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Boring Asian Female
An addictive debut novel about a young woman’s all-consuming obsession with a rival of her own making and the desperate lengths she goes in her quest to succeed
Elizabeth Zhang knows her place in the world. She knows she’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics.
Raised by immigrant parents who instilled in her the value of hard work, she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, but she is intelligent, with impeccable grades and a flawless GPA. So when Harvard Law School 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, her 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, Elizabeth follows Laura because she’s curious. About what Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All 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 at Harvard.
A spot that Elizabeth knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered, subversive, and satirical, 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.
Elizabeth Zhang knows her place in the world. She knows she’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics.
Raised by immigrant parents who instilled in her the value of hard work, she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, but she is intelligent, with impeccable grades and a flawless GPA. So when Harvard Law School 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, her 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, Elizabeth follows Laura because she’s curious. About what Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All 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 at Harvard.
A spot that Elizabeth knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered, subversive, and satirical, 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.
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First published April 28, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Author
May 4, 2026Hope the author gets the help they need
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is the funniest thing I've read in a while. Like CRAZY RICH ASIANS, I was drawn in by the title. I stayed as Elizabeth became more and more unhinged.
Elizabeth is our titular Boring Asian Female™. She gets deemed such after Harvard Law rejects her application. Nothing in her app sets her apart. She is a Columbia undergrad with brilliant grades and test scores. She has a variety of extracurriculars, but so do the other Boring Asian Females.
She is obsessed with numbers and percentiles. When another Columbia undergrad, Laura Kim, gets into Harvard, Elizabeth makes it her mission to find out why. Why is Laura so singled out? Why is Laura not boring? Why is Laura rich? Why is Laura popular? And so on.
As with books like this, the obsession takes a bit of a turn. Is Elizabeth on drugs? Is Elizabeth okay? At one point, as she is in a casual relationship with a white man, she considers keeping the baby instead of aborting it to up her chances of getting into Harvard. She thinks being a single mother will make her more interesting to Harvard.
So while this is a bit of a fun book, there are some very heavy topics. Obviously we have mental health, but we have the pressures that family and society place on Asian Americans. Being the model minority and having that closeness to whiteness is mentioned, but it's not always easy. Definitely a book I'll be thinking about for a while.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley
Elizabeth is our titular Boring Asian Female™. She gets deemed such after Harvard Law rejects her application. Nothing in her app sets her apart. She is a Columbia undergrad with brilliant grades and test scores. She has a variety of extracurriculars, but so do the other Boring Asian Females.
She is obsessed with numbers and percentiles. When another Columbia undergrad, Laura Kim, gets into Harvard, Elizabeth makes it her mission to find out why. Why is Laura so singled out? Why is Laura not boring? Why is Laura rich? Why is Laura popular? And so on.
As with books like this, the obsession takes a bit of a turn. Is Elizabeth on drugs? Is Elizabeth okay? At one point, as she is in a casual relationship with a white man, she considers keeping the baby instead of aborting it to up her chances of getting into Harvard. She thinks being a single mother will make her more interesting to Harvard.
So while this is a bit of a fun book, there are some very heavy topics. Obviously we have mental health, but we have the pressures that family and society place on Asian Americans. Being the model minority and having that closeness to whiteness is mentioned, but it's not always easy. Definitely a book I'll be thinking about for a while.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2026
4.75⭐️ Honestly didn’t expect to be this hooked, but I absolutely flew through this.
Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu is one of those books where not a lot “happens” on the surface, yet you’re completely gripped because of how intense it feels inside the main character’s head. From the very beginning, I was pulled into Elizabeth’s world and couldn’t look away as things slowly started to unravel.
She’s such a complex character—driven, precise, and slightly unsettling in the way she sees everything as measurable and ranked. It makes the story feel so controlled at first, which only makes the shift as things spiral even more compelling.
What really stood out to me was how relatable the pressure felt. That constant need to succeed, to be the best, to prove yourself—it’s explored in such a sharp and honest way. It’s uncomfortable at times, but in a way that really makes you think.
Canwen Xu’s writing feels confident and intentional—very focused, almost hypnotic—and it completely worked for me.
Such a gripping, thought-provoking read. I’d definitely recommend going into this one blind.
Thank you to Canwen Xu, Berkley Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publishing date: May 7th 2026
Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu is one of those books where not a lot “happens” on the surface, yet you’re completely gripped because of how intense it feels inside the main character’s head. From the very beginning, I was pulled into Elizabeth’s world and couldn’t look away as things slowly started to unravel.
She’s such a complex character—driven, precise, and slightly unsettling in the way she sees everything as measurable and ranked. It makes the story feel so controlled at first, which only makes the shift as things spiral even more compelling.
What really stood out to me was how relatable the pressure felt. That constant need to succeed, to be the best, to prove yourself—it’s explored in such a sharp and honest way. It’s uncomfortable at times, but in a way that really makes you think.
Canwen Xu’s writing feels confident and intentional—very focused, almost hypnotic—and it completely worked for me.
Such a gripping, thought-provoking read. I’d definitely recommend going into this one blind.
Thank you to Canwen Xu, Berkley Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publishing date: May 7th 2026
April 30, 2026
Currently based in New York, writer Canwen Xu’s TEDx talk “I Am Not Your Asian Stereotype,” went viral when it first appeared in 2016. Xu’s compelling debut novel picks up on some of its themes using them as the foundation for a critique of stereotypes; and the pressures stemming from feeling bound to conform to the myth of the model minority. It’s narrated by Elizabeth Zhang who obsessively measures herself against statistics for her age group, ethnicity and academic background, caught up in a relentless cycle of comparison and self-ranking. She was raised in South Dakota, now she’s studying at Columbia, NY. So far, so good. But Elizabeth’s frantic about her future, particularly her financial prospects, so decides she has to attend Harvard Law School. When the unimaginable happens and Elizabeth’s rejected, she becomes fixated on fellow student Laura Kim who’s secured a place. Laura’s effortlessly stylish, self-assured, everything it seems Elizabeth – just one more boring Asian female – isn’t.
Consumed by envy and curiosity about what made Korean-American Laura stand out, Elizabeth makes Laura her object of study – what she wears, what she eats, what her parents do. Elizabeth has to know everything so that she can find a way to be special too. But as time passes, Elizabeth slowly disappears down a rabbit-hole, eventually spiralling out of control. A process that involves impersonation, online smears then outright stalking gradually building towards a terrifying encounter with Laura. Elizabeth’s not only an unreliable narrator she’s also a pretty unlikeable one but, oddly enough, that’s what makes her so fascinating. Her machinations, fantasies about herself, about Laura, can be exhausting to witness but then again someone that caught up in a compulsion would be. Ultimately a gripping, insightful, tightly-constructed exploration of identity, internalised racism and the destructive force of trying to succeed in contemporary America.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Bedford Square for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
Consumed by envy and curiosity about what made Korean-American Laura stand out, Elizabeth makes Laura her object of study – what she wears, what she eats, what her parents do. Elizabeth has to know everything so that she can find a way to be special too. But as time passes, Elizabeth slowly disappears down a rabbit-hole, eventually spiralling out of control. A process that involves impersonation, online smears then outright stalking gradually building towards a terrifying encounter with Laura. Elizabeth’s not only an unreliable narrator she’s also a pretty unlikeable one but, oddly enough, that’s what makes her so fascinating. Her machinations, fantasies about herself, about Laura, can be exhausting to witness but then again someone that caught up in a compulsion would be. Ultimately a gripping, insightful, tightly-constructed exploration of identity, internalised racism and the destructive force of trying to succeed in contemporary America.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Bedford Square for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
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.
April 28, 2026
4.25 ⭐️
Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the free earc !
I read this a few weeks ago and I’m not even kidding…it’s still living in my head a little.
This is definitely for the weird girl / obsession lovers. If you like watching a character spiral (in the most “I can’t look away” way), this is a read for you !
We start with our FMC finding out she didn’t get into Harvard Law… which has basically been her entire personality, plan, and future for as long as she can remember. And the way she reacts? Immediate confusion. Like, this has to be a mistake. Her scores are high, her application is perfect… so how did this happen?
While finishing her final year at Columbia, she becomes completely fixated on “fixing” this. Not moving on. Not choosing another school. Fixing it. And then we meet other characters along the way..including another Asian girl at Columbia who did get into Harvard Law. That’s when things start to… unravel a bit. She cannot stop comparing, questioning, and obsessing over why her and not me.
And from there?? Things just keep escalating.
Every time I thought “okay, this is where she accepts it and moves on”… nope. It somehow gets worse. More chaotic. More unhinged. And honestly, that’s what made it so entertaining.
But underneath all that, there’s also a lot about pressure she put on herself to be perfect, successful, impressive. To live this very specific life of power and luxury. To make your parents proud and make all their dreams for you come true. And how dangerous that mindset can get when your entire identity is tied to one outcome.
I also liked how the conversation of privilege vs others is brought into the story as well as social media and the impact it can have on lives. With a lot happening with our characters we still dig into some deep issues and it was done very well.
Overall, this was such an engaging, slightly unhinged read that kept surprising me. It was hard to put down. Would recommend !
Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the free earc !
I read this a few weeks ago and I’m not even kidding…it’s still living in my head a little.
This is definitely for the weird girl / obsession lovers. If you like watching a character spiral (in the most “I can’t look away” way), this is a read for you !
We start with our FMC finding out she didn’t get into Harvard Law… which has basically been her entire personality, plan, and future for as long as she can remember. And the way she reacts? Immediate confusion. Like, this has to be a mistake. Her scores are high, her application is perfect… so how did this happen?
While finishing her final year at Columbia, she becomes completely fixated on “fixing” this. Not moving on. Not choosing another school. Fixing it. And then we meet other characters along the way..including another Asian girl at Columbia who did get into Harvard Law. That’s when things start to… unravel a bit. She cannot stop comparing, questioning, and obsessing over why her and not me.
And from there?? Things just keep escalating.
Every time I thought “okay, this is where she accepts it and moves on”… nope. It somehow gets worse. More chaotic. More unhinged. And honestly, that’s what made it so entertaining.
But underneath all that, there’s also a lot about pressure she put on herself to be perfect, successful, impressive. To live this very specific life of power and luxury. To make your parents proud and make all their dreams for you come true. And how dangerous that mindset can get when your entire identity is tied to one outcome.
I also liked how the conversation of privilege vs others is brought into the story as well as social media and the impact it can have on lives. With a lot happening with our characters we still dig into some deep issues and it was done very well.
Overall, this was such an engaging, slightly unhinged read that kept surprising me. It was hard to put down. Would recommend !
Read
April 18, 2026Read during Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon.
That was one wild ride.
That was one wild ride.
April 8, 2026
Elizabeth Zhang is the only Asian student in her high school in South Dakota.
Eager to escape small town life, she enrolls in Columbia University right after high school.
She also has everything planned out during her freshman year.
She will maintain a very high GPA, start studying for the LSAT, and work on deciding which professors to ask for recommendation letters when the time comes.
Despite having a 3.94 GPA and nearly perfect LSAT score, she receives a rejection letter from Harvard Law School, followed by rejections from Yale, Stanford and Columbia.
The only acceptance letter comes from her “safety school”, Georgetown (which would be many other’s first choice).
Not just any law school will work for Liz; she is dead set on Harvard.
Soon after, she discovers that a peer at Columbia, Laura Kim, was accepted to Harvard.
It’s natural to be disappointed and jealous when we don’t get something that we want and then discover that another person, who we don’t particularly like does get it.
But for Liz, it goes beyond that.
She is OBSESSED with Laura, to the point of stalking, in an attempt to learn why she got into Harvard and Liz didn’t.
There were several times throughout the book where my jaw literally dropped!
It is amazing how such an intelligent person could make so many terrible decisions and end up in so many ridiculous situations.
She definitely has book smarts, but as I often say, “common sense is a flower that doesn’t grown in everyone’s garden”.
Once I got to the 40-50% mark, I couldn’t put the book down.
I didn’t particularly like Liz, but the way she kept spiraling by making poor decision after poor decision was something I couldn’t take my eyes away from.
It felt like watching an out of control car with inoperable brakes that you knew was going to crash.
If you enjoyed Best Offer Wins, or just have a thing for books with unhinged MCs, you’ll likely enjoy this.
A lot of it reminded me of Best Offer Wins, because in both books we have an unhinged FMC with a strong sense of entitlement.
In their mind, they truly believe that something was meant for them and will do just about anything to get it, laws and ethics be damned.
Thanks to NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing Group and Canwen Xu for proving me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: April 26, 2026
Eager to escape small town life, she enrolls in Columbia University right after high school.
She also has everything planned out during her freshman year.
She will maintain a very high GPA, start studying for the LSAT, and work on deciding which professors to ask for recommendation letters when the time comes.
Despite having a 3.94 GPA and nearly perfect LSAT score, she receives a rejection letter from Harvard Law School, followed by rejections from Yale, Stanford and Columbia.
The only acceptance letter comes from her “safety school”, Georgetown (which would be many other’s first choice).
Not just any law school will work for Liz; she is dead set on Harvard.
Soon after, she discovers that a peer at Columbia, Laura Kim, was accepted to Harvard.
It’s natural to be disappointed and jealous when we don’t get something that we want and then discover that another person, who we don’t particularly like does get it.
But for Liz, it goes beyond that.
She is OBSESSED with Laura, to the point of stalking, in an attempt to learn why she got into Harvard and Liz didn’t.
There were several times throughout the book where my jaw literally dropped!
It is amazing how such an intelligent person could make so many terrible decisions and end up in so many ridiculous situations.
She definitely has book smarts, but as I often say, “common sense is a flower that doesn’t grown in everyone’s garden”.
Once I got to the 40-50% mark, I couldn’t put the book down.
I didn’t particularly like Liz, but the way she kept spiraling by making poor decision after poor decision was something I couldn’t take my eyes away from.
It felt like watching an out of control car with inoperable brakes that you knew was going to crash.
If you enjoyed Best Offer Wins, or just have a thing for books with unhinged MCs, you’ll likely enjoy this.
A lot of it reminded me of Best Offer Wins, because in both books we have an unhinged FMC with a strong sense of entitlement.
In their mind, they truly believe that something was meant for them and will do just about anything to get it, laws and ethics be damned.
Thanks to NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing Group and Canwen Xu for proving me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: April 26, 2026
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!
May 5, 2026
Smart, dryly funny, also sad and a bit frightening. Pretty much the perfect picture of a woman whose self identity starts to crack and who is totally unprepared for the fallout.
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.
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 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 in the future.
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!!
April 30, 2026
4.5 stars!
In Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu, Elizabeth Zhang is the perfect storm of delusional, deeply unwell, singularly focused, try-hard, weirdo, stalker anti-hero. She is difficult to root for and impossible to look away from. She measures her life in percentiles (90th percentile for her LSAT scores, 70th percentile in attractiveness) and believes hard work guarantees desired outcomes. So, when Harvard Law rejects her for being a “boring Asian female,” she completely short-circuits.
To make matters worse, Laura Kim, a fellow Asian Columbia undergrad, gets accepted into Elizabeth’s dream program. Elizabeth fixates on Laura, asking, “What does she have that I don’t?” Her thought process is equal parts fascinating and unsettling. What starts as morbid curiosity curdles into behavior that becomes increasingly hard to justify.
Xu nails the pressure cooker of achievement, especially in the expectations placed on children of immigrants to be exceptional while treating them as interchangeable. The writing is tight and controlled, almost clinical in the beginning, which makes Elizabeth’s slow unraveling that much more compelling.
Not much “happens” in a traditional sense, but internally? Elizabeth's mind is in chaos and even when she is wrecking her own life (and occasionally the lives of others’), I kept thinking: just let her win. Just this once.
Thank you to Berkley for sending the early copy for review!
In Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu, Elizabeth Zhang is the perfect storm of delusional, deeply unwell, singularly focused, try-hard, weirdo, stalker anti-hero. She is difficult to root for and impossible to look away from. She measures her life in percentiles (90th percentile for her LSAT scores, 70th percentile in attractiveness) and believes hard work guarantees desired outcomes. So, when Harvard Law rejects her for being a “boring Asian female,” she completely short-circuits.
To make matters worse, Laura Kim, a fellow Asian Columbia undergrad, gets accepted into Elizabeth’s dream program. Elizabeth fixates on Laura, asking, “What does she have that I don’t?” Her thought process is equal parts fascinating and unsettling. What starts as morbid curiosity curdles into behavior that becomes increasingly hard to justify.
Xu nails the pressure cooker of achievement, especially in the expectations placed on children of immigrants to be exceptional while treating them as interchangeable. The writing is tight and controlled, almost clinical in the beginning, which makes Elizabeth’s slow unraveling that much more compelling.
Not much “happens” in a traditional sense, but internally? Elizabeth's mind is in chaos and even when she is wrecking her own life (and occasionally the lives of others’), I kept thinking: just let her win. Just this once.
Thank you to Berkley for sending the early copy for review!
April 21, 2026
Meet Elizabeth. She likes classifying people into percentiles and thinking about her future at Harvard Law School. That is, until she doesn't get in. Is it because she's boring? Did Harvard reach their quota with boring Asian females when they accepted Laura Kim, a fellow student?
Elizabeth must know. She HAS to know more about Laura. Would you say she gets obsessed with Laura? Maybe. Or maybe she just needs to know why Laura has taken her deserved place, and plan how to take it back...
A wild, messy ride. If you liked Yellowface then you will LOVE this book.
Boring Asian Female is a fabulous, funny, satirical look at the pressure and judgment one young woman puts on herself to not only succeed, but excel and the toll it takes.
Elizabeth is likeable and I kept hoping she would realise how intelligent and successful she was. Instead, she was constantly striving for more. The pressure she applied to herself and the judgment constantly ticking along in her mind of all those around her was so pervasive and led to her delusional, obsessive spiral.
I found this to be an enthralling read, very enjoyable and so unpredictable. An incredible debut novel.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Elizabeth must know. She HAS to know more about Laura. Would you say she gets obsessed with Laura? Maybe. Or maybe she just needs to know why Laura has taken her deserved place, and plan how to take it back...
A wild, messy ride. If you liked Yellowface then you will LOVE this book.
Boring Asian Female is a fabulous, funny, satirical look at the pressure and judgment one young woman puts on herself to not only succeed, but excel and the toll it takes.
Elizabeth is likeable and I kept hoping she would realise how intelligent and successful she was. Instead, she was constantly striving for more. The pressure she applied to herself and the judgment constantly ticking along in her mind of all those around her was so pervasive and led to her delusional, obsessive spiral.
I found this to be an enthralling read, very enjoyable and so unpredictable. An incredible debut novel.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
May 3, 2026
yellowface but make it even more unhinged. as perfect an ending as i’ve ever read
March 12, 2026
(4.5) “So what is it? Why wasn’t it enough?”
It’s a question many of us have asked ourselves more than once—and Elizabeth Zhang, the main character, is no exception.
This book explores, with sharp satire, the question: What would you do to achieve your dreams? Through excellent storytelling and a well-developed protagonist, the narrative moves at a compelling, fast pace that keeps you engaged from start to finish.
Although the story is fictional, I couldn’t help but think about the very real “20s crisis” many people experience. The novel subtly reflects the immense pressure society places on us to decide—at such a young age—what we want to do with the rest of our lives.
As a foreigner with strong academic goals, that theme hit close to home for me. Not necessarily the extreme path the story takes, but the underlying feeling of uncertainty, ambition, and expectation that so many of us navigate during that stage of life.
Thank you Berkley Publishing Group, NetGalley and the author Canwen Xu for an advanced virtual copy of this book. Looking forward for more publications from the author!
It’s a question many of us have asked ourselves more than once—and Elizabeth Zhang, the main character, is no exception.
This book explores, with sharp satire, the question: What would you do to achieve your dreams? Through excellent storytelling and a well-developed protagonist, the narrative moves at a compelling, fast pace that keeps you engaged from start to finish.
Although the story is fictional, I couldn’t help but think about the very real “20s crisis” many people experience. The novel subtly reflects the immense pressure society places on us to decide—at such a young age—what we want to do with the rest of our lives.
As a foreigner with strong academic goals, that theme hit close to home for me. Not necessarily the extreme path the story takes, but the underlying feeling of uncertainty, ambition, and expectation that so many of us navigate during that stage of life.
Thank you Berkley Publishing Group, NetGalley and the author Canwen Xu for an advanced virtual copy of this book. Looking forward for more publications from the author!
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.
May 4, 2026
4.5 stars - honestly this story had me hooked the entire unhinged time. I was, very much, entertained.
May 2, 2026
I have a soft spot for books that explore obsession with success, especially when that obsession extends to other successful people and leads to questionable choices. This book fits perfectly into that space, which is why I ended up really liking it.There are many layers to consider while reading. One of the most striking aspects is how it portrays the experience of being an Asian woman navigating highly competitive environments, particularly in countries that are not her own. The sense of responsibility toward family, along with feelings of guilt and shame, is depicted in a very compelling way.At the same time, the book examines how we define success for ourselves and how we measure our lives against others. All of these themes are handled thoughtfully and, in my opinion, beautifully written.Whether or not you like the main character doesn’t really matter. The message comes through clearly, and that’s what makes the book stand out. It was also a very engaging and enjoyable read overall, especially if you’re interested in this kind of theme.
May 2, 2026
4.5⭐️
I devoured Boring Asian Female in a single day and honestly that tells you everything.
Elizabeth… girl, are you okay?
I fully got the pressure she was under trying to be the smartest, most “perfect” version of herself while also carrying all the expectations tied to her identity. That constant need to be the best, the most likable, the most impressive…it felt way too real and at times almost uncomfortable to read. But the way she spiraled? The obsession with percentiles, with Laura, with being exceptional at all costs… truly wild.
And the choices she made had me staring at the page like…girl. The lengths she was willing to go to just to feel unique enough for Harvard Law? I had no words. It was chaotic, intense, and a little unhinged in a way that completely pulled me in.
What I loved most is how the story didn’t try to clean any of that up. Elizabeth isn’t always likable and that’s exactly the point. Watching her unravel while still understanding why she felt the way she did made this so compelling.
It’s sharp, uncomfortable, kind of jaw dropping, and I ate up every second of it.
I devoured Boring Asian Female in a single day and honestly that tells you everything.
Elizabeth… girl, are you okay?
I fully got the pressure she was under trying to be the smartest, most “perfect” version of herself while also carrying all the expectations tied to her identity. That constant need to be the best, the most likable, the most impressive…it felt way too real and at times almost uncomfortable to read. But the way she spiraled? The obsession with percentiles, with Laura, with being exceptional at all costs… truly wild.
And the choices she made had me staring at the page like…girl. The lengths she was willing to go to just to feel unique enough for Harvard Law? I had no words. It was chaotic, intense, and a little unhinged in a way that completely pulled me in.
What I loved most is how the story didn’t try to clean any of that up. Elizabeth isn’t always likable and that’s exactly the point. Watching her unravel while still understanding why she felt the way she did made this so compelling.
It’s sharp, uncomfortable, kind of jaw dropping, and I ate up every second of it.
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.
April 5, 2026
‘I, Elizabeth, did not intrinsically have the confidence and grace that others did, but maybe I could channel Laura and borrow some of hers.’ (p.281)
This book sounded interesting and my curiosity got the better of me so I requested access pre-publication access through Net Galley.
My overall conclusion is that the main character, Elizabeth Zhang, is extremely unlikeable. Elizabeth wants to prove to her father she can get into Harvard and become a high paid lawyer.
Her unlikeability centres around her lack of authentic self, materialistic attitudes, she is obsessed with status, and constantly judges other people. She has some kind of percentile system for judging how attractive someone is, as if that is an objective assessment. She also judges where people are on the intelligence scale and makes assumptions about their wealth and background privilege. Woe is me! Always comparing herself to other people and finding others inferior to her.
She repeats her own achievement scores. She claims others are ‘passive aggressive’ when they say ‘excuse me’ if she is in the way. Everything is centred around her - the first person narrator. Alright if you like an annoying person in your head all the time.
But she is rejected from four top universities. Is there something wrong with the system? Or not wanting to admit to it, is it her? The college counsellor tells her she might not have got in to her chosen law school because she is seen as ‘another boring Asian female.’
Someone she knows who previously had said they wanted a different career has got into Harvard. Perhaps she has taken Elizabeth’s spot. She decides to find out how Laura got into the top law universities and she didn’t. That means following her and impersonating her and others. It becomes an obsession.
Faint shades of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley who makes dubious decisions and is full of self-justification. Another reviewer says if you liked Yellowface you will like this. I didn’t like Yellowface for the same reasons. It’s subversive which is not bad in itself as it exposes racism and racial blindness - ‘proximity to whiteness’ for instance was attributed to how people might view Asian people as having an advantage and disadvantage for the same reasons. It also exposes the lack of transparency in college admissions processes.
I ploughed on with this even though I didn’t really enjoy it. The last third went much quicker than the first two and there was some kind of redemption towards the end as well as a surprise ending.
But overall not my cup of tea.
This book sounded interesting and my curiosity got the better of me so I requested access pre-publication access through Net Galley.
My overall conclusion is that the main character, Elizabeth Zhang, is extremely unlikeable. Elizabeth wants to prove to her father she can get into Harvard and become a high paid lawyer.
Her unlikeability centres around her lack of authentic self, materialistic attitudes, she is obsessed with status, and constantly judges other people. She has some kind of percentile system for judging how attractive someone is, as if that is an objective assessment. She also judges where people are on the intelligence scale and makes assumptions about their wealth and background privilege. Woe is me! Always comparing herself to other people and finding others inferior to her.
She repeats her own achievement scores. She claims others are ‘passive aggressive’ when they say ‘excuse me’ if she is in the way. Everything is centred around her - the first person narrator. Alright if you like an annoying person in your head all the time.
But she is rejected from four top universities. Is there something wrong with the system? Or not wanting to admit to it, is it her? The college counsellor tells her she might not have got in to her chosen law school because she is seen as ‘another boring Asian female.’
Someone she knows who previously had said they wanted a different career has got into Harvard. Perhaps she has taken Elizabeth’s spot. She decides to find out how Laura got into the top law universities and she didn’t. That means following her and impersonating her and others. It becomes an obsession.
Faint shades of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley who makes dubious decisions and is full of self-justification. Another reviewer says if you liked Yellowface you will like this. I didn’t like Yellowface for the same reasons. It’s subversive which is not bad in itself as it exposes racism and racial blindness - ‘proximity to whiteness’ for instance was attributed to how people might view Asian people as having an advantage and disadvantage for the same reasons. It also exposes the lack of transparency in college admissions processes.
I ploughed on with this even though I didn’t really enjoy it. The last third went much quicker than the first two and there was some kind of redemption towards the end as well as a surprise ending.
But overall not my cup of tea.
April 12, 2026
This book scratched a weird girl itch I’ve had ever since I finished reading Good Person. The author is diabolical. Come for the deranged narrator and stay to the subtle humor and jarring social commentary.
Thank you Barkley Pub for the brilliant arc!
Thank you Barkley Pub for the brilliant arc!
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
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.
May 1, 2026
I went in expecting a sharp little campus novel and got something meaner and more interesting. It’s a thriller about ambition that treats ambition the way thrillers usually treat blood. The more there is of it, the more uncomfortable everyone around you should be.
What I keep thinking about is how self-aware Elizabeth is. The unreliable narrator thing is everywhere right now and most of the time the trick is that the narrator is lying to herself and you’re supposed to clock it before she does. Elizabeth is the opposite. She knows. She watches herself doing it. She catalogues her own pettiness and rage and racial resentment in real time, with the detachment of someone writing a personal essay about a person she hates. And it doesn’t make her better, it makes her worse, because the awareness becomes another thing she can use against herself and other people. I haven’t read a protagonist quite like this. Most “unlikable women” in fiction are unlikable because the author is letting you see something they can’t. Elizabeth is unlikable because she sees everything and goes ahead anyway.
The setup sounds slight on paper. Senior at Columbia, gets rejected from Harvard Law, becomes convinced her classmate Laura Kim took the “diversity slot” that was rightfully hers, starts stalking her. It is not slight in execution. Xu uses the rejection as a wire to hang an entire psychology on, the specific horror of working your whole life toward a version of “exceptional” that, the moment you don’t get it, reveals itself to have been load-bearing in ways you didn’t notice. The Laura Kim stuff goes places I didn’t see coming and the ending earns every escalation it pulls.
The race material is what surprised me most. Most novels in this lane handle it earnestly, or as scenery. Xu does something I haven’t seen before, which is to put it inside the protagonist’s grievance. Elizabeth’s entire theory of her own failure is racialized, and the book makes you sit with the fact that she is sometimes uncomfortably persuasive and sometimes obviously deranged, and that the work of telling the difference is yours. It isn’t a “novel about identity.” It’s a novel about a person weaponizing identity against herself.
Read it in two sittings the first time, two days the second time, and I’m starting it again.
What I keep thinking about is how self-aware Elizabeth is. The unreliable narrator thing is everywhere right now and most of the time the trick is that the narrator is lying to herself and you’re supposed to clock it before she does. Elizabeth is the opposite. She knows. She watches herself doing it. She catalogues her own pettiness and rage and racial resentment in real time, with the detachment of someone writing a personal essay about a person she hates. And it doesn’t make her better, it makes her worse, because the awareness becomes another thing she can use against herself and other people. I haven’t read a protagonist quite like this. Most “unlikable women” in fiction are unlikable because the author is letting you see something they can’t. Elizabeth is unlikable because she sees everything and goes ahead anyway.
The setup sounds slight on paper. Senior at Columbia, gets rejected from Harvard Law, becomes convinced her classmate Laura Kim took the “diversity slot” that was rightfully hers, starts stalking her. It is not slight in execution. Xu uses the rejection as a wire to hang an entire psychology on, the specific horror of working your whole life toward a version of “exceptional” that, the moment you don’t get it, reveals itself to have been load-bearing in ways you didn’t notice. The Laura Kim stuff goes places I didn’t see coming and the ending earns every escalation it pulls.
The race material is what surprised me most. Most novels in this lane handle it earnestly, or as scenery. Xu does something I haven’t seen before, which is to put it inside the protagonist’s grievance. Elizabeth’s entire theory of her own failure is racialized, and the book makes you sit with the fact that she is sometimes uncomfortably persuasive and sometimes obviously deranged, and that the work of telling the difference is yours. It isn’t a “novel about identity.” It’s a novel about a person weaponizing identity against herself.
Read it in two sittings the first time, two days the second time, and I’m starting it again.
Did Not Finish
May 1, 2026Audiobook DNFed @ 13%. I was hoping for more satirical Yellowface vibes but alas, Elizabeth (the author?) plays it too straight for me to read this as satire. Elizabeth is the kind of Asian girl I actively avoided in high school and college, and still avoid to this day: obsessed with winning in the system and entirely unaware of the problematic nature of the very system itself and her role in upholding it by desiring to win at it.
Elizabeth (the author?) casually throws out problematic statements about things, especially about other people of color and/or marginalized communities. In a satire it would be evident that this is done to critique the character's beliefs; however, I can't tell here if Xu included it in order to satirize Elizabeth, or if Xu and/or Elizabeth don't notice anything wrong about making such problematic statements about other groups of people.
In the end, Asian-on-Asian, and Asian-on-other-POC, spitefulness is not the storyline for me.
Elizabeth (the author?) casually throws out problematic statements about things, especially about other people of color and/or marginalized communities. In a satire it would be evident that this is done to critique the character's beliefs; however, I can't tell here if Xu included it in order to satirize Elizabeth, or if Xu and/or Elizabeth don't notice anything wrong about making such problematic statements about other groups of people.
In the end, Asian-on-Asian, and Asian-on-other-POC, spitefulness is not the storyline for me.
May 4, 2026
Delusion is the solution! 🙃
The chokehold this book had on me is unbelievable. The premise sounded exactly like something I would enjoy but I didn’t expect to obsessively consume this in 24hrs. (I am now more upset that I was rejected by NetGalley for this title.)
There are so many layers to the story, but I don’t feel like it’s simply checking off boxes. It read very authentic, especially as a self proclaimed overachiever and someone who understands what it’s like to tie self-worth to accomplishments. This is dark and it’s a wild ride. I understand why some people found the ending unsatisfying, but I was personally comfortable with it.
My only complaint is that this did sound very young. I think it almost sounded a little YA in many areas, which isn’t my style, and I think it affected my experience with it. But this is a page turner nonetheless, and I loved the themes and the discussions it brought up.
Great debut, looking forward to whatever Xu delivers next!
The chokehold this book had on me is unbelievable. The premise sounded exactly like something I would enjoy but I didn’t expect to obsessively consume this in 24hrs. (I am now more upset that I was rejected by NetGalley for this title.)
There are so many layers to the story, but I don’t feel like it’s simply checking off boxes. It read very authentic, especially as a self proclaimed overachiever and someone who understands what it’s like to tie self-worth to accomplishments. This is dark and it’s a wild ride. I understand why some people found the ending unsatisfying, but I was personally comfortable with it.
My only complaint is that this did sound very young. I think it almost sounded a little YA in many areas, which isn’t my style, and I think it affected my experience with it. But this is a page turner nonetheless, and I loved the themes and the discussions it brought up.
Great debut, looking forward to whatever Xu delivers next!
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