I have been a fan of Elizabeth Lim’s books for a while and so when I saw this new adult project I knew I had to read. Fishbone Cinderella swept me off my feet. It’s this historical generational story about family, sacrifice, and love. Keep reading this book review of Fishbone Cinderella for my full thoughts.
Summary
A bracelet. A curse. And golden fishbones to be returned to the sea …
Guangdong, 1940. When Ha Yut Ying narrowly escapes Japanese soldiers by turning invisible, she knows her new-found magic must be kept a secret. But her mother, whose dreams foretell the future, suspects her daughter has changed, and warns her of a curse upon their family. For her protection, she gives her a gold bracelet whose links are shaped like fishbones.
After the war, Ha Yut Ying is sent to live with her father and his second wife, who have become wealthy factory owners in Hong Kong. Her stepmother, jealous of her beauty, forces her to work in the family’s shoe factory.
But when Yut Ying collides with a boy on a bicycle on her way to work, she loses her bracelet. The boy is Tommy Yeung, scion of a local soymilk tycoon. And their encounter will change both of their destinies forever…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I’ve been so excited for Elizabeth Lim’s adult project and Fishbone Cinderella did not disappoint. It’s a story about power, potential, and the indescribable. We reflect on these moments in our life which end up as a turning point, as cracks or earthquakes. And it doesn’t even have to be in our own life. Fishbone Cinderella is a multi-generational story about what we do to survive, how we navigate the relationships with our family, and home. This historical fiction meets fantasy is a gorgeous examination of family and these relationships of love, hope, resentment, and anger. Relationships which hold onto us, hold us back, and hold us for a moment.
Fishbone Cinderella is about that balance between relying on ourselves and not allowing us to be vulnerable. To know that we are the only ones who have our best interests at heart and trusting others who love us. I was obsessed with Fishbone Cinderella and the connections between the past, the present, and the threads which are drawn. Lim explores loss and what pain will twist us into. How it shapes us and our future. When we become unrecognizable to ourselves. At the same time it’s about the cycles of family, when it repeats, and the choices we pass down.
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Find Fishbone Cinderella on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.