I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

The Changs live an inconspicuous life in Plano, Texas, Patty, the mother has a demanding job in the tech industry, Liang, the father looks more after the house and their two kids Jack and Annabel. Despite their Chinese background, they assimilate and fit in quite well until misunderstanding sets in motion a chain of events which throws the already fragile family equilibrium totally out of balance.

Simon Han’s novel “Nights When Nothing Happened” tackle different tricky topics such as moving to another country and trying to fit in, finding your identity when you grow up between different cultures, trying to make a living and having a family at the same time and, most of all, dealing with the fragile psyche of a child. Each chapter provides the reader with the perspective of another family member thus underlining that even though you might belong to the same family, there are always things left unsaid because they are unutterable or because you cannot find the words to express yourself, in the case of the children in the novel: because they are too afraid of saying or doing something wrong.

It wasn’t easy for me to sympathise with the characters, they were too far away from my life and unfortunately the novel, though wonderfully narrated, couldn’t bring them closer. Understanding their individual struggles and fears though was easy due to the insight in the characters’ thoughts. Many noteworthy aspects and without any doubt interesting characters, yet, somehow the novel did not really move me.

I really wanted to love this novel, however despite starting off well after the ~revelation~ probably around halfway through things totally fell apart and giving this more than 2* became impossible.

It's a little hard for me to pinpoint what specifically didn't work. The first half is pretty slow going and is spent developing characters and providing a bit of context on their lives: Patty (Qing Qing) and her husband Liang move to the Plano, Texas from China, leaving their son, Jack behind to raised by his grandparents while they forge a new live abroad. They later have a daughter, Annabel, who is around 5 years old when the events of the novel take place. Jack, 11, is trying to find a way to fit in a new country; both at school and with his family who he has recently been reunited with. Annabel has begun sleepwalking, and Jack takes it upon himself to keep an eye on her, as their parents seem preoccupied elsewhere.

I guess ultimately this was too loosely plotted for me, and the development around half way through centring around the family (I don't want to give away spoilers so sorry for being vague!) was handled so poorly, and my interest rapidly waned in the final chapters.

Nights When Nothing Happened is good on a level of providing a contemporary portrait of an immigrant family in the US, but its other elements ultimately failed to convince this reader that there was anything substantive below the surface.

Thank you Netgally for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This is the story of a Chinese immigrant family who moves to Plano Texas. The family in the US consists of four people: Patty, the mother and main breadwinner of the family is gainfully employed at a microchip company. She was the first to came to the United States and work to settle and bring her family over. Later, her husband, Liang joined her. Liang a photographer, but he struggles to find work as his English is not good. He also struggles to communicate with the neighbours and make friends. Unfortunately, their first-born child, Jack was left behind to live with his grandparents in China. Jack comes to the United States after his sister Annabel is born. Jack isn’t a fan of Plano Texas, and he misses China.

Each chapter is written from another family member’s perspective. In the first chapter we read the story through Jack’s eyes and his inability to settle in the US. He missed China and he struggles to adapt. The second chapter is written from Liang’s perspective. Liang comes from a different background to his highly accomplished white, and his past is always hunting him. The third chapter is told from Patty’s perspective and we become familiar with her own struggle to adapt to family life in the US. The story picks up suspense when the younger child, Annabel becomes a bit of a terror in kindergarten. Annabel made a friend at school and her parents believe there is a problem with the friendship, but they think Annabel is the one suffering as a result. The plot picks up pace with they are confronted with the unexpected. Jack’s shyness and desire to please and Liang’s inability to properly express himself in English lead to problems and misunderstandings. Annabel’s accusations lead to the authorities getting involved, and the whole family unravels around this problem.
A beautifully well written book, but I personally found it difficult to follow at times when the story kept switching between present day and past recollections.