Published by Katherine Tegen Books on May 26, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 496
Format: eBook, ARC
Source: Publisher
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Parachutes follows the lives of two teenage girls. Claire Wang is an international student from an affluent family in Shanghai, China. Despite her initial misgivings about finishing high school in the U.S., she quickly makes friends with other “parachutes” (teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia), attracts the attention of the most eligible parachute, and sets out to embrace her newfound freedom. Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s host sister, is a scholarship student from a Filipino single-mother household. She’s on the debate team and works after school as a maid to support her family. Miscommunications and initial biases cause Dani and Claire to avoid each other, but as their lives spiral out of control, they’ll learn that they share more in common than they think.
There’s a lot to talk about with this novel. I felt like I got a bit of Loveboat, Taipei with the diverse cast of asian teens set loose in a foreign country (this time moving from Asia to the U.S.). I got a bit of Speak with the struggle for the victims to speak up about what happened to them. And I got Claire and Dani and Ming and Jess and Florence. These teen girls have their struggles, their conflicts, and they make mistakes, but in the end, they have each other’s backs. A shout-out also goes to the adults who take a stand for justice when the world tells them to do otherwise.
Parachutes gives a raw portrayal of the pain and suffering of the victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault: the blame, the fear, the suffocation of knowing that the system protects the perpetrator, not the victim. The struggle of whether to press charges because she has to think about her future, and everyone encourages her to “get over it” and “move on.” And Parachutes gives us insight into the broken system. It shows us the objectification of women, broken homes with absent parents, the presence of money and lack of affection, the belief that “if you want [a guy], you’re going to have to let him touch a lot more than your ears.” How a woman becomes marriageable material because she’s a virgin, when the truth is that “everyone’s wife material. Me, you, your mom, everyone.”
Parachutes also reveals many of the struggles within the asian community, struggles that make it difficult for victims to speak out: the importance of saving face, the belief that “everything’s better from America,” and the need to be a “good Chinese girl.” Even if Claire, or one of her friends, wants to speak up, she can think of many other reasons to remain silent. And so they make mistakes, they struggle in silence, and misunderstandings arise because of their lack of communication. Other issues addressed include own-race biases and racial discrimination.
Parachutes asks, “What does it mean to live well? And on what terms?” What do you do if the world tells you to remain silent when you know that it is right to speak up? In Parachutes, Kelly Yang gives voice to women who have been silenced by the system. The ending does not give us justice, but it does give us hope: hope in sisterhood, hope in claiming our voices, hope that one day justice will be made available to all.
Themes include family, friendship, love, betrayal, forgiveness, trauma, corruption, and the power of speaking out.
All quotes taken from an Advanced Review Copy.
Rating R
View Spoiler »Bias Notes
As an asian writer who wants to support other asian writers, I’m predisposed to liking books that feature asian characters and are written by asian authors. As an asian woman living in a white, male-dominated society, I can relate to some of the struggles that the characters face.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction says
Oh, wow—I hadn’t even heard of this one, but it sounds like a fantastic book. I will definitely be adding this to my TBR.
Crystal (Kester) says
It’s a great book. I hope you enjoy it, Nicole!
Ethan says
This looks like a perfect book for this moment in history. Diverse characters dealing with complex topics is a book of today.
Crystal (Kester) says
Yes, it’s great that we’re getting more diverse characters dealing with complex topics.
ShootingStarsMag says
This sounds like a really well-written story. I like that the author focuses on the cultural and racial aspects when it comes to speaking up or not – these are all things that play into a person’s reasoning.
-lauren
Crystal (Kester) says
I agree. Culture and race influence how we handle certain topics.