Audrey's home in Hickory Grove for the first time in 8 years- 8 years in which she more or less reinvents herself in New York. She's brought her fiance Ben, a caucasian man from a wealthy NYC family with her so that he can meet her parents and see where she grew up. This is in some ways a coming of age novel because to be honest, Audrey comes off as very immature at the start of this novel which I suspect will resonate with many readers. She's focused on herself and has a fraught relationship (to put it mildly) with her mother, who has placed many hopes and expectations on her. And she's got a former BFF and an ex, both relationships which need resolution. This is less humorous than I'd hoped but it's pointed and smart. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

What’s it like growing up in middle America and not ever fitting in? Cai’s novel addresses this from the point of view of a Chinese-American daughter of immigrants who returns to her childhood home with her fiancé and successful career selling magazine ads. Full of angst, anger, and unresolved issues familial and otherwise, the main character returns for a routine procedure on her father which reveals he has cancer. She runs into estranged friends from high school. In the process of a couple of weeks in town, she succeeds in blowing up her established life and starting over again with a new attitude.

Audrey Zhou has largely avoided her hometown in central Illinois since she graduated from high school. Now living in New York, with a pressure-filled career and a perfect fiancé, she rarely sees her parents or gives much thought to those she grew up with -- other than when she is reminded during her work or her time with her fiancé's family and friends all the ways her background and experiences differ from theirs. After she gets engaged and her parents ask her to come home so they can meet her fiancé, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip for Christmas. But over the course of an eventful week, Audrey must grapple with her relationships with her parents, especially her hypercritical mother, and the friends she left behind and whether the life she so carefully built in New York is what she really wants.

This is an impactful and thoughtful story about what it means to leave and return home, the complications of parent-children relationships especially as both get older, and navigating identities.

Highly recommended!

I wish this book had come out before the holidays because it perfectly captures the bizarre feeling of returning to your small hometown at Christimastime.


Audrey Zhou fled her tiny Midwestern hometown for NYC and lived up to her own definition of success. Now she’s returning home to her parents at the holidays with her white fiancé — confronting her tense relationship with her parents and the high school friends she basically cut off when she went to college. Over the course of a week, Audrey has to reckon with what she really wants out of life.

Oof, did Cai nail all the feelings of returning to a tiny hometown from a bigger city. I’m talking TINY towns, the kind too small for a Starbucks. This is a tense read, and you’ll probably think Audrey is a (27 year old) brat for a lot of the book. But it’s also deeply relatable for anyone who’s ever left a small hometown.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

Central Places hits home - quite literally - as my life is also centered around a small Illinois town. I really related with the main character - small town girl flees to the big city and comes back to bring her worlds together. Loved this story.

A young Asian woman returns from New York to her small Illinois hometown so her parents can meet her fiancé. She's settled into a very comfortable, privileged life with the help of her financé's very wealthy parents. When she returns home, she has to confront many ghosts from the past, including the cultural divide between her life and that of her parents. She also revisits her old friends from high school, including her 'crush' and finds that while she's moved on, she still has feelings for him. It gets complicated and very interesting. She starts to question her life choices and does some ill-advised actions during her visit home. I really loved this book--it was almost a late bloomer coming of age story. The author does a great job of demonstrating that you can try to reinvent yourself but if you don't confront the past, can you ever move on?

Eight years after leaving her small town in middle America, Audrey Zhou is returning home with her new fiancé in tow to meet her Chinese immigrant parents. She has never been back since she left for college-always too busy with work or some other excuse has been her logic for cutting ties with everyone and everything in her hometown. But now she and her successful New York fiancé are heading home and she has to face all she left behind without looking in the rear view mirror k especially the strained relationship she has with her mother, who has such high standards for her that Audrey feels she can never maintain. Audrey blames all her failures, as well as her successes, on the pressures her mother put on her and as a result m she feels like she’s never really lived the life she’s wanted to live.
When Audrey gets back and faces her past, and then faces her future, there’s a lot of internal monologue which was interesting for a while and then started to get repetitive and victimizing which it didn’t have to be. She was an adult at that point and needed to stand up for herself and her choices.
This was a coming of age story of an Asian American woman in her 20s which has a very different set of circumstances than a lot of us can relate to but there are definitely a lot of relationship issues that are universal.
Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review

When Audrey Zhou was in high school, she wanted nothing more than to high tail it out of Hickory Grove (read: small town Illinois), far away from her embarrassing immigrant parents and hick friends. The occasion bringing her back after eight years was her engagement to Ben, her dashingly gorgeous hunk of a perfect fiancé, and it's Christmas. What could go wrong?

Turns out, a lot. Audrey's drama with her mother. The boyfriend's accommodating until it affects him attitude. The old high school friends that pop out of the woodwork. And there's Audrey herself. For all of her almost twenty-eight years, she thinks she's much more worldly (hey, she lives in New York City! She works for a hip magazine!) than she is. Besides Audrey's father, there weren't many likable characters in the book.

Actions aren't really thought through, I think we're supposed to feel sympathetic towards Audrey but for this reader she just invoked plenty of eye rolling and heavy sighs. Audrey doesn't take responsibility for her situation, she blames everybody around her for what happened to her, good or bad, except herself: "Ben made my life beautiful and exciting". Audrey's got a case of "wherever you go, there you are", she kept talking about different Audreys: NY Audrey, new Audrey, real Audrey.

This book reads kind of YA -there's a lot of reminiscing about high school, unresolved issues with those friends, talk of five and ten year high school reunions (with all the same high school dynamics). I'm probably not the target audience for this story, it'll most likely resonate more with readers in their twenties who will go easier on Audrey than this old lady.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for this review. Central Places is scheduled to be published on January 31, 2023.

Newly engaged, Audrey and Ben leave the Big Apple to visit Audrey’s parents for the holidays, bringing her back to the past she’s tried so hard to escape from: racist encounters as one of the few people of colour in her little town, her complicated relationship with her parents, and her unrequited high school crush Kyle.

Audrey’s dad was the sweetest, but justice for Audrey’s mom!! Audrey was unlikeable, both self-centred and full of self-loathing, yearning for that white "all-American" family, embarrassed and dismissive of all the ways her parents show their love.

I understand how Audrey would get to that point growing up as one of the few people of colour in her little town, but that’s just logic and life experience — familiar, generic, forgettable — not anything distinctive of Audrey’s characterisation in the book. All the things Audrey said she wanted were very superficial. Again, I logically understand that those superficial wants were indicative of deeper, incredibly valid feelings, but they were never discussed or only given cursory mentions.

I wish the characters were more subtle and more fleshed out, because in fact, Audrey’s dynamic with her parents was very interesting, but we didn’t get that discussion until the third to last chapter, where Audrey and her mom suddenly finally figure out how to communicate with each other, pour their hearts out, and resolve everything between them.

- The desire to fit in and have an "all-American" family
- The unsolicited pressure that comes with immigrant parents putting off their own dreams for their children
- That a life of deferred dreams is a life nonetheless, and it is a life filled with so much love
- The weight of love when a parent loves their child as their own life, as their child is building a life of their own
- How no matter how grown, you will always be their child, whatever immaturity that may bring

Anyways, that was much more compelling than the love triangle. I was charmed by Audrey and Ben’s relationship through flashbacks at the beginning of the book. Ben was warm and welcoming, up for anything, easy going, but as soon as Kyle showed up, the boys swapped personalities. Now I know that jealousy is a hell of a drug, but c’mon, they had one personality between them. Felt like a character assassination.

What Kyle had going for him was that he was “the only one who truly understood her growing up” as a fellow person of colour. Literally all they did to show their understanding was catch each other’s eye and smile. Same with the one Asian doctor Audrey saw at the hospital. I also needed more from Audrey and Kyle’s history to understand why this fully grown professional woman was hung up on a guy she never even dated other than the fact that first crushes are generally memorable.

My favourite part of the book was the chapter with her dad (ch14) — it made me emotional! — and I liked how her mom’s pet name for her came full circle by the end. I wish it was more of a running theme in the story, because there was too much love lost in this family. Her mother’s portrayal was unforgiving. Plus, the pet name would make for a poetic book title ;)

Good ideas, perhaps overambitious, so much potential!

Central Places blew me away. The writing was so sharp and relatable. Audrey Zhou is bitter about her childhood and once she leaves home, it takes her 8 years to come back to visit. Once she is back home, she finds herself reverting back to her childhood and reminiscing. She realizes she had some great friends she left behind and she has always deeply misunderstood her parents. This is a really, really fantastic read on how important it is to find yourself and embrace everything that you are.. but also how difficult that can sometimes be. I loved this one!

I think this book is going to have wildly different responses dependent on the reader's personal experiences. If you were not considered an "other" in your neighborhood, if you never left home with the intention of never returning, I don't think you'll be able to relate to Audrey's experience. Yes, she comes across as entitled and insensitive but home is not home for her. It's not a place to let down her hair and relax. Her relationship with her parents was not comforting and nurturing. I don't think you can understand that or read it without judgement unless you are familiar with that minority experience.

Audrey Zhou grew up as one of the very few Asian Americans in small town central Illinois, had a difficult relationship with her mother and couldn’t wait to get out. After college, she moved to New York where she obtained a good job and a white fiancé, Ben. She hasn’t returned home for eight years but his called there over Christmas when her father has to undergo a medical procedure. Ben travels with her, but her visit is complicated by her difficulties with her mother as well as encountering her high school crush and her former best friend with whom she had a falling out years ago.

There are many emotional rabbit holes in this story. There is the poignancy of being ethnically different in a white bread American town where kids can be really cruel, the effects of parents who are different from the “norm”, and never feeling that you truly fit in, the often fraught mother daughter relationship especially when the mother is demanding and seemingly cold. There is dealing with parents who are aging and the inner conflict in a child about what debt is owed them. There is the draw of a first love; finding equality in a mature human relationship, and letting go.

This is well written by a debut author. She captures so well those feelings about returning to your parental home (your “central place”) as a young adult when your parents are moving on and you see your childhood room for the last time. I really liked the first half of the book. It became a tad tedious for a while because I thought Audrey was a bit immature and bratty and Ben a bit snobbish and dickish. But it ended strong with the satisfaction of resolution. This is a worthwhile read.

"Central Places" by Delia Cai would be the perfect Hallmark movie, if Hallmark movies had more depth and better endings. The plot is familiar; country-girl turned city-girl goes back to her childhood home for Christmas, coming face to face with the past she thought she had buried, including her former best friend and her high school crush. She realizes the perfect life she made for herself in the city isn't quite so perfect after all. However, the author adds depth with the fact that Audrey is Chinese, the daughter of immigrants who speak little English. Growing up in, and then coming back to, the America that doesn't always welcome those who look or sound differently, Audrey faces challenges that aren't seen in the typical Hallmark movie plot. Add in her overly critical mother and passive father, and the story moves from formulaic drivel to a richly told tale with characters who come alive and keep the reader's interest. The ending pushed this book from a three star to a four star read for me; it's the ending to the country-girl turned city-girl trope I've been waiting for. I'm a living example of a country-girl turned city girl, and I found this book to be refreshingly realistic. I don't want to give anything away, but the ending is not the sappy melodramatic stuff of a Hallmark movie, and thank goodness for that. Life is messy and complicated and not everything ties up neatly, even if your high school crush comes back into your life.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

Initially, my appeal to Central Places was the cover, but I so quickly got sucked into this page-turning chaos. The storyline was messy, the people were messy... IN THE MOST COMPLIMENTARY WAY POSSIBLE. It was quite a ride of bad choices, immaturity, and bitterness, and then finishing it out with some "landing on your feet" moments.

The roasted chicken scene gutted me.

https://www.howjenexists.com/recent-reads/central-places

This was a quick read, however predictable in its plot. Neither characters in the couple are particularly likable and reconciliation with the author's parents was too rushed to be believable. There are a lot of books that talk about coming back to your hometown after moving to a big city, and I had wanted more introspection from the protagonist instead of bitterness and resentment for a majority of the book.

Central Places by Delia Cai

Audrey Zhou hasn’t been back to Hickory Grove, Illinois in 8 years. Since then, she has achieved a successful career in New York and a handsome well-off fiancé named Ben. Now it’s time to go back home for the holidays and introduce Ben to her parents & hometown. A home that was filled with high expectations and a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. A place where people made her feel like an outsider because of her race. The only saving grace was her crush Kyle, whom she still thinks about. Audrey tried to run away from Hickory Grove, but now it’s time to confront everything she has left behind.

Review

I gravitate towards books with complex characters. Audrey isn’t perfect, but that’s what makes her relatable. It’s the reason why I gave this novel 4 stars. Throughout the novel, there are flashbacks about impactful moments from her childhood and adolescence. Many of the moments deal with racism and identity. Audrey rebelling against her Chinese parents and wanting to be a “normal” American teenager. Relationships are another important concept of this story. Some of them will repair and flourish, while another will break. This is a coming of age story that many can relate to.

This debut novel will be out January 31, 2023.
Thank you @Netgalley and @Randomhouse for this ARC.

The review will be posted on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sasharenee.h/ .The run date of this review will be uploaded on January 12, 2023. Once I post a review and picture, it stays on my Instagram.

This book pleasantly surprised me as it took me on a ride of my emotions. I would go from laughing one minute to tearing up the next. This was Delia Cai’s debut novel, and I am thoroughly impressed as well as excited for what the author does next.

This book explores everything from racism to the immigrant experience to small town life. I was instantly captivated by the main character, Audrey, and her relationship with her Chinese immigrant parents and her white fiance. Setting the story up as her first visit home to a small town in Illinois in eight years as well as introducing her fiance to her parents for the first time immediately drew me in as it was wrought with drama and conflict. Audrey is a very complicated main character as she often makes the wrong decision - I often found myself frustrated with her for not just telling people how she felt or not addressing issues that bothered her. But don’t we all do that sometimes, keep things bottled up until they explode?

Audrey’s relationship with her mother was the most interesting part of the story to me because for most of the book, she talks about how difficult her mother made her life and how that is the main reason she hates returning home. But over the course of the novel, we see how similar the two are and how difficult her mother’s life was growing up as a Chinese immigrant in a small town where she was often the only Asian person around. Then giving up her career to care for her daughter led to a lot of disappointment and resentment at life in general.

My other favorite part of the story was seeing Audrey reconnect with her friends from high school, Kyle and Kristen, after she tried to leave her entire past in the past and missed out on a lot of important life moments for the two of them. Seeing her grapple with the pain she caused through her indifference and wish to escape small town life was truly heartbreaking at times and made me very thankful for the friendships from high school that I have been able to preserve. I think anyone who has ever dealt with a long distance friendship knows the guilt and difficulty of maintaining those relationships and can very much relate to that aspect of the story.

I found it unbelievable, both Audrey and her parents, in particular her mother, that they changed so much from the beginning of the book to the end. Audrey leaves both men in her life and her mother becomes a charming, reasonable person at the end of the book, after being a harridan of a mother at the beginning and through most of the novel.

I became impatient with the main character, Audrey, who seems to vacillate between her feelings for her new life in NY and her old life in the small town in Illinois. Her choices are also bewildering. .

Central Places by Delia Cai has many strong points but what stuck out to me the most was how well Cai handled how Audrey changed throughout the story. It was realistic and emphasized all of the different emotions that were very easy to relate to. Audrey’s relationship with her mother brought to light a lot of the issues that I also dealt with. There were parts that made me emotional and very well written for a debut!