Audrey Zhou, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, left her small midwestern home after high school and never returned. Now she is returning so that her parents can meet her photojournalist WASP fiance Ben. Their visit coincides with Christmas and a medical procedure for her dad. The couple has chance encounters with Audrey’s high school crush Kyle and her former best friend Kristen. Events force Audrey to reexamine her relationships with her parents, which have always been poor, and her fiancé. I didn’t like any of the characters initially. Audrey and Ben both seem like willful brats. Her parents are very set in her ways and her mother, especially, is almost a caricature of stereotypical Asian mom. As the story progressed, however, I appreciated the family dynamics more. I thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Audrey Zhou is a twenty-something New Yorker who is bringing her new fiancé home to her small mid-western hometown to meet her family for the first time over the Christmas holiday. While the story may sound like a typical romantic comedy premise, Central Places presents a uniquely Chinese-American perspective on this story. Audrey grew up with immigrant parents in a mostly white town that she tried to leave behind as an adult, including her former high school crush and best friend. Bringing her white fiancé home for the first time forces Audrey to deal with her past. This story was so well-written and included so many nuances of being an Asian-American woman in an interracial relationship that I appreciated and related to.

Who knew that going back home for a visit could change the life you built while you were away? This novel had me hooked on Audrey's story. I enjoyed experiencing what it is like growing up American with Chinese immigrant parents. This book is definitely worth reading.

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5
A somewhat over-detailed but ultimately satisfying story of a young woman coming to an understanding of herself — the person she wants to be and the person she evolved from. Twenty something Audrey Zhou loves her life in New York City: her kind and conscientious NYC born and bred photojournalist boyfriend (Ben) and her job as a salesperson for a trendy NY magazine, but most of all she loves the extreme distance from her home and immigrant parents in Hickory Grove, Illinois. When her father has a potential health problem, Ben insists on accompanying Audrey home to meet her parents for the first time and learn more about her.

I was impressed by the way this book worked out — it really did focus on a single person’s experience, rather than another agenda heavy diatribe about racism in the U.S. Assumptions, biases, and exposed hypocrisies appear in multiple places, and the recognition of what part Audrey finds herself playing in all of that is worth the price of admission. The story did NOT evolve the way I expected it to, and I found I really liked the non-standard, unexpected ending. Some of the more descriptive sections contrasting her Hickory Grove memories and current experiences went on for a little longer than I needed, but I was overall quite happy with the book.

I was really touched by this novel. I actually had tears in my eyes as I finished -- that's never, ever happened before. I could identify with large parts of the story, and the dialogue rang true, as did the Midwestern venues.

I wholeheartedly recommend the book. I'm truly glad I read it.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest revue.

Delia Cai’s debut novel Central Places follows twenty-six-year-old Audrey Zhou as she travels from New York to central Illinois for the holidays to introduce her fiancé Ben to her Chinese immigrant parents. Audrey has taken pains to create a life in New York that even her parents could be proud of: her high-paying sales job has been supplementing her parents’ income for years, and handsome, charming, native New Yorker Ben is an ideal fiancé. Yet Audrey’s uneasy relationship with her parents stems from a long history of failing to meet her mother’s high expectations, and she fears the choices that have shaped her adult life will be no exception.

What would be a high-pressure situation for any couple is compounded by the fact that this is the first time Audrey has returned to her hometown in eight years. Before she and Ben run into a former crush in the Walmart parking lot, the last time Audrey spoke to any of her high school friends was freshman year of college. Old memories and long-buried emotions come simmering to the surface during their week at home, and the cracks in Audrey and Ben’s seemingly perfect relationship begin to show as it becomes clear just how much of her past and present feelings Audrey is suppressing. When her father’s unexpected health issues force Audrey to extend her trip, tensions in her relationships with her mother, with Ben, and with her high school best friends all come to a head, leaving Audrey struggling to find common ground between the person she was eight years ago and the person she’s fought to become.

Central Places is a book about the lengths we will go to create our own definition of home, in the hopes of influencing the ways it inevitably defines us in return. As a fellow Midwestern transplant who does not go home as often as she should, the unique nostalgia of summer nights spent driving aimlessly around with friends and crushes rang as true for me as did the heartfelt exploration of how our turbulent teenage emotions shape our feelings and relationships long after we’ve left home. Audrey is not always a kind or likable character; bending under the pressure of everyone’s expectations, she acts on impulse and rarely takes responsibility for her actions. Yet one of the most important benchmarks of adulthood is recognizing the times when your choices are in your hands and no one else’s, when you alone have the power to burn things down or make things right. By the end of this perceptive and insightful debut, Cai has both Audrey and the reader reconsidering what it means to make the right choice out of all the choices we are given, especially when that choice is love.

This lovely novel gave me all the feels. So much truth here: small town girl looking to get out; parental
Pressure; immigrant prejudice; facing your faults. I couldn’t put this one down. Read it in a single sitting.

I received an ARC of Central Places from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Central Places follows the protagonist, Audrey Zhou, on her first trip home to Illinois in nearly a decade. Audrey had a difficult childhood as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, never feeling like she fit in with her mostly white classmates, so when she left for college she never looked back. She leads a life of fun and adventure in New York City with her fiancé and a great friend group. But a trip over the holidays to introduce her parents and fiancé brings her past roaring back and she is forced to reckon with much unfinished business.

Though the Audrey’s family makeup is very different from my own, the characters and their motivations seemed very real as I read this book. Reading can expose us to different perspectives and life experiences unlike our own, and this book felt both illuminating and relatable. I hope people will read it and enjoy what makes Audrey’s story both unique and universal.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the many ways in which the title played a part in this story and it was a nice fresh take to read a book in central Asia.

I felt that this was a really good read. I felt that it was part coming home and part perception in many ways. The main character is returning home to bring her fiancee to meet her parents. She has two very separate existences, however one had lain dormant until she returned to her hometown. She is a different person depending on who she is around it seems. There was definitely a fair amount of mama/daughter drama, however I felt that this really highlighted the main character and illustrated who she was. I would definitely like to read more from this author. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Being 2nd generation American-born Chinese, this book totally called out to me. And, I was lucky to have been given an ARC of this book by NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an honest review. So many of the issues that our protagonist went through, I’ve dealt with – some I am still struggling with letting my parents see eye to eye with me. Well, onto the book review.

Audrey Zhou hasn’t been home in 8 years since moving away to New York for college. Once she was done, she started building a life there away from home – away from her parents. Until she got a call that her dad had a scheduled surgery that he wanted her to be there with him. The best part? It was the week leading up to Christmas. Audrey’s seemingly impeccable fiancé Ben urges her to go, and what perfect excuse to meet and be introduced to his future in-laws? Also, bonus points for being a supportive partner. Besides, they would return a few days before Christmas and they could still spend time together back in New York – just in time for the holidays.

Audrey on the other hand, is dreading every second of the return to her Midwestern hometown in Illinois ever since checking in for her flight. She’s intentionally lost touch with everyone from high school as a means to try to erase her past. This included people like Kristen, her bff and also her longtime crush – Kyle. Inevitably, she runs into almost everyone albeit at different times throughout her stay; being that it is a small town and everyone is either home for the holidays or never left. This stirs up a lot of mixed feelings for Audrey on how she left things with everyone.

Back at home, she avoids her mom like the plague – or at least she wants to. Her mom was never short to remind her that she was the accident that caused her family to suffer through all the hardships they’ve had to overcome. Always wanted her to be the best and if she had failed to do so, her mother would be sure to let her know her disappointment in her. This included letting Audrey know through her actions that she felt Ben wasn’t good enough for her.

Throughout the book, Audrey was a very unlikeable protagonist. She always carried an attitude that was very woe is me and that everyone else owed something to her. Whatever resulted from her actions no matter the time, was never her fault. I admit I got a little bored of her character about a third of the way through. What really saved her character was maturing to the point of realizing she had to make amends for the way she left things and stop making excuses. The story did come full circle in finally understanding where her mother’s mannerisms came from and why she did what she did. Most immigrant parents have had it hard and they always want what’s best for their children. Although they don’t always know how to show it, they always mean well.

She made up with Kristen and Kyle in the end and *surprise* called the engagement off with Ben. As to why? Well, I urge you to pick up a copy of this book when it’s due to release on January 31, 2023. You won’t be disappointed! A great debut novel 🙂

I wanted to like this book. The characters were interesting and the plot had potential but it never really took off. I found myself wondering what plot was or if something more was going to happen.

4 stars - This book has lingered with me post reading. I am so glad I read this. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Highly recommend this one! This was my first book to read by this author but definitely won't be my last. The characters will stay with you long after you finish the book and you will find yourself wishing the story would never end.

(3 1/2 stars) This book ends well but unfortunately it doesn’t really get going until more than half way and the first half is kind of a slog where the story feels like it’s treading water as the author repeatedly hammers home the same points about her impossibly critical mother, her white fiancé who means well but doesn’t get it, and the alienation she felt growing up in a predominantly white midwestern town. Yes, these are all points that are central to the character’s experience and provide context for the second half of the book but give the reader some credit for getting it. That half of the book could have easily been trimmed down to a third and been a breezier read. Overall, I am glad I didn’t give up and actually got to the second half of the book because it does wrap up nicely.

Feelings about home are complicated. So are families. You can love a person or a place the same time as you loathe them. It's all so tangled that it's easy to misunderstand your own feelings.

Delia Cai's new novel shows you can go home again, and that it's a part of you no matter how much you deny it. Cai's Audrey is messy and relatable and infuriating all at once. She's definitely a force, and I'm excited to see what she does next.

Minor quibble that didn't affect my rating--this cover does not fit the tone of the book at all. Picking it up, I thought it was nonfiction. I'll be interested to see if it's updated for the paperback release.

This was a really great book, I loved it! Audrey was a very flawed character but it's what made her a good protagonist and an interesting one too. I liked how we slowly learn more about her early life and the people that played a part in it. The relationship between Ben and Audrey was well written and even though I would've liked Audrey facing the problems in that relationship more I still liked how it turned out. My main problem with Audrey was how she dealt with problems but the fact that she was self aware was good for me so I'm not too bothered by that. The relationship between Audrey and her mom was so frustrating to read but it was very well written. My only (tiny) complaint is that I wish they had talked more about their problems.

This book was very well written, I was engaged from the beginning and couldn't put it down, Delia Cai did a really great job!

Delia Cai's Central Places was so well written and it will be sticking with me for a long time. Audrey and her fiancé Ben go to Audrey's hometown for Christmas so her family can meet the man their daughter is marrying. Going back home has Audrey thinking of the girl she used to be and the girl she thinks she is now. You can easily see how the characters develop and change from beginning to end and I loved it. This book shows an example of complicated mother/daughter relationships which really resonated with me.

In Delia Cai's new novel, Central Places, Audrey Zhou is newly engaged and bringing her white fiancé, Ben, home to meet her parents in Hickory Grove, a small town in rural Illinois.  Audrey's kept her NYC life and her small-town, immigrant upbringing entirely separate so far, creating a relatable set of worries.

When Audrey is asked where she's from, no, where she's from, you know, Ben jumps in to say Audrey's a Midwesterner. But really, Audrey spent all her time in Illinois planning to get out of town, and when she left for college, she basically never returned or kept in touch with anyone from her hometown.  I thought this meant she'd outgrown her small town, in the way that Manhattan fiction protags always have, but when they arrive in her hometown, it becomes clear that Audrey has unfinished business with basically everyone.  The characters of Hickory Grove are well-developed, with different lives and perspectives, but a shared view that Audrey was just counting the minutes until she could leave Illinois forever. There's a real small-town feel in the descriptions here, but without the book feeling like the joke's on the Midwest.

In New York, Audrey is a successful sales rep, a job that's equally mystifying to her artistic friend group and to her traditional parents. I liked that Audrey's mother wasn't a Tiger Mom stereotype, but still pushed incredibly hard to Audrey to have a particular type of success, and that sales rep wasn't one of those correct career paths. Even though Audrey was financially self-sufficient (more than that, she supported Ben for a while), and seemed to enjoy her career, that wasn't the kind of success her parents had envisioned.  At the same time, Audrey's childhood as the daughter of a Midwestern engineer doesn't match the immigrant narrative her New York friends expect.

I saw this again and again in this novel -- that there was the Hickory Grove way and an New York way and, in the middle, a mystery to everyone, was Audrey.  Audrey finds herself caught between Kyle, her high school crush, and Ben, her current fiancé. I felt like this was showing the difference between Hickory Grove and New York City, but I found I was on Team Nobody.  I didn't feel like Kyle was the one magic man who fully understood Audrey's soul, he was a perfectly nice small-town guy.  I didn't feel like Ben was an aspirational NYC boyfriend, either, he had the cheerful upbeat personality that comes from being safely wrapped in family money and connections.  Audrey, you can do better! DROP THEM BOTH! 

The overall feeling of the narration is sharp-eyed and clever, with these little descriptive lines so accurately hitting New York creative class and small-town customs, but Audrey herself feels unobservant and kind of drifting through her experiences. While this can  definitely be a realistic part of an adult child returning home, especially with the sort of feelings Audrey has for her hometown and her mother, it's frustrating when a fiction protag seems more acted-upon than active.  So, it's a book I liked a great deal, with a central character who inspired eyerolls in a few places. 

The themes in Central Places are very relatable, with Audrey caught in the pull of her parents' expectations and her fiancé's family, between her childhood and her new life in the city.

The deal: Audrey returns to her hometown in Central Illinois for the first time in eight years with her rich white fiance. Things do not go according to plan. (P.S. I got an ARC from NetGalley)

Is it worth it?: Imagine if a Lifetime Christmas movie cranked the “identity” and “inner turmoil” narrative dials. And then that movie was produced by A24, so the notion of plot became a mere suggestion. I liked this — I’ve been a fan of Cai’s writing for a while, and thought the characters had just the right amount of unlikability to feel real without being obnoxious. Could have done without that little Harry Potter narrative thread, though.

Pairs well with: anything by Celeste Ng

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