PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewWithin this propulsive plot Frazier seamlessly embeds a much larger, more sobering history ... While the dialogue feels natural, the choppy narration style sometimes ends up sounding like a screenplay monologue, especially around Mei’s budding romance with Henry. But Frazier captures the relatable toggle between the private and the collective, between sinking into the anxieties of your life and grieving for the cruelties of the world.
Jenny Xie
PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewXie...writes about these interactions viscerally and with warmth ... Xie explores how touch, however naturally or artificially created, can elicit closeness ... While some lines spin you around...much of Holding Pattern is exquisite and wise.
Jean Chen Ho
RaveThe New York Time Book Review... even to those not from Los Angeles, Ho’s debut collection feels like a shared experience, carefully read back to you ... While Ho, born in Taiwan and raised in California, circles sexuality, money and religion with grace, the most moving parts of the book are about the two women’s respective family roots ... Certain descriptions feel overdone and stilted ... But regardless, over the course of the book Fiona and Jane become real and electric and precious people. The stories move through intimate, cinematic scenes ... The world Ho creates between the two women feels like one friend reading the other’s story, wishing she were there ... it is through compassion that the characters belong like this to each other, and to the reader, too.
