Although the plot is kind of fun, the characters don't transcend their stereotypes and the writing is mundane. It's a satifsying light read.

Going into The Fortunes of Jaded Women, I was expecting a deep and serious exploration of family ties, relationships, and cultural expectations. I did get some of that, but this was much more lighthearted than I expected.

This book follows three generations of the Duong family, who when introduced are not speaking to each other. Each generation of daughters is estranged from their mothers. A fortune told from a reliable source brings them back together and much squabbling ensues. While difficult topics are touched on, the book stays surprisingly light and humorous.

While this didn’t end up being quite as profound as I’d hoped it would be, it certainly wasn’t a bad read either. I found it pretty enjoyable and think anyone who enjoys stories about family dynamics will likely enjoy it too.

The Fortunes of Jaded Women is a wonderful multi-generational story of the women in a Vietnamese-American family. A generations-long curse has plagued the women by causing them to only have daughters and for those daughters to be estranged from their mothers. To break the curse once and for all, many different sets of sisters must come to terms with their relationships and each other.

I loved the vibrant characters in this family! There are moments of hilarity and heartbreak, and each character is really fascinating in her struggles. I would recommend the audiobook so you can hear the pronunciations of the Vietnamese names.

Perfect for fans of Kevin Kwan and Dial A for Aunties!

3.5⭐

Featuring ~ multiple 3rd person POV, debut, family drama, Vietnamese culture, racism, a curse and a lot of cursing

I appreciated the note at the beginning stating how she wanted to make Vietnamese American Women a forefront to a story, since normally they are background characters in fiction. "Vietnamese women are happy, loud, stubborn, angry, dramatic and loving. We are everything". All of those elements definitely came through in this book at one time or another.

Family drama mama! There is a long cast of characters to keep track of that I can't even begin to name them all. It was a nice added touch in the e-book to have a family tree to help keep track of all the characters, however I wasn't about to go back and forth on my kindle, so a print form would be best to view this.

Overall, this was a solid debut that dove deep into the Vietnamese culture and how racism plays a factor in their lives. I am always happy to read about cultures I am not familiar with.

I was able to listen to the final version as well, so I went back and forth reading and listening.
Narrated Vyvy Nguyen by for 9 hours and 29 minutes. I think she did a lovely job and really brought the story to life, although it sounded like she was really yelling at me at times.

This was a sweet story of family drama and dysfunctional relationships, between siblings, between mothers and daughters, between everyone. It was kind of chaotic, but I enjoyed it.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley & Atria Books for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely a hard read for me because everyone is such a self-centered jerkwad and you don't really root for any of them. The self-inflicted drama was fun to read but I couldn't really distinguish the characters from one another because again, they're all self-centered. It was fun to read about a different culture and the dialogue was witty.

Meh. Every character sounded exactly the same. I literally couldn’t differentiate any of them. And the entire story was whining and complaining. Not for me.

The story woven through generations of this book was so good. The characters were well developed and had personalities that added so much depth to the story.
The emotional journey was full of drama, love, heartbreak, and joy.

Read if you like: Multiple POVs, family curses, Vietnamese representation

Everyone in Orange County’s Little Saigon knew that the Duong sisters were cursed. Their ancestor Oanh who dared to leave her marriage for true love was cursed by a fearsome Vietnamese witch. She cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons.​

Auntie Hua, a trusted psychic in Hawaii was consulted, who delivers an unexpected prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son. This prophecy will reunite estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins—for better or for worse.

There are a lot of characters in this book, 15+. I enjoyed it but it did get confusing at times because of the amount of POVs and people to keep up with. Because of that it was easy to blend the characters since they didn't all get developed enough. The family and storyline are interesting but there were quite a few slow parts. I enjoyed learning about the Vietnamese culture. This was so heartwarming and funny at times. I recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Atria Books for the gifted e-book! ❤️

So much fun! I loved spending time in the sharply-drawn world of these wonderful women. Very much looking forward to seeing what Huynh has in store for her next novel.

Over Thanksgiving, I read a book that was all about family, which was perfect timing with the holiday. The Fortunes of Jaded Women was wonderful!

The Duong sisters have been cursed to only give birth to daughters and so multiple generations of girls are born. Not all of the women are lucky in love and they hope their daughters will be the ones to break the curse. Mai Nguyen consults a psychic in Hawaii that predicts that this year her family will witness a marriage, a funeral and the birth of a son. Who will have something life changing happen to them?

There’s a very large cast of characters in this book and I’m very thankful to @carolynkhuynh for including a family tree. I needed to reference this more than a few times. I loved that not all the women felt they had to bend to society’s judgement, but you can see the difference in generations here. There’s a lot of “what will the neighbors think?” I loved all the descriptions of the food and learning more about their culture. I would recommend a this book to anyone who enjoys family dramas. It’s also very funny at times, so it’s not all super heavy.

This book had a great premise and I was really excited about it. But I just struggled to get into the book. I Sadly DNF this book, but I am confident that many will love this book. It just wasn't right for me. Thanks #netgalley for the copy of this book.

If you are of Asian descent, you know how our families are. Culture and tradition comes first. Its a good and proud thing, but also sometimes its not so convenient. Being an API reader, I have had my eyes on The Fortunes of Jaded Women ever since I heard about it! Gladly, I enjoyed it very much. Enjoy is a subtle word here—I sobbed ugly, felt embraced and overall felt good after reading!! I altered between the e-arc and the audiobook I borrowed from my library. I didn’t feel a disconnect anywhere. The story just flows because its written very well!! Highly recommend if you read women’s fiction and appreciate a little magical realism in the story.

Many thanks to Atria via Netgalley for the e-arc!

Thank you @atriabooks, @netgalley, and @carolynhugh for the gifted e-book of The Fortunes of Jaded Women, and my friend @sdenk6378 for swapping the book with me!
📅: available now!

Thoughts 💭: I began this book when I was returning back from my conference mid-October. Capturing the intergenerational trauma inherited without Vietnamese and Vietnamese American families, we learn that the family has been cursed due to actions of an ancestor who breaks her marriage vows, and ends up pregnant with a boy. Her ex-mother in law places a curse on her that she will never have sons, and only daughters. Thus, begins the saga of two generations of 3 sisters, and their daughters. Through them, Carolyn explores the themes of love, identity, belonging, mother-daughter relationships, and immigrant narratives. The world she creates feels real - almost as if you can feel it in front of you, and the characters feel like they could be people whom you know.

While reading this book, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Indian cultures and customs that also prize the birth of a son over a daughter, and realized that this phenomenon is also something shared with the Vietnamese culture. Such books should be adapted into films such that everyone can get access to the powerful, strong women that the author has created, and their flawed characterization. It is also what makes them human. The drama is perhaps what keeps the story going, and it is hard not to be absorbed into the narrative. I began this book towards mid-October and it took a month to fully absorb it and give it justice. I am attached to the mothers and daughters. Just so beautifully done! ☺️

Okayyyy this was everything I needed and wanted. First off, this book will absolutely hit different if you can understand/connect with the characters. As an API reader, the experiences and culture of the family made my heart both burst with love and ache in empathy. It was really special to read this book and feel seen in some way 🤍

TFOJW has strong family dynamics and history, Vietnamese culture, and of course, moments of levity and absolute chaos. Readers are immersed into the journey of this family; the highs, the lows, the curse, and the secrets. My only wish was that we could get even more of their lives.

The many characters, alternating POV chapters, and exciting plot had me not wanting this to end or put it down. I loved this one 🫶🏼

Thank you to the team of book fairies at @atriabooks for the gifted copies 🤍

The Fortunes of Jaded Women follows multiple generations of the Duong family as they move from Vietnam to Southern California. While in Vietnam, a curse is put on the family so that they will only have daughters. Estranged family members start to reconnect when a fortune teller says that the curse will be broken in the next year. I thought this book sounded really interesting and I love interpersonal dramas so I was looking forward to reading it! I was a little worried that I would have trouble getting into the story but spoiler alert, that was not at all a problem and I read this book super quickly because I had to know what happened.

I thought this book was amazing! It did a really good job of blending the stories of different characters. It switches the point of view between all of the grandmothers, aunts, cousins, mothers, and sisters in this book. I was excited to read every point of view and there were no characters that I dreaded returning to like in other alternating POV books. I loved the way that relationships between characters were revealed as they reconnected. I thought the ending was great and may have audibly gasped a couple of times at the changes in the story.

Overall, I recommend anyone who wants to read a good story and especially to people who enjoy interpersonal and family dramas. This is one of my favorite books that I have read this year. 5 stars from me! Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book!

Such a wonderful debut. What a mother will do for her daughters. I loved all of the characters, even though I had to keep looking at the family chart to figure out who was who!

The Fortunes of Jaded Women
By Carolyn Huynh
Narrator VyVy Nguyen

I love reading about multigenerational family stories for the complex dynamics, the family members (because every family no matter the culture has them - the gossip, the funny one, the peacemaker, the one everyone wants to be like, and then the ones you want to avoid at all cost), and the hilarious antics that happen when families get together. I could not believe that this was a debut, because it was so well written. I loved learning more about the Vietnamese American culture and having the setting in my hometown of Southern California - in Little Saigon, even made this a more interesting read for me. I was so thankful for the family tree in the book, which I referred to multiple times in the beginning because there were just so many characters.

I loved listening to the audio book - I thought VyVy Nguyen did a fantastic job voicing over the characters giving each their personalities. The pronunciation of the Vietnamese words were a lot of help for me as I listened to the book and reading along.

I found myself really enjoying the book and immersing myself into the Duong family. What a fantastic story full of heart, funny moments, and a poignant read.

A great novel full of intertwining stories. Very character driven. I felt a roller coaster of emotions when I read this book.

Thanks to Atria Books for this ARC, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I love a multi-generational novel and was not disappointed by The Fortunes of the Jaded Women. This book started a little slow for me because there are so many characters to keep track of, but once I found my groove I finished it quickly. Each of the women felt stubborn, flawed, and real, which made them relatable. I'll happily recommend this one to my friends.