Loveboat, Taipei
By Abigail Hing Wen
January 7, 2020, 432 p.,
ISBN: 9780062957276
The lowdown – Chinese American teen Ever Wong wants one thing: to dance. However, there’s one major complication: her parents and what they have in mind. Instead of spending her summer trying out for a dance scholarship, Ever is shipped to Taiwan to experience what will be the summer of her life. Her parents sign her up for the Chien Tan program, where she is expected to study and learn more about her culture to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of it. Before she knows it, Ever soon discovers why Chien Tan is also known as “Loveboat,” as she embarks on her own adventures.
Yes, a romance does eventually develop, but Loveboat, Taipei offers so much more than your typical YA summer fling. It’s a story of discoveries. The discovery of love, sure, but also and more so, the discovery of culture and roots, the discovery of potential, the discovery of self. Ever goes through not only an acceptance of her culture, but also a claiming of it.
Always passionate, we witness Ever’s evolution from being scared to make decisions to becoming more daring. In a quiet, subtle manner, she begins to hold her ground in the choices she makes. By the end of the book’s grand talent show finale, we see Ever fully flourishing. She is proud and more secure of herself and in what she wants.
Wen successfully depicts the nuanced experiences of growing up Asian American by highlighting the universal struggle of first generation kids against parental guilt trips. Ever is torn between choosing what she loves (dance) and what her parents want for her (medical school). This is much more difficult than Ever – and I’m sure many other Asian Americans – could ever imagine because she understands the struggles and sacrifices her immigrant parents had made for her. Their happiness does matter to her because they’ve worked so hard and had to put off their own dreams so that she can live a good life. For many Asian American youth, going against your parents’ wishes is far more than just being afraid that they will get mad at you – it’s disappointing them, letting them down – which is why Ever decides to play by their rules at the start of the trip. The flipside, of course, is the risk of losing yourself and all those missed opportunities, like getting a boyfriend, which Ever isn’t allowed to have back home.
What’s especially refreshing about this story is Wen’s ability to seamlessly incorporate the struggles of the supporting characters who are on the outside of the main narrative. Fellow Loveboaters Rick Woo and Sophie Ha have broken homes. On the surface, we see “perfect” characters: Sophie is bubbly and fashionable, and Rick is artistic, smart, and athletic. Beneath the surface, they have their own set of insecurities to handle, which doesn’t make them any less multidimensional. Their lives reflect the diversity of immigrant family experiences. This can very much be likened to the general perceptions of Asians as being “model-minorities,” being glossed over as perfect or under the radar in certain aspects. The reality is that while we do experience our own unique struggles, we are very much as human and real as our other counterparts, and not always so “cookie-cutter.”
Wen also throws us some more dynamics in depicting the Asian male through Xavier Yeh, one of Ever’s potential love interests. Unlike Rick, who is more wholesome, Xavier has edge and sex appeal, but also depth. He is artistic and tender, a man with feelings and struggles. We also see mental health being addressed in certain characters, as seen in Jenna, Rick’s hometown girlfriend, who experiences anxieties of being alone, and in Rick himself, who feels the need to constantly care-take. Wen tackles various themes skillfully in a way that does not feel glossed over or overambitious. Loveboat, Taipei is an overall enjoyable and culturally relatable read packed with fun romance and characters with depth.
A tasty bonus–during her trip, Ever discovers boba for the first time and that just makes me want to grab a bubble tea!
Review by Irene Zapata. Editing assistance by Amanda Cheung.