Four Treasures of the Sky: The compelling debut about identity and belonging in the 1880s American West Paperback – 30 Mar. 2023

I rarely write book reviews but this is such a compelling read - consumed in 3 days! Similar read to A Thousand Splendid Suns - if you enjoyed that you will quickly get engrossed in the heart-breaking tale. I have a particular interest in China so it ticked all my boxes!

Based loosely on a true event it is really difficult to explain how good it is without any spoliers. It's set in mainly America towards the end of the1800's. A young Chinese girl is kidnapped from China and is sold to a Madame in America. It covers racism, vigilantes, sexual assault, sexual exploitation. The endurance, strength and what Daiyu had to do just to survive was heartbreaking.It is quite a powerful and difficult read but it's so worth reading. It is well written and I just couldn't put it down. You are best going into this with a little information as possible but it is certainly an eye opener. I listened to this on audiobook and loved the narrator. I often listen on audiobook before deciding if I want a physical version. This is one of those nooks I need on my bookshelf. You may need tissues.

Heavy themes are being brought to light in Four Treasures of the Sky: kidnapping, abuse, xenophobia, sexual abuse etc . Aspects of the Chinese migration that you not always hear about: like kidnapping Chinese to be used/sold as labour in America; the abuse and injustice suffered my Chinese migrants after(and before!) The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. But despite that the writing is so very young adult that I could really immerse myself in the story and truly enjoy it. It also comes afterHow Much of These Hills Is Gold, a novel that also takes on some of the same themes. A narrative that is so visceral and almost impossible to forget, therefore the emotional story at the core of Four Treasures of the Sky pales in comparison.That being said I think this is going to be a hit with those that don't mind young adult material and also prefer a more gentle, full of emotions story. Zhang lovingly weaves two narrative threads, bringing to life a bit of Chinese history and life in China in 1870-1880s but also the experience of Chinese migrants around the same years in America. I liked the trick of using Chinese folklore to bind the two experiences together and also(despite being a bit stereotypical) that Daiyu fulfils the faiths of her namesake.

I couldn't put it down. I'd start a chapter and next thing I knew it was two hours later. I was so invested in Daiyu's story. This book is NOT CHILL. Extreme racism, sexual assault, and violence throughout. I loved the way this was written though. Through heartbreak it was written beautifully.

The beginning of the story is completing but overall the book fails to deliver. Some parts of the book are quite boring, some are very cliché and the ending ... Well it's like the author didn't know themselves how to end the story. Lots of misery, luck of character development. Lots of description about violence towards Chinese in the 19th century US without much context or some elaboration about the reasons. Not a single good non-Chinese character, all US citizens are just plain evil.(Spoiler)What was bugging me the whole time is how the main character pretended to be a boy/man and wasn't discovered by the people around even when locked up with them in the same jail cell with the common bucket. Really?

Artfully written. A beautifully, tragic story with wonderful symbolism and imagery.Covers a part of American history that has been significantly limited in public education and general history. Similar to Black History and Indigenous history and the history of many marginalized groups in the US. I barely learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act and this book was able to highlight how it affected the everyday Chinese people who it was inflicted upon.The use of magical realism created tension and hope. Although the story focuses on the main character, Daiyu, the story becomes even richer as each side character is introduced. These characters helps build a more realistic picture of life during the mid-to-late 1800s as well as illuminate multiple aspects of the MC’s culture.

I was gripped from the first pages by the philosophy that guides calligraphy, a motif that continues throughout the novel and helps create for the protagonist Daiyu a "unity between the person you are and the person you could be."This story is a bildungsroman, a 19th-century Chinese girl's journey into adulthood, and her struggle to become the best person she can be at a time when being a girl was a burden in itself. (And still is.)When disaster strikes and she is kidnapped, she is dispatched to San Francisco and into a new world of suffering and growth. She is not alone. She is inhabited by a tragic ghost with the same name, while she inhabits a series of false names--Feng, Peony, and Jacob--each one demanding that she disguise the self that her loving parents named Daiyu.The writing is persuasive and lyrical and Daiyu's account of learning English is exquisite, but the narrative does sometimes threaten to overwhelm the reader's ability to suspend disbelief. For example, for several days, Daiyu maintains her male persona in a jail cell with four men and an open bucket.Despite the protagonist's ongoing cross-dressing which doesn't always ring true, I recommend this tale not only for its artistry but also for its searing "teaching moments" about historical and contemporary prejudice.

The book was used but in great condition and packed well !