I was completely taken by surprise by this novel as I have never encountered this unique way of telling a story. Using a fragmented timeline, the readers is engulfed into the lives of many characters. Told from the perspectives of the Yang family, and those who encountered this family, the reader is given glimpses into how the future can be influenced by the past. How relationships can be formed and broken over time. How secrets can be hidden even from the ones we love most. How the place one calls home isn’t necessarily where one lives currently.

My only desire after reading this book is that it had been longer. I wanted to linger inside the characters lives, and learn more about them. I finished this book so fast and now I wish I had savoured it. Though it was not exactly the futuristic story I had anticipated, I still enjoyed in immensely.

Shanghailanders explores the lives and family dynamics of the wealthy Yang family: the father Leo (Chinese), mother Eko (Japanese-French) and their three cosmopolitan daughters, Yuki, Yomo and Kiko. The novel incorporates little snapshots or vignettes of the characters lives over twenty six years allowing the reader to bear witness to the secrets, conflict and conversations that mould and change the family over time.

The reader also gets to see the family from an outsider perspective with POVs from household staff and a business associate’s wife. I thought the multiple points of view was executed perfectly with distinct narrative voices and introspections, and gave the reader a vaster landscape of not just the family and their complex bond, but also Shanghai’s economic disparity and patriarchal culture.

I really enjoyed Min’s writing. It was stylistic and atmospheric, yet filled with intimacy and empathy. A popular consensus I’ve seen many readers have— and I agree with— is they were left wanting more from the novel and felt we only scratched the surface with the majority of these characters. I also would have loved more time with them. Nevertheless Juli Min has written a truly remarkable debut novel and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for future books from this author.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I have never read a book with a timeline like this but would read similar books it in the future. A little hard to follow all the characters at times but it fell into place in the end.

I was easily intrigued by this family story right off the bat! Leo and Eko Yang, along with their three daughters, Yumi, Yoko, and Kiko provided tons of family drama and dysfunction, which we all know I love. The timeline was a little odd, as it started in 2040 and worked its way backwards. This took a bit to get used to, and I’m still not entirely sure if it worked for me. The plot got a little disjointed around the halfway mark. Things got a tad off track, and too much attention was given to random side characters. It really took away from the family’s story which was a total bummer because I wanted to learn more about the mother and her daughters. The conclusion was underwhelming and left me unsatisfied.

I started this book with best intentions and just couldn’t finish. I thought the concept of going back in time was interesting but it didn’t work or for me.

Spiraling backwards in time, from 2040 to 2014, this is a family’s narrative, in a sense a novel told in stories, with the narrators being the members of one cosmopolitan wealthy family, father, mother, three daughters, as well as those in their orbit, a chauffeur, a nanny, and others, the small and big moments that shape who each are, who they become, but at the center is the fragmented family, their individual stories told in a kaleidoscope fashion. Is the backward spiral necessary, I don’t know, because where we open is not with some shocking event, and the threads of these family members never quite cohere, and the tonality of the novel seems to change through its course, but I was intrigued in who they are, and interested to see who they were.

Thanks to Spiegel & Grau and Netgalley for the arc.

Thank you to the publisher of Shanghailanders for a galley of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

In an assured debut Juli Min delivers a family saga that spans just over two decades backwards in time. Shanghailanders tells the story of the Yang family starting in 2040 where we are introduced to Leo - a wealthy real estate investor - and his wife Eko as well as their three daughters Yumi, Yoko and Kiko. As we move back in time we learn more about Leo and Eko before they were defined by being parents.

While I feel like this isn't a perfect novel - the narrative structure doesn't really pay off for me, the time (being the future) doesn't end up panning out to very much, and I really don't feel like we gleamed much from Leo and Eko as people until we were shown that they were indeed people with their own passions and dreams before they started their family. - but still...it really is a feat what Min does here and it feels like the type of narrative that a more established author would come up with.

I'd be excited to see what Min does next.

I very much enjoyed this poignant novel about a wealthy Chinese/French family, told from different perspectives and with a reverse timeline. Through these approaches, we learn the family's history and relationships, and uncover their secrets and desires. Min's prose is beautiful and her characters drew me in immediately. I will definitely recommend.

Shanghailanders is a family drama that takes place in Shanghai, Boston and France. It tells the story of a family from a precarious situation at the beginning and works backward to the begin of the family; that is, the relationship between the parents and the grandparents. I enjoyed this novel and the different locations in which it took place. However, I could not figure out why (other than to be different) it was written from present to past; going back in time. There was nothing I learned at the end, honestly, that informed something at the beginning. Maybe I just did not get it. Overall, an interesting book.

Before reading Shanghailanders I was attracted to the title, and the idea that a story about a stylish, international Asian family would be set in the future. Shanghai born and bred Leo and his Japanese wife Eko who grew up in Paris, and their beautiful daughters Yumi, Yoko, and Kiko are the main characters. Many people in the Yang family periphery get written into the story too, people I thought I would have to remember and who would factor into an intricate network central to the plot, but this wasn't that kind of book. It was rather lineal, starting in 2040 and going backwards. Aside from the chapter heading designating the year, there really wasn't much to characterize it as being in the future: women still using tape to crease their eyelids, people riding airplanes and maglev trains, having abortions, entertained by Cirque du Soleil, SeaWorld, and Disney's new addition, Space Mountain??

A dazzling debut for Juli Min. Shanghailanders has such a unique plot that it stands out in Contemporary fiction, yet is written in a smart, simplistic way that doesn't overwhelm readers and keeps them engrossed in the tale. I fell in love from the first page and read Min's novel in a few days, engrossed in the interesting combination of science fiction and family drama. Min created a beautifully human novel that weaves humanity, family, love and time together in a heartfelt message as time moves backwards on the Yang family.

I highly recommend Shanghailanders if you love contemporary fiction, a unique science fiction novel or a good family drama that tugs your heartstrings without immense sadness.

Thank you, NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The entire premise is of this book is that it starts in 2040 and moves it way backwards. Revolving around a family - Leo & Eko and their two kids Yumi and Yoko, who are wealthy Shanghailanders, as we see how they naviaget their lives in marriage, family, college, and love.

I found this book to be dull. The first part was on a train and I just couldn't get past it all. I was bored mid way through and struggled to get to the end. It's essentially how short time is and how we need to honor every minute with our loved ones.

🇨🇳 REVIEW 🇨🇳

Shanghailanders by Juli Min
Publishing Date: 24th May

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

📝 - As the years rewind from 20240 to 2014, Shanghailanders brings readers into the shared and separate lives of the Yang family parent by parent, daughter by daughter, and through the eyes of the people in their orbit—a nanny from the provinces, a private driver with a penchant for danger, and a grandmother whose memories of the past echo the present. We glimpse a future where the city’s waters rise and the specter of apocalypse is never far off. But in Juli Min’s hands, we also see that whatever may change, universal constants remain: love is complex, life is not fair, and family will always be stubbornly connected by blood, secrets, and longing.

💭 - This was a really interesting read and quite different from what I had expected from the cover - I don’t know why but it was giving me science fiction vibes but it absolutely isn’t that 😂. Shanghailanders delves into the Yang family lives and the lives of those around them, almost like reading short stories. It unpicks relationships so realistically whether that be between siblings, parents, or nannies, giving each character their own time to give their story.
Definitely enjoyed this and recommend you pick it up when it’s out!

#shanghai #shanghailanders #julimin #debutnovel #advancereaderscopy #netgalley #spiegelandgrau #readdiversebooks #readdiversely #bookreview #bookreviewer #bookreviews #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

Unique and captivating, this novel in linked stories follows a family - middle-aged Shanghai man Leo, his artistic Parisian wife Eko, and their three daughters - backward in time, beginning from their barely-touching lives when the daughters are almost grown and ending with Leo and Eko's marriage. The stories are told from a variety of points of view, but all share a wistful and secretive tone that makes the characters' different ambitions and dramas echo one another. The unusual structure means there is no single, central storyline, but the writing is lovely and this is an interesting, thought-provoking book. I was hoping for a more revelatory or explosive ending, however. 4.5 stars.

What a debut! I absolutely loved the structure of Shanhailanders. We open in 2040 and I had so many questions yet even more intrigue. We then go back and slowly understand exactly who our characters are and why they are that way. Absolutely brilliantly told and anyone who has had any kind of relationship with anyone will find something to resonate with here.

From the first chapters, it quickly became apparent that Shanghailanders was a book I would struggle to like. While Min's writing is well done, drawing out her characters and their unique situations, I had a difficult time engaging with these ultra rich people who do reprehensible things in a casual and unremarkable way. The narrative choice to tell the story reverse chronologically could have added another dimension. Instead it gave the impression of a loosely connected set of short stories instead of a cohesive and engaging novel.

2.75⭐️
This is a very hard book to rate. Top notch writing, a promising start, and a plot structure that causes the story to fall apart are how I’d quickly summarize my thoughts. Here’s a breakdown:

- The plot goes backwards, starting in 2040 and moving backwards. While I’m sure there is a universe in which this would add to a story’s allure, in this case it only carried me further and further backward from the start that hooked me. Knowing that I was never moving forward for more action that I saw in the beginning quickly made my reading efforts feel futile. Getting to the end and realizing nothing I read revealed any secrets or super fascinating backstory solidified those thoughts.
- Side story character POV that, for the life of me, I can’t figure out the importance.
- The writing was beautiful. This author is talented and I can tell is extremely capable of engaging storytelling. I just think a different structure would have showcased that more.

Despite being bummed out by the outcome of this story, I love the idea enough to read more by her! I’m hopeful the next book will be a home run.

The Shanghailanders explores the innerworks of a family.

This book was fine. I didn't love it or hate it. I didn't like that it was told backwards in time...that was confusing. I also didn't like that most of the plot points weren't resolved. It was frustrating.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Shanghailanders is a story about family, told in the reverse, from 2040 to 2014. We are introduced to ultra-rich Leo and Eko, and their daughters, and as the story reverses, large moments in their family life.

The backwards story telling with potential for a “rich people behaving badly trope” was what drew me to this book. It wasn’t the trope I expected, though there is still some bad behavior, but mostly the interesting ways that a seemingly “normal” family grows and changes. Every time the time jumped backwards, I felt like I had just hit a groove with what I was reading, and it left me wanting a little more information. But, I also kind of liked that I was left with some question marks about how the gaps in the Yang’s story filled in. The perspectives from a couple people outside of the immediate family were interesting as well.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Shanghailanders tells the story of a family throughout different points of their lives, both separately and together. The characters were intriguing and the writing was promising, but I found it difficult to connect with the book because of the jumping around between characters and time periods.