Daiyu was put out on the streets by her grandmother as a young girl. Her parents had been taken by the government and executed as traitors and the grandmother knew her granddaughter would be next. She cuts Daiyu's hair and disguises her as a boy. Daiyu lives on the street, begging food and work until she ends up at a calligraphy master's studio. There she worked for him by day and learned the craft by night. That comes to an end when Daiyu is kidnapped and taken to the United States where she is installed in a brothel.

The brothel is run by a tong and when Daiyu escapes with the help of a customer, she knows she must run far and quickly. She goes back to her male disguise and goes by the name of Jacob Lee. She ends up in Idaho and works in a Chinese grocery where she becomes part of the family of the two men who own it. She also meets another man who gives violin lessons as he attempts to become a concert violinist.

But in the late nineteenth century in the West, Chinese immigrants are not welcome. The miners insist that the Chinese men take their jobs and there are riots and violence against them. The government passes the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which suspended Chinese immigration for ten years and made Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization. After that the violence against the immigrants increased, ending in Jacob's case with him, the grocery owners and his friend arrested and falsely charged with murdering a white grocery store owner.

This book is based in truth. The author's father was driving through Idaho and stopped to read a roadside marker. He was shocked to see that it memorialized a place where Chinese men were lynched for murder. Zhang researched the event and from that her novel emerged. This was a New York Times Notable book and deserves the acclaim it has gotten. I listened to this novel and the female narrator was perfect to portray Daiyu. Most Americans know little if anything about the Chinese Exclusion Act or the wave of violence against the Chinese who were brought here to build the transcontinental railroad then discriminated against when American workers moved into the West Coast. This book is recommended for historical fiction readers and those interested in other cultures.

This was a beautiful book that captivated me from the beginning. The writing was lyrical (but not too much so) and full. I love stories that follow a character during different phases of life, through different trials and we get to watch the character grow. This was exactly that. The narrator was fantastic and I highly recommend reading this via audio.

Wow. This book is a masterpiece! I learned a lot about the Chinese exclusion act and Chinese immigrants in the US in the late 1800s. It’s so sad but the author weaves in hope throughout and Daiyu was such a brave and strong MC. The ultimate story of immigrant survival and adaptation!

4.5/5 stars!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was a really great read, i love historical books and this was really worth the read!

Four Treasures of the Sky was such a beautiful story of strength and survival.

Daiyu is a young girl, abandoned by her parents in China during the 1800s. She’s then kidnapped and taken to America, living with other Chinese immigrants during the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The writing grabbed me from the beginning, and I loved that the story packed so much heart and emotion. Based on a true story, it both broke my heart and had me completely engrossed to find out what would happen to Daiyu next.

*many thanks to Macmillan Audio/Netgalley and Flatiron for the gifted copy for review

This book is written like a work of calligraphy (a key focus of the book)- each stroke is purposeful, beautiful, lyrical, meaningful, and heartfelt. A strong female lead who undergoes trauma after trauma but continues to grow and keep trying her best.

Four Treasures of the Sky is nothing like I expected. I expected an uplifting story about how a girl overcomes all obstacles in her way to achieve greatness. While this is somewhat true, her journey is what hit me hardest.

The small Chinese girl who has her whole life in front of her, suddenly loses her entire identity. An unexpected tragedy befalls her family, and she gets tossed into a life as a street urchin. Early on, she finds solace with a calligraphy master. But this life is also stripped from her. She begins again and again throughout her short life, only to have everything taken away over and over. When the final tragedy comes, it is almost a relief.

I shed so many tears while reading this book. I had to take frequent breaks because the story choked the breath from me. In some ways, I wish I'd read the book instead of listened to it. The narrator was so good that she made me feel part of the story and the girl’s story was my own. Every tragedy hit my heart so hard that I could not catch a solid breath.

So, while this is not the story I expected, it is one that I am glad to be a part of. The author tells a brilliant story full of history and so much hate and death. Our country never seems to learn from the past. This ignorance saddens me more than all else.

I award Four Treasures of the Sky a full 5 out of 5 stars.

China is where we first meet Daiyu, a young girl whose parents have been taken away, leaving her to live with her grandmother. She’s sent to the city by herself and is lucky to get a job working in the home of a teacher of calligraphy who encourages a life of discipline. Daiyu, now pretending to be boy named Feng, soaks up all she hears from the instructor as she does her work. But one day she’s kidnapped and groomed to become an American sex slave.

Daiyu has had to take on different personas as she tries to protect herself from being targeted as a single girl. Among other identities, she’s forced to take on the guise of a prostitute. From the time she left her grandmother in China to her forced life in America, there are dangers at every turn. Later, Daiyu takes on another persona – Jacob - and finds the harassment of Asians has heated up, stoked by the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This law banned immigration from China and intensified the atmosphere of hatred toward those of Chinese descent. Daiyu and others are victimized and targeted.

Zhang used a real event in American history as a focal point for her fictional tale. The character Daiyu shows tremendous resilience throughout her ordeals. She is an innocent who’s caught up in a world of exploitation and hatred. Many of those she encounters on her journey have their own sad stories and their own tragedies.

This is a timely book that depicts the harrowing journey of an innocent girl who must pretend to be something she’s not. With an increase in prejudice and hostilities toward Asians in America today, many will find this resonates.

The audio reading by the author added to the atmosphere and the flavor of the book. It was engaging and facilitated a better understanding the different settings.

Four Treasures of the Sky is a historical fiction depicting the story of Daiyu, a girl who is left with no parents or grandparent in her family's attempt to protect her from the repercussions of their own actions.

Daiyu is sent from her small town to the perceived protection of the anonymity of the city when she is still a child and manages to eke out an existence until she is kidnapped and sent to America by human traffickers. She again finds herself in a position where she is beholden to those who would exploit her for protection and basic necessities when she is sold to a brothel. After escaping the brothel with the help of a naively incompetent boy, she flees to rural Idaho where she lives as a boy. She finds herself living with other Chinese immigrants, but still unable to stop looking over her shoulder in fear both that she will be found by the human traffickers and the vocal racists in her community. This is a well-researched and fictionalized version of the seldom explored racism experienced by Chinese immigrants in the 1880's in the United States

This is a beautiful story about the strength of the survival instinct and I've already made it my next book club pick. The audio narration was wonderful

This beautifully narrated audiobook is about Daiyu, a young Chinese girl stolen from her home and taken to America. We follow her through decades as she tries to find her place in a world that keeps beating her down.

This has everything: Chinese folklore, history, and the backdrop of the American Wild West. I was moved by Daiyu's plight. This is an audiobook worth your time.

Jenny Tinghui Zhang is an extraordinarily gifted writer whose words have a searing intensity. In her debut novel, Zhang lays bare the lies of the American West, bringing to light the brutalities and injustices perpetrated against Chinese immigrants in the United States as a result of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the systemic oppression which has continued into the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Four Treasures of the Sky” is a devastating account of racism, greed and the historical trauma wreaked by white supremicists upon yet another ethnic minority, immigrants who are uncertain whether they will ever find a home again. Unfortunately, Zhang’s novel is as relevant today as anti-Asian sentiment and violence are still very much a reality.

It is a phenomenally well researched, beautifully written book including much sensory detail. If you’re a fan of Chinese folklore, calligraphy and literature this will be right up your alley. “Four Treasures of the Sky” is a coming-of-age tour de force.

A huge thanks to @NetGalley and @macmillan.audio for the advanced audiobook. “Four Treasures of the Sky” was read by Katherine Chin, the perfect narrator for the book.

This novel was beautifully written. It’s very dense and obviously well and heavily researched. I’m ashamed to say I knew nothing about the Chinese Exclusion Act that this story is based on. I’m happy (not sure that’s the right word) to have learned more about it through this novel, even with how horrifying it was at times. I think this is one book that I would have rather read than listened to. Narrators can make it or break it for me. The voice acting felt too forced and unrealistic at times. It took me a while to get into because of this. I was also a little confused with the timeline. Although I'm not entirely familiar with the late 1800s, it had a hard time placing the events during this time period. I loved the authors note/interview at the end. It really helped tie things together and fill in some gaps. This book reminded me of Mulan (Disney) and She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker Chan). Stories about a female, disguised as a male to defeat their enemies. If you’re looking for an alternative historical fiction novel other than WWII themes, give this one a try!

This novel transported me like only the best of the best books do - the writing was spectacular and vivid, the story and characters unforgettable. This book will stay with me for a long time. The story itself was heartbreaking, and I sobbed through much of the novel, but it is an important story to be told. Loosely based on a true event, I really appreciated the author’s note at the end, informing the readers about the inspiration for this book. This author is so talented, and I have added her to my must-read list.
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Thank you to the author, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. #FourTreasuresOfTheSky #NetGalley

This was a beautifully written book but also extremely sad. The US is known for hiding information from history books if it is now frowned upon but how can we learn from the past if we aren't told the truth. The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) was a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the United States. For the first time, federal law proscribed entry of an ethnic working group on the premise that it endangered the good order of certain localities. The Exclusion Act wasn't even repealed until 1943. This is something that we have done throughout history and continue to do to different groups of people.

Daiyu's story gives insight into the lives of the people that suffered during this time period, not only by the Exclusion Act but also because of the treatment of women and the struggle to survive. We travel with her from China to San Francisco to Idaho and the many people she had to become to survive this dangerous time for Chinese immigrants. This is a heartbreaking story but it is worth the read.

Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named, revered for her beauty, and cursed with heartbreak. But when she is kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America. Over the years that follow, she is forced to keep reinventing herself to survive. From a calligraphy school to a San Francisco brothel, to a shop tucked into the Idaho mountains, we follow Daiyu on a desperate quest to outrun the tragedy that chases her. As anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the country in a wave of unimaginable violence, Daiyu must draw on each of the selves she has been—including the ones she most wants to leave behind—in order to finally claim her own name and story.

I listened to this book on audio. The narrator had the most calming voice. I would definitely recommend this narrator. The story shows a young girl who is strong, resilient, and determined. She overcomes being kidnapped, sent to a brothel, escapes, and always has enough courage to keep trying to get to her goal of getting home. She learns early on not to trust anyone, although she is still young and had to learn the hard way. The story takes you from China, San Francisco, to Idaho where you find yourself constantly hoping she finds her way home.

✨ Review ✨Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
This books follows Daiyu, a young girl in China after her parents are arrested and taken away. As she moves from a calligraphy school in Zhifu (the nearest town to the fishing village where she spent her early years) to a San Francisco brothel to mining villages in Idaho, Daiyu tries to morph her identity so that she can best protect herself in the rough conditions she faces. As the Chinese Exclusion Act passes, Daiyu confronts great discrimination and is aware of great violence perpetuated against Chinese people in America.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: Historical Fiction
Location: Zhifu, China; San Francisco; Idaho
Pub Date: Out now!

While I was familiar with the larger history of the U.S. West during this time and the Chinese Exclusion Act, I found this narrative to be extremely moving in showing the more human/individual consequences of this particular moment.

More broadly, the writing in this book was lyrical and beautiful as it reflected upon identity, on manhood and womanhood, on safety and comfort, on the creation of Chinese characters, on family and obligation, and so much more. The audiobook really conveyed this beautifully as well, though I wish I had a print copy to highlight as I went.

(Maybe I missed it because of the audio, but I also never pinned down what the title actually meant?)

This book has many triggers (including rape, violence, etc.), and I recommend looking into these before reading. The writing did feel a bit YA-ish at times though the content felt perhaps harsher than most YA. This is a beautiful story but also a very sad story. I didn't enjoy the content so much as I appreciated learning more about this moment in time. I definitely recommend it to historical fiction lovers!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ learning more about U.S. History and systems of racial exclusion
⭕️ coming-of-age narratives where the MC faces great adversity
⭕️ historical fiction set in the late 1800s.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books and #netgalley for an audiobook copy of this book!

At the end of this novel, is a very informative and interesting author’s note about how the story is based on a real life unexplained event. I wish that this author’s note was at the beginning of the story instead of the end, so I could better prepare myself for what is to come, which is a story of emotional devastation caused by the real life actions of our own history as Americans.

The novel follows Daiyu, whos difficult life in China becomes an even more difficult life in America when she is kidnapped off the streets and forced to immigrate into the sex trade.

The novel has an amazing beauty which perfectly mixes hope and tragedy throughout the story. While the story could almost feel exploitative in lesser hands, Zhang’s writing never makes it feel that way. It always felt like a real life story that happened and needed to be told.

The magical realism interspersed within the story is often something that I am not a huge fan of but felt like it worked here completely. Daiyu has asides talking to the ‘ghost’ of her namesake. It was a great narrative way to express the trauma and loneliness she herself is facing.

Daiyu is a wonderful and beautiful character who throughout her journey never really loses her sense of hope and wonder or her ability to love and be kind even when faced with the worst of people. She represents the best of youth and character and you want the absolute best for her. The side characters involved are written richly and create a great sense of a real community which is facing such deep opposition to their very existence.

This book is obviously filled with tons of deeper and darker subjects. I knew very little about the Chinese Exclusion Acts. I remember learning that people from China immigrated to build railroads and then…that’s it. That’s as far as it went for schooling. This story focuses on the exploitation, racism, and segregation that the Chinese community faced after traveling all this way to a supposed land of hope. Daiyu is also dragged into the sex trade and this form of abuse is focused on in the beginning half of the book.

It's a dark and tragic story but it is absolutely beautiful while telling it. I would recommend reading this with a few tissues handy. This is also a debut novel which is AMAZING. I will definitely be looking out for this author in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook. It was narrated by Katherine Chin who did an absolutely wonderful job.

Ok. I should probably start this review with the caveat-I gravitate towards late 19th century historical fiction. Add an international element (especially Chinese-think View from Pagoda Hill) and I’m super interested. Four Treasures of the Sky reached the limit of my sadness cap though. A young girl is orphaned and through a series of misfortunes is brought to San Francisco to a Chinese brothel. Her fortunate escape leads to a life lived as a boy in Idaho. Once there, she faces abuse and bone-chilling racism. This book was so sad but tied up so beautifully at the end with the author’s note that even as a Chinese-American, she knew nothing about the horrible racism that Chinese immigrants faced in this time. I found the accounts halting and when the author parallels it to the Asian-focused racism of today it really made me gasp. There’s nothing happy about this book, but the journey it takes you on may be worth the sorrow.

Thank you to @flatiron_books and @netgalley for this book. It was released in early April.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC.

Four Treasures of the Sky is a fascinating work of historical fiction with a little traditional Eastern mysticism thrown in. I enjoyed the characters immensely and remained engaged throughout, And since much of the novel takes place in my birth state of Idaho, it added another level of interest. I can see this novel going far, bestseller lists, awards nominations, book club picks. A great read!

Following Daiyu’s life was both inspiring and heartbreaking. I had only vaguely heard of the Chinese Exclusion Act before reading this and did a deep dive of research after finishing. Yet again, I found myself disgusted by the ability of humans to treat other humans with such hatred. I truly do not understand it and felt so many emotions, mostly sadness and anger, while reading about the atrocities Daiyu and her friends faced.

There’s also a unique calligraphy aspect in this that some people might really enjoy reading about.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

(I will post to Instagram and goodreads soon)