Throwback by Maurene Goo
Jul. 18th, 2023 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Samantha Kang has always butted heads with her mom, Priscilla, and her impossibly high expectations. After a huge fight, Sam is desperate to get away from Priscilla, but instead finds herself thrown back.
Way back.
To her shock, Sam lands in the ‘90s … alongside a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now Sam has to deal with outdated tech, regressive attitudes, and a time-crossed romance with the right guy in the wrong era.
With the clock ticking, Sam must figure out how to fix things with Priscilla or risk being trapped in an analog world forever …
It’s October.
17-year-old Samantha “Sam” Kang lives with her mum Priscilla (a high-powered lawyer) and dad (a legit brain surgeon) in Los Angeles. Her older brother Julian was a child genius who is currently studying science at Yale university but Sam is more of a B- student and has no clue what she wants to study at college or what she wants to do with her life. In fact, she’s been more invested in helping her boyfriend, Curren (one of the most popular people in her school), with the film project he’s been putting together over the summer as part of his application to NYU film school than in working on her own admissions applications. This puts her at odds with her mum who wants her to get serious and start focusing on her life. Sam gets on better with her Korean grandmother, Halmoni, who she sends regular voice notes to about things she sees and thoughts she has and who she spends a lot of time with.
When Sam finds out that she’s been nominated to the Homecoming court and is in the running to be Homecoming Queen, she’s at best ambivalent. No one really does Homecoming anymore because it’s so outdated and gendered as an idea and she knows she’s only on the court thanks to Curren’s popularity. However Priscilla is delighted and wants Sam to work on her campaign to win, mainly because when she was at high school Priscilla lost the homecoming crown to Stephanie Camillo and afterwards had a huge fight with Halmoni, which has coloured their relationship ever since. Sam’s refusal to do so drives a further wedge in their already tense relationship.
When Halmoni has a heart attack and is taken to hospital and put in an induced coma, the tension between Sam and her mother spills into a full blown row that ends with her mum abandoning Sam in a shopping mall car park and telling her to make her own way to school. With none of her friends able to give her a lift, Sam downloads the Throwback Rides app to take her and ends up in a scuzzy car driven by the very nosey Marge. But when she finally gets to her high school, Sam finds that it’s very different - about 30 years different to be exact.
Sam has travelled back to 12 October 1995 when her mum was one of the most popular kids in school and is running to be Homecoming Queen. Sam’s seen enough time travel movies to know that her job is to ensure that this time, her mum wins so that she can find her way home. But that’s not going to be easy when she discovers the casual prejudice and sexism that peppers everyday 90s life for Korean-Americans, coupled with discoveries about her mum and Halmoni that make her question everything she knows about her present. And the last thing she needs is a distraction in the shape of Jamie Mendoza who she seems to click with better than she ever did with Curren, but who she knows she could never have a relationship with given that they’re literally 30 years apart …
Maurene Goo’s YA time travelling fantasy is a clever and fun look at changing social attitudes and the experience of being an immigrant -v- being 1st generation -v- being 2nd generation Korean-American in the US. The romance is secondary to the character work between Sam and Priscilla as Sam understands her mum better and Goo’s light, chatty and self-knowing narrative style that worked for me and will see me checking out Goo’s back catalogue.
I wasn’t sure whether to pick this up at first because the Blurb on the Back pitches this as a YA romance and that’s not my favourite genre. However although there is a romance within this that develops between Sam and Jamie, it is very much secondary to the coming-of-age element of Sam getting to understand her mum. Given that I am not a big romance fan, that was absolutely spot on for me but if you are a big YA romance fan then this is not going to deliver for you.
Having been in secondary school in the 1990s, I got a kick out of Sam’s reaction to the technology and the social attitudes of the time and I think that Goo does a great job of showing how much has changed in the last 30 years. This is particularly the case with the way Sam calls out the casual racism of the time and how those in authority do not even acknowledge that there’s anything wrong. Mostly though, it’s shown in Priscilla’s desire to assimilate, which means she puts up with a lot from her friends because it means that she’s popular and she knows how important that is.
This is cleverly interrogated with Sam discovering what the other Asian-Americans in the school think of Priscilla for doing this and what the desire for popularity has cost Priscilla when it comes to her own community and roots. It’s also cleverly set against the clash between Priscilla and Halmoni who as an immigrant to America views any attempts at popularity as frivolous ad unimportant because what matters is working hard and getting on. I was particularly impressed with how Goo investigates this in the book and then further digs down into the tension between Priscilla and Sam (who has more freedom to socialise than her mum did but who is still pressured to work hard and get into a good college in order to get on). The only thing I wanted was a scene where Hilmoni and Sam discuss why they get on better and how that ties in with Hilmoni’s desires for her granddaughter because I think it would have given another layer (but this is not at all to say that what’s there is insufficient because it is all interesting and clever stuff).
As I said earlier, the romance is underplayed in the book. Saying that, I thought that there was enough there as between Sam and her “real” boyfriend Curren to show why he was wrong for her. I was impressed with how Goo doesn’t cast Curren as a two dimensional villain - he’s just someone caught up in himself and his wants and while he appreciates Sam’s help, she isn’t first on his list. In contrast Jamie is more easy-going and while I would have liked more page time between them, what’s there is enough to establish the basis for an actual relationship built on something more than insta-attraction and that was enough for me.
The time travel hook is a bit hand waved and very much a device to hook the plot on. That was fine - I didn’t want a lot of pseudo science jargon - but I did want a bit more interaction between Sam and Marge to establish who Marge is and what Throwback Rides gets out of this. I also wanted a bit more detail of the changes that happened after Sam’s return to her present because what Goo describes is a bit cursory and half the fun with a time travel book is working out how people and circumstances change. This would have been especially fun given what we learn about Sam’s present because there was scope for something playful there.
My minor criticisms aside, I really enjoyed this book. It’s smart, it has something interesting to say and the romance (while not the point of the book) was believable. I have added Goo’s back catalogue to me To Buy List and will definitely check out her next book.
The Verdict:
Maurene Goo’s YA time travelling fantasy is a clever and fun look at changing social attitudes and the experience of being an immigrant -v- being 1st generation -v- being 2nd generation Korean-American in the US. The romance is secondary to the character work between Sam and Priscilla as Sam understands her mum better and Goo’s light, chatty and self-knowing narrative style that worked for me and will see me checking out Goo’s back catalogue.
THROWBACK was released in the United Kingdom on 11th April 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Samantha Kang has always butted heads with her mom, Priscilla, and her impossibly high expectations. After a huge fight, Sam is desperate to get away from Priscilla, but instead finds herself thrown back.
Way back.
To her shock, Sam lands in the ‘90s … alongside a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now Sam has to deal with outdated tech, regressive attitudes, and a time-crossed romance with the right guy in the wrong era.
With the clock ticking, Sam must figure out how to fix things with Priscilla or risk being trapped in an analog world forever …
It’s October.
17-year-old Samantha “Sam” Kang lives with her mum Priscilla (a high-powered lawyer) and dad (a legit brain surgeon) in Los Angeles. Her older brother Julian was a child genius who is currently studying science at Yale university but Sam is more of a B- student and has no clue what she wants to study at college or what she wants to do with her life. In fact, she’s been more invested in helping her boyfriend, Curren (one of the most popular people in her school), with the film project he’s been putting together over the summer as part of his application to NYU film school than in working on her own admissions applications. This puts her at odds with her mum who wants her to get serious and start focusing on her life. Sam gets on better with her Korean grandmother, Halmoni, who she sends regular voice notes to about things she sees and thoughts she has and who she spends a lot of time with.
When Sam finds out that she’s been nominated to the Homecoming court and is in the running to be Homecoming Queen, she’s at best ambivalent. No one really does Homecoming anymore because it’s so outdated and gendered as an idea and she knows she’s only on the court thanks to Curren’s popularity. However Priscilla is delighted and wants Sam to work on her campaign to win, mainly because when she was at high school Priscilla lost the homecoming crown to Stephanie Camillo and afterwards had a huge fight with Halmoni, which has coloured their relationship ever since. Sam’s refusal to do so drives a further wedge in their already tense relationship.
When Halmoni has a heart attack and is taken to hospital and put in an induced coma, the tension between Sam and her mother spills into a full blown row that ends with her mum abandoning Sam in a shopping mall car park and telling her to make her own way to school. With none of her friends able to give her a lift, Sam downloads the Throwback Rides app to take her and ends up in a scuzzy car driven by the very nosey Marge. But when she finally gets to her high school, Sam finds that it’s very different - about 30 years different to be exact.
Sam has travelled back to 12 October 1995 when her mum was one of the most popular kids in school and is running to be Homecoming Queen. Sam’s seen enough time travel movies to know that her job is to ensure that this time, her mum wins so that she can find her way home. But that’s not going to be easy when she discovers the casual prejudice and sexism that peppers everyday 90s life for Korean-Americans, coupled with discoveries about her mum and Halmoni that make her question everything she knows about her present. And the last thing she needs is a distraction in the shape of Jamie Mendoza who she seems to click with better than she ever did with Curren, but who she knows she could never have a relationship with given that they’re literally 30 years apart …
Maurene Goo’s YA time travelling fantasy is a clever and fun look at changing social attitudes and the experience of being an immigrant -v- being 1st generation -v- being 2nd generation Korean-American in the US. The romance is secondary to the character work between Sam and Priscilla as Sam understands her mum better and Goo’s light, chatty and self-knowing narrative style that worked for me and will see me checking out Goo’s back catalogue.
I wasn’t sure whether to pick this up at first because the Blurb on the Back pitches this as a YA romance and that’s not my favourite genre. However although there is a romance within this that develops between Sam and Jamie, it is very much secondary to the coming-of-age element of Sam getting to understand her mum. Given that I am not a big romance fan, that was absolutely spot on for me but if you are a big YA romance fan then this is not going to deliver for you.
Having been in secondary school in the 1990s, I got a kick out of Sam’s reaction to the technology and the social attitudes of the time and I think that Goo does a great job of showing how much has changed in the last 30 years. This is particularly the case with the way Sam calls out the casual racism of the time and how those in authority do not even acknowledge that there’s anything wrong. Mostly though, it’s shown in Priscilla’s desire to assimilate, which means she puts up with a lot from her friends because it means that she’s popular and she knows how important that is.
This is cleverly interrogated with Sam discovering what the other Asian-Americans in the school think of Priscilla for doing this and what the desire for popularity has cost Priscilla when it comes to her own community and roots. It’s also cleverly set against the clash between Priscilla and Halmoni who as an immigrant to America views any attempts at popularity as frivolous ad unimportant because what matters is working hard and getting on. I was particularly impressed with how Goo investigates this in the book and then further digs down into the tension between Priscilla and Sam (who has more freedom to socialise than her mum did but who is still pressured to work hard and get into a good college in order to get on). The only thing I wanted was a scene where Hilmoni and Sam discuss why they get on better and how that ties in with Hilmoni’s desires for her granddaughter because I think it would have given another layer (but this is not at all to say that what’s there is insufficient because it is all interesting and clever stuff).
As I said earlier, the romance is underplayed in the book. Saying that, I thought that there was enough there as between Sam and her “real” boyfriend Curren to show why he was wrong for her. I was impressed with how Goo doesn’t cast Curren as a two dimensional villain - he’s just someone caught up in himself and his wants and while he appreciates Sam’s help, she isn’t first on his list. In contrast Jamie is more easy-going and while I would have liked more page time between them, what’s there is enough to establish the basis for an actual relationship built on something more than insta-attraction and that was enough for me.
The time travel hook is a bit hand waved and very much a device to hook the plot on. That was fine - I didn’t want a lot of pseudo science jargon - but I did want a bit more interaction between Sam and Marge to establish who Marge is and what Throwback Rides gets out of this. I also wanted a bit more detail of the changes that happened after Sam’s return to her present because what Goo describes is a bit cursory and half the fun with a time travel book is working out how people and circumstances change. This would have been especially fun given what we learn about Sam’s present because there was scope for something playful there.
My minor criticisms aside, I really enjoyed this book. It’s smart, it has something interesting to say and the romance (while not the point of the book) was believable. I have added Goo’s back catalogue to me To Buy List and will definitely check out her next book.
The Verdict:
Maurene Goo’s YA time travelling fantasy is a clever and fun look at changing social attitudes and the experience of being an immigrant -v- being 1st generation -v- being 2nd generation Korean-American in the US. The romance is secondary to the character work between Sam and Priscilla as Sam understands her mum better and Goo’s light, chatty and self-knowing narrative style that worked for me and will see me checking out Goo’s back catalogue.
THROWBACK was released in the United Kingdom on 11th April 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
