Set mostly in Singapore with a short detour to New Zealand, this book is about family and the complex twists and turns of relationships between its members. As a young child, Genevieve Kang is surprised when she is learns she is getting a sibling from another country - someone called Arin. As an only child, she is initially confused but soon assumes responsibility for being the older sister, a decision that forever changes the trajectory of her life. For a debut author, the book was impressive, engaging, and held my attention. I enjoyed the settings, which highlighted life in the two locations, particularly Singapore. I felt the first two-thirds was nicely paced, the last third dragged a bit and I was hoping for a quicker wrap up, until it did - a bit abruptly - I thought. Can’t account for fickle readers like me! Overall, I enjoyed the book and I’m looking forward to the authors next publication. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Jemimiah Wei's debut novel is full of richly developed characters and familial drama. We meet the Yang family in Singapore, three generations in one, cramped apartment. Gen is used to being an only child among the adults. When the family learns that Gen's grandfather, long believed to be dead, has only recently died and left behind another family. Gen's half-sister Arin comes to live with the Yang family and it turns her world on its head.

Beautifully written and tender, The Original Daughter is sure to appeal to fans of complex family dynamics. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Can their fractured relationship recover from all that broke it?

In a small and cramped flat in a working class part of Singapore lives the Yang family...grandmother, son Wei Ming, daughter-in-law Su, and granddaughter Genevieve. Life is far from perfect...the flat they live in is owned by the grandmother so she rules the family and is generally not pleasant about it. Genevieve works hard and excels at school, an important achievement in a culture driven by achievements in academics and beyond. Their existence is forever altered when they discover that the grandfather, long presumed to have died during a period of political upheaval had in fact survived and created a new life (and a new family) in Malaysia. He has only recently died, and his adult son can no longer support his wife and large family. They are sending one of the daughters to live with and be a part of the Yang family in Singapore, a decision agreed to by the grandmother, much to the dismay of the rest of the family who wonder how their cramped quarters and marginal existence can support another person. Arin arrives, shocked that her family has so casually disposed of her and not truly believing that it will be permanent. Genevieve is determined to be a good big sister to her, and over time the two become very close....true sisters of the heart. They form an alliance against the world, determined to succeed and create a better opportunity for themselves. Genevieve at times is her own worst enemy and makes questionable decisions, and Arin makes the choice to put her own ambition ahead of the love of family in a manner which Genevieve sees as a betrayal. Genevieve experiences failure after failure and ends up living with their mother in the cramped flat she had tried so hard to escape, all while Arin claims worldwide success and fame. The two have not communicated in years, and Arin has stayed away from their home...but now Su is dying and wants nothing more than for the two girls to put the anger and jealousies of the past aside and reconnect. Can they put aside their pride and their anger, or have they let the bad feelings fester for too long? Is it ever too late to reconnect?
WIth beautiful prose and a well-crafted portrayal of emotions which resonate throughout the narrative, author Jemimah Wei has created a story of sisterhood, family, ambition, and a particular culture. Genevieve, who serves as the narrator for the story, is complex and definitely flawed...she is insecure which leads to jealousy and failures for which she herself is mostly to blame. She isn't exactly likable, but I did feel a measure of empathy for her as she wrestles with a life that hasn't lived up to early promise and a mother who (like the grandmother before her) can be critical and hard to be around. The reader gets to see Arin through her sister's eyes and given that Genevieve was likely an unreliable narrator I had the sense that there was more to the story than Genevieve was disclosing. There are moments of humor woven into a tale with otherwise heavy emotions, and the Yangs are a decidedly dysfunctional family. I wish that some of the secondary characters had more developed backstories, and the ending was not all that I hoped it would be. It is still overall a beautifully rendered story of family, love and loss, a novel that will appeal to readers of Celeste Ng, Rachel Khong and Elena Ferrante. My thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for allowing me access to The Original Daughter in exchange for my honest review.

There is nothing I love more than an unreliable narrator, they make for the best stroytellers and force the reader to parce throught everything they say to see what is true and what is not. The idea of the power of communnication is so strong in this book, we see so many situations where the problem could easily be solved by women talkinng to each other. The symbolism of the differnnt objects, and materialistic things adds so much to the book and moves this debut nnovel into the next level.

I read many family dramas and this one stood out! Wei wrote these characters and their relationships beautifully. Told over the course 20 years The Original Daughter follows Arin and Gen as they navigate their relationship after being thrown together as young girls.

This one had a slow start for me, but as we started unraveling the tightly woven aspects of the story and its characters/key players, I was fully invested. I'd been interested in Wei's work for years, as I first learned of her work during her MFA, and I really enjoyed the novel--which is fitting, as it feels like I've been waiting for it for a while now!

3 star review - it was a good read. Read well and it kept me engaged. Thank you for the author and team, for the chance of an arc.

A very strong debut novel. Wei gives us so much to chew on: sister rivalry, found family, the feeling of one's wasted potential, and more. The writing was lush and so, so smooth. Where I struggled was by the end of the book, I didn't feel like I knew the mother much at all. I wish there'd been more exploration of her life before her daughters to really bring out the emotion I should've felt when she eventually passed.

Set in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore, this compelling story explores the intricate bonds of sisterhood and ambition within a family navigating change, tradition, and personal dreams. The characters are well developed, and Wei writes with emotional depth. I like the way the quiet tensions and fierce love that often exist in close-knit families is portrayed.

A heartfelt read — perfect for fans of complex family stories with cultural nuance and emotional insight.

Very mixed feelings about this novel. Beautifully written but I felt it needed more editing as some parts went on far too long after the point being made was made. Most of the characters were not very likeable or admirable, especially the main character, Genevieve, who was her own worst enemy. I understand her anger at her younger half-sister, Arin, who appropriated something terrible as if it had happened to her and profited off of that story. However, sisters often do terrible things to each other and forgiveness is essential to going forward with your life. The fact that Genevieve envied so many others and resented their succeeding at things more than she did, did not make her a particularly likeable character. The only I disliked more was her grandfather who deserted his wife and created another family and her father who also ended up deserting his family. Lots of potential but possibly giving the characters some redeeming qualities that would make the reader like them more? Although I received an Advanced Review Copy, my opinions are my own and freely shared. 3.5 rounded up to a 4 as this was a debut novel.

A novel about sisterhood, family, ambition and communication. The Original Daughter is the story of an only child, Genevieve, whose life is toppled when a previously unknown half-sibling, Arin, unexpectedly joins the family. Arin’s arrival changes the family’s dynamics. The sisters navigate this new relationship from childhood to adulthood. Their relationship goes through various stages from friendship to rivalry from support to estrangement from achievement to disappointment. The book is set in Singapore and provides interesting background on the pressures of growing up in that country. While I enjoyed the writing and the story, I wanted Genevieve to gain more confidence in herself and be more of a risk-taker. She was a little too self-defeating to be sympathetic. Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for an advanced readers copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The Original Daughter is a gorgeously written debut that blends sharp wit with emotional depth. Jemimah Wei crafts a layered story about family, expectations, and the complicated ties that both define and confine us. The novel follows a young woman grappling with her place in a family where perfection is the unspoken currency—and where love and loyalty are not always easy to untangle.

Wei’s prose is luminous, often balancing humor and heartbreak in the same breath. The characters feel authentic, particularly the nuanced portrayal of the mother-daughter relationship, which shifts between tenderness, resentment, and longing. The themes of cultural expectation and personal rebellion are handled with both sensitivity and bite.

At times, the pacing slowed a little too much in the second act, and a few plot turns felt slightly predictable. Still, the emotional truths at the heart of the story—and the voice Wei brings to the page—make this a standout debut.

If you enjoy character-driven novels that feel both intimate and expansive, The Original Daughter is well worth your time.

Compelling characters, a turbulent relationship, and family drama, this story has it all. Plus I learned more about colorful Singapore.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The original daughter is Genevieve. She lives with her parents and her grandmother in Singapore. One day, a man shows up with Arin, the progeny of the grandfather long thought dead. The novel tells the story of how the family functions, how Arin and Genevieve get through tests within the Singapore school system. Toss in deaths, betrayals, and job loss. The plot is punctuated by side stories that make it hard to follow what is going on.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an eARC of this book via NetGalley and Doubleday Books/Doubleday. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“The Original Daughter” by Jemimah Wei, new author to this reader was a very well-written story that was captivating and had me glued to the pages. The novel is comprised of betrayals, failures and jealousy rolled up in a host of family dynamics…love included in it all. Page by page draws you into heartbreak with a mother’s illness and wanting her daughter to reach out to an adopted sister that is now famous but has been estranged from the family for quite some years.

The story is set in Singapore, and the main character leaves your heart in a mixture of unexpected turns and sadness. Although this is told from Genevieve’s POV, I would have loved that Arin’s would have been incorporated into the novel more. The character development is strong although each character has their flaws and insecurities.

If I had a drawback with this story, it would be the main character coming off as unlikeable over and over but the author not sharing much of why. This book was okay read for a debut by this author. A 3-star recommended read.

Thank you to the publisher (Doubleday) and author for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. I loved the way this was written - it was literary, but some of the metaphors and comparisons really made the story jump off the page.

Character wise, the main character drove me nuts as she grew older and held on to things that split her family apart, and kept splitting her family apart. I got frustrated at her tunnel vision a lot of times. I love a good family drama, though, and this seemed to be a great depiction of the themes in Asian families.

I can see someone in their early 20's relating to the main character, and her feeling of being stunted in growth by family, duty, values, etc. Someone like me, a mom in their 40's, really related to the parents in this story, especially the main character's mother, who worked hard to make things "right" and always felt like she was failing and didn't know how to give her daughter what she wanted most.

All in all, I recommend this book and loved learning about this new author and seeing what's next for her!

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei is a story of family dynamics and dysfunction,love,betrayal,jealousy,and failure to forgive.Genevieve is eight years old and an only child living with her parents and grandmother in Singapore.Her life changes when her family takes in her cousin as an adopted daughter.The characters of Su Ying ,the mother and the daughters, Gen and Arin are well written.The book has lovely writing and shows the sadness of unforgiveness..Gen could make her own drama and chaos ad showed how peoples choices lead to their own unhappiness.You will enjoy reading this debut novel.Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday boos for allowing me to read this ARC.

One of my favorite types of novels is family saga and when it takes place in a country not well known to me, that adds a layer of enjoyment as I get to experience a different culture. The Original Daughter explores the relationships between two sisters and between mother and daughter. Told through the first person narrative of Genevieve, the titular character, and taking place primarily in Singapore, the novel is an engrossing, heartbreaking story.

The novel begins at the end, as Genevieve’s mother is terminally ill and wants Genevieve to reach out to Arin, the adopted daughter/sister, now a famous actress that has been estranged from the family for several years. We are then taken back in time to the arrival of Arin and the development of the relationship between Arin and Genevieve. The character development is very strong as is the narrative. The characters are flawed and Genevieve tends to get in her own way, hung up by insecurities and jealousy. This is the author’s debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from her.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I think that this book has several beautiful overarching meaning behind it that deal with family, sisterhood, relationships, being afraid of change, embracing change, etc., but I found myself never really excited to pick it up. I am not sure what it was that caused that for me. The writing was solid, the characters were enjoyable, and overall, I did enjoy the story and was very happy with how it ended. I think perhaps the book was just too long. It opened strongly and caught my attention, but once we moved into the past timeline and the sisters get introduced, I felt it started to lag a bit. SO much of the book was the sisters' conflict and being apart, and so little of it was of the resolution, I guess you could say. Although I did like the ending, I would've liked to see their relationship come back together even more at the end. It is left pretty open-ended so you could draw your own conclusions, but it would've been nice to have them actually speak to one another after their mother's death and start to re-form their bond to give you that true resolution. The book was a great representation of how we shouldn't let conflict come between us because life is fragile and you never know what's going to happen; life can change so quickly.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book left me feeling sad because Gen had so much wasted potential. I found myself saying out loud, “What are we doing?” more times than I can count. Gen was constantly getting in her way, and it was frustrating to watch her create so much of her chaos.

I would’ve loved Arin’s POV, especially since she felt like the emotional center in contrast to Gen’s spirals.

I enjoyed the exploration of how ambition can lead to isolation and resentment