanted, the lines between envy and evil become dangerously blurred.
There were pros and cons here. I think this is a solid-enough debut novel that will find traction with readers who enjoy academia, thrillers and stories of psychological unravelings. There is a lot of exploring racial and cultural tropes, especially the whole "Asian diligence" and the uncomfortable space of being "white adjacent" to some but not others.
I was expecting this to lean more on satire and some darker subversiveness but I felt like I got more of a straightforward thriller with Asian-American women. The risk of the obssession trope is that you can end up with a main character who is largely unlikeable. That definitely was the case for me. Every time I tried to root for Elizabeth, she did something absolutely awful and then spent a few paragraphs justifying it. I wanted there to be somewhat of a redemption arc but it didn't happen.
It wasn't a badly written book and I think it will find an audience - it just wasn't for me. 3.25 stars
Boring Asian Female is another take on the familiar "envy-driven" narrative, this time set in academia. The story centers on Columbia University senior Elizabeth Zhang - an overachieving daughter of Chinese immigrants. Although Liz's application for Harvard Law School ticks all the boxes - stellar LSAT scores, nearly perfect GPA, powerful immigrant story - she finds herself turned down by her dream school...and several of her backups. When Liz seeks answers as to why she wasn't good enough she is hit with the reality that she may be just too boring.
The rejection begins a downward spiral of declining mental health and a dark obsession with a classmate, Korean-American student Laura Kim, who DID make the cut for Harvard Law. Elizabeth becomes consumed with figuring out what Laura has that she doesn't, to the point of stalking her and trying to emulate her every move. When Elizabeth's mind starts to fracture and she imagines herself becoming the girl that Harvard wanted, the lines between envy and evil become dangerously blurred.
There were pros and cons here. I think this is a solid-enough debut novel that will find traction with readers who enjoy academia, thrillers and stories of psychological unravelings. There is a lot of exploring racial and cultural tropes, especially the whole "Asian diligence" and the uncomfortable space of being "white adjacent" to some but not others.
I was expecting this to lean more on satire and some darker subversiveness but I felt like I got more of a straightforward thriller with Asian-American women. The risk of the obssession trope is that you can end up with a main character who is largely unlikeable. That definitely was the case for me. Every time I tried to root for Elizabeth, she did something absolutely awful and then spent a few paragraphs justifying it. I wanted there to be somewhat of a redemption arc but it didn't happen.
It wasn't a badly written book and I think it will find an audience - it just wasn't for me. 3.25 stars
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A compulsive-read and an absolute TRAINWRECK of a novel. It's one of those books that you can't look away from, but that you hate seeing whatever happens on the next page.
My main feedback to Elizabeth is: "No, no, NOO, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!".
An utterly exhausting and anxiety-inducing story about ambition, envy, and how far a person would go to get everything they ever wanted. Perhaps also a story about how chronic academic stress creates a monster inside of us all, lol.
If you loved books like Yellowface, Best Offer Wins, or I'm a Fan, you'll probably get sucked into this one just like I did.
If you can't handle the second-hand cringe of somewhat unlikable characters making endless strings of terrible decisions, this may not be for you.
My main feedback to Elizabeth is: "No, no, NOO, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!".
An utterly exhausting and anxiety-inducing story about ambition, envy, and how far a person would go to get everything they ever wanted. Perhaps also a story about how chronic academic stress creates a monster inside of us all, lol.
If you loved books like Yellowface, Best Offer Wins, or I'm a Fan, you'll probably get sucked into this one just like I did.
If you can't handle the second-hand cringe of somewhat unlikable characters making endless strings of terrible decisions, this may not be for you.
February 1, 2026
Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy.
A smart take on the Single White Female trope which is compellingly readable and quite infuriating at times. That is to be expected, of course, with an unstable main character who will stop at nothing to get what she thinks she wants. Kudos to the writer, however, for showing compassion and understanding to her heroine while simultaneously avoiding justifying her choices. I welcomed the twists and turns along the way as they helped make the plot less predictable. The ending is fitting and a good wink to the reader.
I am not entirely sure if the social commentary quite hits the mark at certain points and I felt that some of the secondary characters were not as strong as I would have liked but overall, I had fun reading this.
A smart take on the Single White Female trope which is compellingly readable and quite infuriating at times. That is to be expected, of course, with an unstable main character who will stop at nothing to get what she thinks she wants. Kudos to the writer, however, for showing compassion and understanding to her heroine while simultaneously avoiding justifying her choices. I welcomed the twists and turns along the way as they helped make the plot less predictable. The ending is fitting and a good wink to the reader.
I am not entirely sure if the social commentary quite hits the mark at certain points and I felt that some of the secondary characters were not as strong as I would have liked but overall, I had fun reading this.
March 11, 2026
Elizabeth was the cringey captain of The Delulu Express. Hop aboard if you love Yellowface or The Guest and shielding your eyes because of unhinged behaviour.
December 23, 2025
Boring Asian Female belongs to the 95th percentile of book excellence, and this is only the author’s debut. Mark my words: Canwen Xu is going to be your new favorite author.
Boring Asian Female follows Elizabeth Zhang, a young woman who has her whole life planned out. With excellent GPA and LSAT scores a prestigious spot at Harvard Law School seems in the bag, so when Elizabeth receives a rejection letter from not only Harvard, but also Yale, Stanford, and Columbia… Elizabeth starts spiraling - especially when she finds out that Laura Kim of all people is accepted. Soon Elizabeth becomes obsessed with Laura, the woman who got Elizabeth’s rightful spot and apparently deemed not-a-boring-Asian-female.
What’s so great about Boring Asian Female is that Elizabeth seemed stripped off a personality. She is singleminded, ambitious and indeed a bit bland and boring. That is, until Elizabeth finally finds her true calling: obsessing over Laura Kim. I love how the chosen first person perspective allowed for Elizabeth to come across sensible, even though her behavior became more and more irrational. Her choices range from poor to outrageous, and her morals and mental state soon deteriorate, but the witty narratives she spins to justify the unjustifiable, will definitely land her a spot at the prestigious unhinged women literature list.
Lastly, I am in awe of the author pulling off such an unlikely character, that ironically finds herself on the receiving end of racism, stereotypes, and somehow let that work for her. Her dream to go to Havard Law School is an insatiable monster and there were many, many moments Elizabeth made me clutch my pearls, but I’m the first to admit she made me laugh out loud for her boldness and determination.
All praise!
Pub date: 7 May 2026
Thank you Bedford Square Publishers for ARC
Boring Asian Female follows Elizabeth Zhang, a young woman who has her whole life planned out. With excellent GPA and LSAT scores a prestigious spot at Harvard Law School seems in the bag, so when Elizabeth receives a rejection letter from not only Harvard, but also Yale, Stanford, and Columbia… Elizabeth starts spiraling - especially when she finds out that Laura Kim of all people is accepted. Soon Elizabeth becomes obsessed with Laura, the woman who got Elizabeth’s rightful spot and apparently deemed not-a-boring-Asian-female.
What’s so great about Boring Asian Female is that Elizabeth seemed stripped off a personality. She is singleminded, ambitious and indeed a bit bland and boring. That is, until Elizabeth finally finds her true calling: obsessing over Laura Kim. I love how the chosen first person perspective allowed for Elizabeth to come across sensible, even though her behavior became more and more irrational. Her choices range from poor to outrageous, and her morals and mental state soon deteriorate, but the witty narratives she spins to justify the unjustifiable, will definitely land her a spot at the prestigious unhinged women literature list.
Lastly, I am in awe of the author pulling off such an unlikely character, that ironically finds herself on the receiving end of racism, stereotypes, and somehow let that work for her. Her dream to go to Havard Law School is an insatiable monster and there were many, many moments Elizabeth made me clutch my pearls, but I’m the first to admit she made me laugh out loud for her boldness and determination.
All praise!
Pub date: 7 May 2026
Thank you Bedford Square Publishers for ARC
November 26, 2025
This was well-written but man, I sped through the latter half of this book just to get out of Elizabeth's headspace. I do enjoy unreliable narrators, but she was so over-the-top awful that I just wanted it to be over.
January 27, 2026
This book really surprised me, the story really swept me in and when I discovered it was a debut novel, I was even more impressed. If you liked Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, I would highly recommend this book. It has a similar tone and focus around the main character and follows a similar narrative style.
The main character, Elizabeth, truly took the narrative for a wild ride. Being in her head is so fascinating, she is so unique and interesting, but in the sense that she is not a very good person. Her inner monologue is really something else. The drama and the choices Elizabeth made throughout the book were so intriguing, I was sucked into the story. The pacing was really good and I really enjoyed the book.
My only criticism of the book is that the ending seemed to lack a bit of a big picture message, but that's not to say the ending was disappointing. I think it makes sense despite the messaging getting a little lost.
Overall, a very exciting read! I will definitely be reading more by this author.
The main character, Elizabeth, truly took the narrative for a wild ride. Being in her head is so fascinating, she is so unique and interesting, but in the sense that she is not a very good person. Her inner monologue is really something else. The drama and the choices Elizabeth made throughout the book were so intriguing, I was sucked into the story. The pacing was really good and I really enjoyed the book.
My only criticism of the book is that the ending seemed to lack a bit of a big picture message, but that's not to say the ending was disappointing. I think it makes sense despite the messaging getting a little lost.
Overall, a very exciting read! I will definitely be reading more by this author.
Read
March 23, 2026**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy**
This was an enjoyable read. It explores Elizabeth's dreams of attending Harvard Law and her downward spiral with her mental health after she realizes that she got rejected. The book shows the jealousy and confusion that comes when your Plan A doesn't go according to plan, forcing you to accept the reality of alternatives.
I'm glad Elizabeth got the help she needed and was able to work through those negative thought patterns 🙌🏼
So many people have an idea of what their life will look like, but they don't consider the alternatives if it just doesn't work out.
This was an enjoyable read. It explores Elizabeth's dreams of attending Harvard Law and her downward spiral with her mental health after she realizes that she got rejected. The book shows the jealousy and confusion that comes when your Plan A doesn't go according to plan, forcing you to accept the reality of alternatives.
I'm glad Elizabeth got the help she needed and was able to work through those negative thought patterns 🙌🏼
So many people have an idea of what their life will look like, but they don't consider the alternatives if it just doesn't work out.
February 16, 2026
4.5 and close to a 5 if our purposefully unlikeable narrator would have been likeable!! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. This felt so relateable in many ways at first with our high-achieving, goal directed protagonist, and yet also not, with her Asian heritage central to the story - with this gap only widening as the story unfolded. As the the chaos of Elizabeth's journey increased, I couldn't put this down, wanting to know what would happen next and also praying to god she wouldn't act on her failing mental health. This was wonderful and I can't wait to read future novels from the author.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was a very cringeworthy book. If I hadn’t agreed to review I may have or have finished it. I felt the same way about Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Elizabeth is a very high achieving student. Everyone she meets she rates on percentiles regarding, attractiveness and intelligence. Elizabeth becomes obsessed with one of her classmates. I felt uncomfortable for first 60-70% of the book. Didn’t like Elizabeth but she was very interesting. I think this would be a good book for a book club.
January 5, 2026
I certainly will add to this review later but for now all I have to say is 1. South Dakota represent ! 2. Unhinged female main character who is unabashedly materialistic and painfully aware of society’s sick rules for success yet somehow even more painfully unaware of her unraveling and subsequent societal faux pas?? Obsessed
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
January 12, 2026This sounds so interesting!
December 19, 2025
2,5 stars
"Boring Asian Female" was not what I expected:
I liked the overall premise, but the writing fell somewhat flat for me. The protagonist was too over the top for me, and the other characters weren't all that well developed.
While I couldn't stop reading the book, I can't say I really enjoyed it.
"Boring Asian Female" was not what I expected:
I liked the overall premise, but the writing fell somewhat flat for me. The protagonist was too over the top for me, and the other characters weren't all that well developed.
While I couldn't stop reading the book, I can't say I really enjoyed it.
December 2, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an advanced copy of this book to me.
Firstly, I want to say that I really liked the book and I am still thinking about it after reading it. With that all being said, I really disliked the main character and the author really did a great job portraying her as a sociopath. Elizabeth was just not likable and with every decision she made and thoughts she had, I just disliked her even more.
This book is about a college aged woman, Elizabeth, who grew up with a single mother and because of her childhood, she has created this image in her head of what it is to be the perfect daughter. This includes getting into a good undergrad college and then going on to the law school she has always dreamed of, at all cost. She has created this nemesis narrative, in her head, with another student who applied to the same law school as Elizabeth and this person has no idea who she is even. Throughout the book several events occurred that could have been avoided if Elizabeth were not so envious. I didn't really like the ending but the many shocking moments kept me engaged throughout the book. I would recommend this to my book club friends.
Firstly, I want to say that I really liked the book and I am still thinking about it after reading it. With that all being said, I really disliked the main character and the author really did a great job portraying her as a sociopath. Elizabeth was just not likable and with every decision she made and thoughts she had, I just disliked her even more.
This book is about a college aged woman, Elizabeth, who grew up with a single mother and because of her childhood, she has created this image in her head of what it is to be the perfect daughter. This includes getting into a good undergrad college and then going on to the law school she has always dreamed of, at all cost. She has created this nemesis narrative, in her head, with another student who applied to the same law school as Elizabeth and this person has no idea who she is even. Throughout the book several events occurred that could have been avoided if Elizabeth were not so envious. I didn't really like the ending but the many shocking moments kept me engaged throughout the book. I would recommend this to my book club friends.
February 25, 2026
my good pal Hannah was kind enough to share with me the ARC that her childhood friend (aka the author) gave her
this was fantastic! twisted! addicting! finally a new thriller that actually had me hooked from beginning to end. canwen you’re going places
this was fantastic! twisted! addicting! finally a new thriller that actually had me hooked from beginning to end. canwen you’re going places
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⊹₊✎⋆.𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆.⋆⊹₊
"Boring Asian Female" by: Canwen Xu
✏ 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜:
This book was absolutely unhinged. I love that you're in the mind of Elizabeth, so you're able to read into her thought process and how she views things, like the self doubt, when the delusion starts to settle in, the battle between wrong and right, etc. I read this book so quick because the more you read, the more her mental started to deteriorate and you got to experience that first hand.
✏ 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜:
I can't think of any! :D
✏ 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕:
I really think you should give this book a read. It is such an interesting pov and I felt like I was riding some high with Elizabeth throughout her journey. This is a wonderful debut novel by Canwen Xu and I highly recommend it.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC :)
•••
Connect with me on Instagram
"Boring Asian Female" by: Canwen Xu
✏ 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜:
This book was absolutely unhinged. I love that you're in the mind of Elizabeth, so you're able to read into her thought process and how she views things, like the self doubt, when the delusion starts to settle in, the battle between wrong and right, etc. I read this book so quick because the more you read, the more her mental started to deteriorate and you got to experience that first hand.
✏ 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜:
I can't think of any! :D
✏ 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕:
I really think you should give this book a read. It is such an interesting pov and I felt like I was riding some high with Elizabeth throughout her journey. This is a wonderful debut novel by Canwen Xu and I highly recommend it.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC :)
•••
Connect with me on Instagram
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What a headache of a fucking book. In more ways than one.
To preface this, I can understand the angle that Canwen Xu was taking. I consider myself to be the target demographic for this—I’m an Asian Female; one might even say I’m boring, depending on who you ask—so I requested this ARC on NetGalley. Even though this is categorized as a thriller, this reads to me as a character study about an unhinged quintessential Asian female stereotype. Something along the veins of YELLOWFACE with a plot vaguely resembling that of NO OTHER CHOICE (fantastic movie, by the way). There’s certainly a lot to be said about the Asian model minority myth, proximity to whiteness, and the cultural pressures many Asian Americans feel to succeed.
I find that books like this that directly tackle cultural issues don’t do it for me, but I don’t want to not read them just because I haven’t enjoyed them in the past. I’m holding out hope that there’ll be one that tickles my brain just right.
I thought this would lean more on satire/dark comedy, since I’m of the opinion that pervasive stereotypes like the “boring Asian female” are far more engaging to interact with (as a reader) when it’s subverted by humor and absurdity. While elements of this story were absurd, it took itself a bit too seriously to be truly considered satire. It also wasn’t comedic, and I honestly didn’t find it dark. And thus, the execution of this story fell short of my expectations.
I think the main issue is that Elizabeth is too self-aware as an unlikeable character. She is not an unreliable narrator at all; she knows that she is morally or ethically wrong but doesn’t care. She literally says in the book that she knows that people don’t like her. Xu’s writing is fine from a technical standpoint, but it lacks the necessary character voice to bring Elizabeth to life. She crafted a one-dimensional character that’s supposed to be based on a one-dimensional stereotype.
The problem with books where you rely on stereotypes to craft your character is that if you don’t treat her with the same level of complexity that all humans have (yes, all, even boring Asian females), you wind up crafting a story that’s unbelievable on all fronts. This is where absurdity and unreliable narrators can do some heavy lifting, where giving your characters just enough to tickle the reader’s sympathy can do you some good. But Elizabeth has zero redeeming qualities. The “percentile” thing she does comes across as a bit too pointed. I have a hard time believing someone who’s ambitious and intelligent would be stupid enough to say to people’s faces that they’re 80th percentile in looks. I think the percentile thing was supposed to be pointing at the competitive nature of Ivy league/Asian American culture, but instead, it comes across as out of pocket and wholly unnecessary. You could have given me a passage of this narrator furiously complaining how attractive Laura Kim is, and I’d be able to read between the lines and see her jealousy. Instead, we basically get (paraphrased) “Laura is in the 90th percentile of attractiveness. I’m in the 80th percentile of attractiveness.” Like girl…be so fucking for real.
Elizabeth’s story would have had all the more impact if Xu leaned on being an unreliable narrator. She explains every single piece of logic that goes into her decision-making with the inflection of someone reading a driver’s ed manual. She is a heavy teller rather than a shower. It actually drove me nuts just how much was glossed over because it was told to us. The big plot beats felt very underwhelming for this reason. Her emotional arc also falls flat; although you can tell that Xu carefully chose the sequence of events to show her escalation in risks she’s willing to take—which coincides with her deteriorating mental state—it just…doesn’t feel convincing.
Furthermore, the side characters were woefully underdeveloped. I did like the detail that her best friend, Eunjin, is a gifted violinist and has no aspirations to go to law school. Elizabeth makes it clear that she chose Eunjin as her best friend because Eunjin is not her direct competition. I really, really wish Xu had dug in deeper to this friendship. Instead, Eunjin is the harmless, kind, and—ironically—boring side character. I don’t know if she was supposed to serve as a character foil or what, because she just was not interesting enough to have any meaningful impact on this story. She had potential to play a huge role in Elizabeth’s story (can’t state why without spoiling, sorry), but that, too, was not explored. Elizabeth’s other friendships are lukewarm at best and uncannily unrealistic at worst, which I think (?) was meant to demonstrate how Elizabeth maintains friendship because it’s a normal thing to do and not because she actually cares about anyone other than herself.
Even Laura, the primary “antagonist” (if you can call it that) is about as complex as a plain sheet of paper. Again, I understand that Elizabeth’s view of her is lacking in nuance due to her own baggage, but utilizing her unreliable perspective on Laura could have helped the reader see just how unhinged Elizabeth was. Her constant rationalizing was too much. I don’t need an increasingly unhinged character to tell me over and over again how enraged she is by Laura. I’m not stupid. I can read an interaction and see it for myself.
My other big issue with this story is that the interactions with other characters were not great. None of these characters talk like actual human beings. I don’t think I’m allowed to put quotes in my review so perhaps I’ll have to edit this later once the book is released. And the scenes with other characters—which were wicked short—felt cut and pasted rather than organically fitting into the flow of the story. It’s unclear to me if some of these “social justice”-themed conversations are meant to be satire or if they’re meant to address intersectionality in some capacity of if the writer is shoving in how she thinks university students talk. The writing just isn’t doing any of the work to provide me any clarity on that front. So instead of being moved, annoyed, or laughing at these “social justice”-themed conversations, I just gritted my teeth and waited for it to end.
Don’t even get me started on the ending. It felt like a cheap cop-out. I think Xu was going for an UNCUT GEMS kind of ending, but it really, really didn’t work for me. Especially after the sequence of events for the last few chapters.
This reads like a draft of a novel instead of one that’s quite literally going to be published. I think Xu has potential on a thematic level but needs a better editor to guide her through the craft elements to showcase ideas rather than relying on blatantly telling us her ideas. I can’t say that I could see this being something that was cathartic for Xu to write, because this wasn’t cathartic for me to read, nor was it something that was engaging enough for me to give a shit about. I found myself just waiting for this book to be over. But hey, I did keep reading to see what was going to happen next, kind of like watching a trainwreck. So I guess there’s that.
All this to say, I…really didn’t like this book. But what do I know? I, too, am a boring Asian female.
What a headache of a fucking book. In more ways than one.
To preface this, I can understand the angle that Canwen Xu was taking. I consider myself to be the target demographic for this—I’m an Asian Female; one might even say I’m boring, depending on who you ask—so I requested this ARC on NetGalley. Even though this is categorized as a thriller, this reads to me as a character study about an unhinged quintessential Asian female stereotype. Something along the veins of YELLOWFACE with a plot vaguely resembling that of NO OTHER CHOICE (fantastic movie, by the way). There’s certainly a lot to be said about the Asian model minority myth, proximity to whiteness, and the cultural pressures many Asian Americans feel to succeed.
I find that books like this that directly tackle cultural issues don’t do it for me, but I don’t want to not read them just because I haven’t enjoyed them in the past. I’m holding out hope that there’ll be one that tickles my brain just right.
I thought this would lean more on satire/dark comedy, since I’m of the opinion that pervasive stereotypes like the “boring Asian female” are far more engaging to interact with (as a reader) when it’s subverted by humor and absurdity. While elements of this story were absurd, it took itself a bit too seriously to be truly considered satire. It also wasn’t comedic, and I honestly didn’t find it dark. And thus, the execution of this story fell short of my expectations.
I think the main issue is that Elizabeth is too self-aware as an unlikeable character. She is not an unreliable narrator at all; she knows that she is morally or ethically wrong but doesn’t care. She literally says in the book that she knows that people don’t like her. Xu’s writing is fine from a technical standpoint, but it lacks the necessary character voice to bring Elizabeth to life. She crafted a one-dimensional character that’s supposed to be based on a one-dimensional stereotype.
The problem with books where you rely on stereotypes to craft your character is that if you don’t treat her with the same level of complexity that all humans have (yes, all, even boring Asian females), you wind up crafting a story that’s unbelievable on all fronts. This is where absurdity and unreliable narrators can do some heavy lifting, where giving your characters just enough to tickle the reader’s sympathy can do you some good. But Elizabeth has zero redeeming qualities. The “percentile” thing she does comes across as a bit too pointed. I have a hard time believing someone who’s ambitious and intelligent would be stupid enough to say to people’s faces that they’re 80th percentile in looks. I think the percentile thing was supposed to be pointing at the competitive nature of Ivy league/Asian American culture, but instead, it comes across as out of pocket and wholly unnecessary. You could have given me a passage of this narrator furiously complaining how attractive Laura Kim is, and I’d be able to read between the lines and see her jealousy. Instead, we basically get (paraphrased) “Laura is in the 90th percentile of attractiveness. I’m in the 80th percentile of attractiveness.” Like girl…be so fucking for real.
Elizabeth’s story would have had all the more impact if Xu leaned on being an unreliable narrator. She explains every single piece of logic that goes into her decision-making with the inflection of someone reading a driver’s ed manual. She is a heavy teller rather than a shower. It actually drove me nuts just how much was glossed over because it was told to us. The big plot beats felt very underwhelming for this reason. Her emotional arc also falls flat; although you can tell that Xu carefully chose the sequence of events to show her escalation in risks she’s willing to take—which coincides with her deteriorating mental state—it just…doesn’t feel convincing.
Furthermore, the side characters were woefully underdeveloped. I did like the detail that her best friend, Eunjin, is a gifted violinist and has no aspirations to go to law school. Elizabeth makes it clear that she chose Eunjin as her best friend because Eunjin is not her direct competition. I really, really wish Xu had dug in deeper to this friendship. Instead, Eunjin is the harmless, kind, and—ironically—boring side character. I don’t know if she was supposed to serve as a character foil or what, because she just was not interesting enough to have any meaningful impact on this story. She had potential to play a huge role in Elizabeth’s story (can’t state why without spoiling, sorry), but that, too, was not explored. Elizabeth’s other friendships are lukewarm at best and uncannily unrealistic at worst, which I think (?) was meant to demonstrate how Elizabeth maintains friendship because it’s a normal thing to do and not because she actually cares about anyone other than herself.
Even Laura, the primary “antagonist” (if you can call it that) is about as complex as a plain sheet of paper. Again, I understand that Elizabeth’s view of her is lacking in nuance due to her own baggage, but utilizing her unreliable perspective on Laura could have helped the reader see just how unhinged Elizabeth was. Her constant rationalizing was too much. I don’t need an increasingly unhinged character to tell me over and over again how enraged she is by Laura. I’m not stupid. I can read an interaction and see it for myself.
My other big issue with this story is that the interactions with other characters were not great. None of these characters talk like actual human beings. I don’t think I’m allowed to put quotes in my review so perhaps I’ll have to edit this later once the book is released. And the scenes with other characters—which were wicked short—felt cut and pasted rather than organically fitting into the flow of the story. It’s unclear to me if some of these “social justice”-themed conversations are meant to be satire or if they’re meant to address intersectionality in some capacity of if the writer is shoving in how she thinks university students talk. The writing just isn’t doing any of the work to provide me any clarity on that front. So instead of being moved, annoyed, or laughing at these “social justice”-themed conversations, I just gritted my teeth and waited for it to end.
Don’t even get me started on the ending. It felt like a cheap cop-out. I think Xu was going for an UNCUT GEMS kind of ending, but it really, really didn’t work for me. Especially after the sequence of events for the last few chapters.
This reads like a draft of a novel instead of one that’s quite literally going to be published. I think Xu has potential on a thematic level but needs a better editor to guide her through the craft elements to showcase ideas rather than relying on blatantly telling us her ideas. I can’t say that I could see this being something that was cathartic for Xu to write, because this wasn’t cathartic for me to read, nor was it something that was engaging enough for me to give a shit about. I found myself just waiting for this book to be over. But hey, I did keep reading to see what was going to happen next, kind of like watching a trainwreck. So I guess there’s that.
All this to say, I…really didn’t like this book. But what do I know? I, too, am a boring Asian female.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Boring Asian Female invites self reflection that explores the depths of envy, obsession, and self-criticism. I think it's just so good because it touches on absolutely everything to form a coherent picture of the protagonist, Elizabeth. Even though she makes very questionable and unhinged choices, we are led to understand her, and I honestly do understand her twisted logic, unfortunately. I feel like I have a lot to yap about, and it's all over the place, so I will tag the rest of the review as spoilers.
Canwen Xu has a brilliant voice, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Canwen Xu has a brilliant voice, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
In her debut novel, author Canwen Xu take readers on a harrowing journey from the first-person perspective of Elizabeth Zhang, a senior at Columbia University who's determined to gain entry into Harvard Law School. Despite her lifelong determination to accomplish this achievement, highlighted in how she assesses both her friends' and her own attractiveness and intelligence by percentiles, Elizabeth is shocked to receive a denial on her application despite her near-perfect GPA, LSAT scores, and otherwise seemingly-flawless qualifications. Her world is even further upended when she discovers that her fellow classmate, Laura Kim, has been accepted - and the days and weeks that follow, Elizabeth quickly spirals as she can't understand why Laura was given a place, her place, at the prestigious law school.
Elizabeth's obsession takes her on dangerous paths, as she becomes determined to uncover any reason for Laura's acceptance, eventually landing on the conclusion that she was denied for being a Boring Asian Female. Determined to reinvent herself to present herself as the opposite to the admissions team, she turns her attention to Laura and the factors that must have set her apart. Elizabeth's focus begins relatively innocuously - the usual internet and social media searches, followed by trying to mimic her lunch order at the school dining hall. But Elizabeth's singular focus quickly falls into darker paths as she tries to assume even more of Laura's character and ventures into the dangerous and damaging - and her actions result in an outcome that there's no coming back from.
I was intrigued by "Boring Asian Female" given how accurately the title described me (hah!) and my own personal experience growing up Chinese American with a great deal of academic pressure from my parents (and myself). Elizabeth's upbringing and focus was relatable and understandable but I struggled with her overall tone and voice; it was singular and robotic which, given her character was understandable, but made it difficult to truly empathize with her. There are flashbacks to her upbringing and childhood, which included the fact that her father had abandoned her and her mother when she was young, that helped to add more context but didn't feel sufficient. It made it even harder to justify actions and decisions in the second half of the book which quickly spiral, putting both herself and others at risk.
I do appreciate the novel for the glaring light it sheds on pressing issues, especially for the Asian-American minorities - including the societal and academic expectations placed on children from the moment they're born, the racial disparities and interracial classes that exist, and the unavoidable weight of capitalism - but struggled with the delivery and execution of its themes. This is a thought-provoking and subversive novel however that I think many others would appreciate when it's published in April 2026!
Elizabeth's obsession takes her on dangerous paths, as she becomes determined to uncover any reason for Laura's acceptance, eventually landing on the conclusion that she was denied for being a Boring Asian Female. Determined to reinvent herself to present herself as the opposite to the admissions team, she turns her attention to Laura and the factors that must have set her apart. Elizabeth's focus begins relatively innocuously - the usual internet and social media searches, followed by trying to mimic her lunch order at the school dining hall. But Elizabeth's singular focus quickly falls into darker paths as she tries to assume even more of Laura's character and ventures into the dangerous and damaging - and her actions result in an outcome that there's no coming back from.
I was intrigued by "Boring Asian Female" given how accurately the title described me (hah!) and my own personal experience growing up Chinese American with a great deal of academic pressure from my parents (and myself). Elizabeth's upbringing and focus was relatable and understandable but I struggled with her overall tone and voice; it was singular and robotic which, given her character was understandable, but made it difficult to truly empathize with her. There are flashbacks to her upbringing and childhood, which included the fact that her father had abandoned her and her mother when she was young, that helped to add more context but didn't feel sufficient. It made it even harder to justify actions and decisions in the second half of the book which quickly spiral, putting both herself and others at risk.
I do appreciate the novel for the glaring light it sheds on pressing issues, especially for the Asian-American minorities - including the societal and academic expectations placed on children from the moment they're born, the racial disparities and interracial classes that exist, and the unavoidable weight of capitalism - but struggled with the delivery and execution of its themes. This is a thought-provoking and subversive novel however that I think many others would appreciate when it's published in April 2026!
December 31, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was such a wild ride. We meet the main character, Elizabeth, who judges people based on appearance and intelligence and who also has a goal of becoming a lawyer theough Harvard Law School. She doesn't get accepted and chaos ensues. There is death and pregnancy and stalking and manipulation. Liz was definitely obsessed and just assumed she was better than most people. Growing up in an Asian household, I could kind of see where she was coming from, but she took it to the extremes. The ending actually made me sad because the whole ordeal almost felt like it was all for nothing. I get Liz wanted to become successful to prove to others and her father she was great and not just another boring Asian female, but the way she went about it was honestly terrible. Nothing is ever that serious. Academics isn't everything. Being happy is also important as well. I also liked her relationship with her friends and especially Euijin. Her advice to her friends was always solid, but she always seemed to make the worse choices. Hopefully she makes better ones.
Plot spoilers below
Liz stalks Laura so much so that she tries to first get Laura kicked out of Harvard Law. She stalks Laura and pretends to be her. She even gets pregnant to become a better school candidate and more "interesting". She pepper sprays Laura and that could potentially be what killed Laura. Euijin knows Liz was the pepper sprayer and seems to end their friendship with the metronome. I cant believe she tried all of this on Laura and even pretended to be here on the Facebook and show up to the meet and then come to find out, they made a mistake and she got accepted to Harvard ..... All of this she had done for nothing because she ended up getting in. She had a miscarriage over the stress. She even got hit by a bus and could've died. Poor choices. Hopefully Nora continues to help with therapy. I dont think Liz should go to Harvard law school but we don't know her answer. I hope she doesnt go. She needs to do something else with her life.
This book was such a wild ride. We meet the main character, Elizabeth, who judges people based on appearance and intelligence and who also has a goal of becoming a lawyer theough Harvard Law School. She doesn't get accepted and chaos ensues. There is death and pregnancy and stalking and manipulation. Liz was definitely obsessed and just assumed she was better than most people. Growing up in an Asian household, I could kind of see where she was coming from, but she took it to the extremes. The ending actually made me sad because the whole ordeal almost felt like it was all for nothing. I get Liz wanted to become successful to prove to others and her father she was great and not just another boring Asian female, but the way she went about it was honestly terrible. Nothing is ever that serious. Academics isn't everything. Being happy is also important as well. I also liked her relationship with her friends and especially Euijin. Her advice to her friends was always solid, but she always seemed to make the worse choices. Hopefully she makes better ones.
Plot spoilers below
Liz stalks Laura so much so that she tries to first get Laura kicked out of Harvard Law. She stalks Laura and pretends to be her. She even gets pregnant to become a better school candidate and more "interesting". She pepper sprays Laura and that could potentially be what killed Laura. Euijin knows Liz was the pepper sprayer and seems to end their friendship with the metronome. I cant believe she tried all of this on Laura and even pretended to be here on the Facebook and show up to the meet and then come to find out, they made a mistake and she got accepted to Harvard ..... All of this she had done for nothing because she ended up getting in. She had a miscarriage over the stress. She even got hit by a bus and could've died. Poor choices. Hopefully Nora continues to help with therapy. I dont think Liz should go to Harvard law school but we don't know her answer. I hope she doesnt go. She needs to do something else with her life.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Holy fffluffernutter! I could not put down this fantastically riveting character study about ambition, competition, and obsession.
Raised by her single mother in a suburban South Dakota town where she feels like an outsider as the only Asian student in her high school, Elizabeth Zhang becomes determined to to create a brighter, more prosperous future for herself by charting a very rigid and specific path onward and upward through the Ivy League and into corporate law. Powered by hard work and rule-following, merciless perfectionism, and relentless self-evaluation and negative self-comparison, Elizabeth achieves success on the initial leg of her journey. However, when her plans are unexpectedly thwarted mid-stride, she absolutely cannot recalibrate to process this: She rejects her rejection, so to speak.
Derailed by her nonacceptance of her non-acceptance, Elizabeth’s all-consuming drive spirals into something more ruthlessly and delusionally aspirational, and her search for an explanation and understanding devolves into a quest to identify a target of blame and to reattain control of her fate.
Narrated primarily via Elizabeth’s interior monologue, the novel is darkly humorous, with shocking developments sprinkled throughout, absorbing, and so skilled in style, voice, and tone that it made me feel crazy as it sucked me into Elizabeth’s twisted priorities and warped perception of reality. The novel also features a vivid depiction of academic life and a cast of interesting and realistic side characters whose perspectives help illuminate a fuller and more accurate picture of Elizabeth and her circumstances.
At risk of engaging in Elizabeth’s penchant for comparisons, this book probably reminded me of R F Kuang’s Yellowface more than any other recent novels I could think of, but it’s its own original thing and I absolutely cannot wait to see what this debut author does next. While it’s still early to tell, I would imagine that this novel deserves a very high percentile ranking among the quality buzzworthy debut new releases of this year!
I am 100% thankful to NetGalley, Berkley, and the author for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Raised by her single mother in a suburban South Dakota town where she feels like an outsider as the only Asian student in her high school, Elizabeth Zhang becomes determined to to create a brighter, more prosperous future for herself by charting a very rigid and specific path onward and upward through the Ivy League and into corporate law. Powered by hard work and rule-following, merciless perfectionism, and relentless self-evaluation and negative self-comparison, Elizabeth achieves success on the initial leg of her journey. However, when her plans are unexpectedly thwarted mid-stride, she absolutely cannot recalibrate to process this: She rejects her rejection, so to speak.
Derailed by her nonacceptance of her non-acceptance, Elizabeth’s all-consuming drive spirals into something more ruthlessly and delusionally aspirational, and her search for an explanation and understanding devolves into a quest to identify a target of blame and to reattain control of her fate.
Narrated primarily via Elizabeth’s interior monologue, the novel is darkly humorous, with shocking developments sprinkled throughout, absorbing, and so skilled in style, voice, and tone that it made me feel crazy as it sucked me into Elizabeth’s twisted priorities and warped perception of reality. The novel also features a vivid depiction of academic life and a cast of interesting and realistic side characters whose perspectives help illuminate a fuller and more accurate picture of Elizabeth and her circumstances.
At risk of engaging in Elizabeth’s penchant for comparisons, this book probably reminded me of R F Kuang’s Yellowface more than any other recent novels I could think of, but it’s its own original thing and I absolutely cannot wait to see what this debut author does next. While it’s still early to tell, I would imagine that this novel deserves a very high percentile ranking among the quality buzzworthy debut new releases of this year!
I am 100% thankful to NetGalley, Berkley, and the author for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Boring Asian Female is truly equal parts unhinged, delightful, and horrifying. Elizabeth Zhang was the only Asian girl in high school in South Dakota, and then the only student from South Dakota at Columbia University. With the background of an unstable childhood, she is ambitious and determined to have a “successful” life, which in her mindset means entering Harvard Law School. As she waits for her law school acceptance letters, we learn that she is a singular-minded person; while funny and with nuanced sociocultural observations, she is also fiercely judgmental (towards herself and others). Things start to spiral out of control when she discovers that she has not, in fact, been accepted into Harvard. Her counselor insinuates that this is because she is a Boring Asian Female, which apparently these Ivy League schools actively limit in their acceptance. Not only that, but Elizabeth realizes that another Asian girl from her school, Laura Kim, has been accepted into Harvard instead.
What makes someone deserving of Harvard Law School? And how does Elizabeth separate herself from the Boring Asian Female stereotype?
Elizabeth’s self-worth and mental health rapidly decline, and her internal monologue is very reminiscent of second generation immigrant children who find the white and privileged systems impossible to break through. We watch Elizabeth (with a full-body cringe) as an unstoppable obsession takes over, and even after we beg her to stop (just stop) she continues down a rabbit hole she has no control over.
Boring Asian Female takes the narrative of the high achieving academic-focused Asian and turns it on its head. It’s not haphazardly creating opposite tropes, but instead it’s leaning into real stories with depth and meaning. Elizabeth is a fully-fleshed, fully-designed being; highly intriguing in some ways yet highly unlikable in other ways. But the biggest takeaway for me is that she’s trying her best in a system and world that actively works against and gaslights her.
Boring Asian Female was phenomenal, anything but boring. An incredible, entrancing thriller with the best dry humor. Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!
What makes someone deserving of Harvard Law School? And how does Elizabeth separate herself from the Boring Asian Female stereotype?
Elizabeth’s self-worth and mental health rapidly decline, and her internal monologue is very reminiscent of second generation immigrant children who find the white and privileged systems impossible to break through. We watch Elizabeth (with a full-body cringe) as an unstoppable obsession takes over, and even after we beg her to stop (just stop) she continues down a rabbit hole she has no control over.
Boring Asian Female takes the narrative of the high achieving academic-focused Asian and turns it on its head. It’s not haphazardly creating opposite tropes, but instead it’s leaning into real stories with depth and meaning. Elizabeth is a fully-fleshed, fully-designed being; highly intriguing in some ways yet highly unlikable in other ways. But the biggest takeaway for me is that she’s trying her best in a system and world that actively works against and gaslights her.
Boring Asian Female was phenomenal, anything but boring. An incredible, entrancing thriller with the best dry humor. Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!
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