105 Ways to Give a Book

The Fold

The FoldI’ve decided that for my one-word title theme the “The” in An Na’s The Fold doesn’t count. My blog, my rules.

I’ve been wanting to read this book for more than a month since I first heard about it as part of the Fusion Stories. I’ve had mixed experiences with An Na’s books. I loved Step from Heaven, but wasn’t enthralled by Wait for Me. Where would this book fall?

I was intrigued by the premise, which was entirely out of my realm of experience. A Korean-American teenager is offered a gift from her rich aunt — double eyelid surgery to achieve a fold. Joyce is thrown by the offer. She longs to be as lovely as her big sister, but doesn’t know that plastic surgery is the answer. She questions the ideas of beauty as she tries to make her own decision.

I enjoyed the book very much. It took me into a cultural topic that I knew nothing about, which I always find fascinating. I found the writing to be different from both of An Na’s other books. It was definitely much lighter in tone. There was humor throughout the book and a realistic sense of high school drama. I mean, the book starts with a long description of a zit popping. For me, the book fell between the other two books. The acclaimed Step from Heaven is a much more sophisticated novel, but The Fold is interesting and fun. A great conclusion to my 48 hours of reading. Whew.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree. This is different than An Na's previous books. Unlike An Na’s previous books which were written in the form of lyrical vignettes, this novel is a much more straightforward plot-driven YA narrative. Yet, the qualities and themes of An Na’s writing that I appreciated in her previous books come through here too—the themes of family, responsibility, and identity; the exploration of a teenager’s realization that things are never quite what they seem; and, the juxtaposition of humor and sadness. An Na talks about this choice to write in a different style in my interview with her here .