Go.
By Holly Uyemoto
Fiction
Review posted: 7/20/03
Troubled, depressed, hysterically funny and cynical, Wil is not exactly please with the way her life is going lately. And who can blame her? After all, a nervous breakdown and a stay in a mental hospital is hardly going to do anyone's social life a lot of good. Add in a jerk ex-boyfriend, a slightly off-kilter family and way too much pressure from their expectations. Face facts - you'd have had a nervous breakdown too.
Uyemoto's Go is a clever take on the traditional culture clash novel that anyone can relate to. As Wil narrates her trials and tribulations, telling family stories and bemoaning her fate, readers find a protaganist they can relate to. Although Uyemoto uses Wil's Japanese-American heritage to her advantage, never does it become something that can isolate or intimidate a reader from outside the culture.
Although this is a well-written, intelligent novel, it does have its flaws. Wil is, at times, a whiner. No one can doubt for a minute that she brings some of her troubles on herself without being too willing to take the blame. And, essentially, this is the only sympathetic character in the book, which means that you spend a lot of time disliking everyone else. Overall, it's worth reading, but you'll probably have to be in just the right mood to enjoy it.
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