This is such a perfect story with an extremely important topic at the centre of it. I could not put this book down at all. It was just amazing.

Oh so readable and relatable!
Racist abuse is graffitied onto the garage of Annalie;'s house and although she would rather pretend it hadn't happened, she calls her sister Margaret in New York to come home and deal with it. The sisters are very different and this causes some very real tension in the house as Margaret pushes for justice and Annalie chooses to fit in rather than stand up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This books is a perfect example of why diversity in literature matters. Tian has written a beautiful book which explores the impact of racism on Asian Americans through the relationship between two sisters. It's particularly interesting to see the reactions of the sisters according to how far they can 'pass' as white, and how that affects how they feel they can intergrate into their community. Everyone should read this book to better understand this topic.

Extremely well-written and valuable story. Thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in advance of release!

This place is still beautiful

One more powerful word that a million combined is Racism! It evokes a myriad of emotions and leaves you questioning every word you ever said.
When I revisit the stupidity of youth, I’m suddenly grateful for the wisdom of adulthood.
I know we are all guilty of racism, unintentionally (idiocy of youth) mostly, but do we ever think about the impact a simple phrase such as “you don’t look …” has on someone? Until I was older, I never realised the cruelty of that phrase, and this book reminded me of the impact our words can have on someone, and we all need to do and be better!

A work of fiction? Yes! But that doesn’t stop it from being any less real! Racism is very much alive today, and I am grateful I got to read about it from a new point of view.

The beauty of the story is watching each sister as they each navigate their way through school, boys, parents and life in general. Then throw a heinous hate crime into the mix, and you have a powerful, tender and poignant story told through the eyes of 2 vastly different sisters.
My heart ached for both Annalie and Margaret. The hidden pain and anguish they go through, each doing what they thought was the right thing for themselves, as well as their family.
Each sister battled racism on a different level, neither fully understanding the other point of view, and so they felt alone.
However, the final chapter filled my heart with hope.
I love the beautiful friendships formed and some reforged and how I was left smiling and wanting more! So much so, I hope there is a sequel!

The reason it’s four and not five stars? Sometimes it went from one scene to hours/days later without a clear distinction, and I also felt one area needed further explanation. It’s hard to explain without giving spoilers (kind of).

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Penguin Random House, for the arc ebook in return for an honest review.

This story is written from the point of view of two sisters. A lovely story which explores family relationships, racism and the struggle to fit in as a teenager.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to Xixi Tian and Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read This Place Is Still Beautiful before it’s release.

After a shocking act of racism, sisters Annalie and Margaret find themselves brought together under one roof once more for the summer. While both sisters have completely different reactions to the crime, both are understandable and showcase the prejudice people still face today. Margaret grows angry, hellbent on finding the perpetrators and getting justice whereas Annalie wishes for it all to stop lest they bring anymore hate upon their family.

The reactions of the town they live in as a whole spoke volumes of modern day perception into hate speech and racism; the majority feeling that the situation has been blown out of proportion. The messages within this book are so vitally important, and only serve to make it even better. I would recommend this book to anyone, it really made me frustrated at the fact that even in 2022 we still don’t have a truly equal society and perceptions still need to shift .

I loved the way in which Tian handled this subject within the family in particular, showing how past trauma and family upbringing can instil the wrong values and create prejudice, most notable through the failed relationship between Margaret and Rajiv.

Not only did I love Rajiv as a character, but I also couldn’t get enough of Daniel, Violet and Abaeze. If anything I wish I’d have gotten to see more of the last two!

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read

This was really good! The book follows two sisters, Margaret and Annalie, both mixed race Asians who couldn't be more different. Margaret wants to he a lawyer and couldn't wait to escape their town to go to NYU. Annalie is popular and less sure of what she wants to do and where to go to college. Their house is vandalised with racist graffiti and Margaret comes home from her prestigious internship when Annalie calls her. The two sisters deal with the hate crime in different ways. Meanwhile, Margaret is re-united with her ex and Annalise starts dating her crush. The book covers all sorts of themes, mostly surrounding Asian hate and racism. Annalie and Margaret even have different experiences as Annalie is white passing.

I loved the sister bond in this one, they don't have the best relationship to begin with having made a lot of assumptions about each other. The journey they go on is really heart warming. I think their age difference and maturity was also portrayed well.

Overall a powerful, well written book.

At the heart of this book is racism. After all a racist incident occurs and Margaret returns from New York to assist her family in the aftermath.
The book alternates each chapter with the two sisters, Margaret and Annalie. Each sister has their own issues. Both suffer from lack of a father figure as he left when they were small.
There is sibling rivalry and misunderstanding. I thought the author dealt with the themes in a sensitive, thoughtful manner.

4.5 stars!
I really enjoyed this book. The main plot line focuses on racism, with one particular act of racism against a Chinese American family being the focal point but also broadening the conversation/plot into a wider discussion of many facets of racism.

The story is told via alternating view points of two sisters, Annalie and Margaret. I really enjoyed the portrayal of the relationship between the sisters, who feel they are very different from each other. I thought the author did an excellent job in showing that while we may love our siblings we sometimes don't like or understand them. I also enjoyed how the relationship between the pair changed and matured over the course of the book. While the story contains quite a large amount of romantic entanglements I really thought that where it shone was when showing the familial relationships. not just between the sisters but between them and their mother, their non-relationship with their absent father and the sub plot between Daniel and his grandfather and father.

The only reason I've dropped a half star from the 5 star rating is because I found the book a little tricky to get in to in the beginning chapter, the initial few pages felt a little clunky in regards to sentence structure but that passed very quickly and also the passing of time felt a little odd, difficult to realise just how much time had passed between each event. Otherwise I thought this book was fabulous - I'll definitely be recommending it and purchasing a copy for my local anti-racism library.

Thought provoking insightful and beautifully written.

Set against the backdrop of one tumultuous summer in small town America this is the story of two very different sisters.

Annalie is seventeen, she loves to bake and is embarking on a summer trying to win the affection of Thom the most popular boy at school.

Margaret is nineteen, fiercely intelligent and on a mission to end all forms of social injustice.

A racist incident at their home changes them forever making them both question who they are and who they wish to become.

Highlighting Insidious consequences of racism and the excuses so often made for it. This book made me think about what is normal and how deeply entrenched unconscious racism really is.

Told from the pov of each sister in turn the narrative skilfully unpicks their relationship and the ways they envy admire and misunderstand each other.

A must read story of 2022 and one that will linger in my mind for along time.

In This Place is Still Beautiful the author carefully examines the effect a racial hate crime has on two sisters. Annalie is a 17-year old high-school student, ready for a summer of fun, hanging out with her bestie and hopefully getting to know her long-time crush a bit bitter.

Margaret is her ambitious older sister, bound for law school and currently interning at a NYC law firm. When their family home back in Illinois is attacked, she returns to sort things out for her sister and mom.

I loved the take of this book. Although it started a bit slow for me, once it got rolling, I couldn’t stop. The constant back and forth between the sisters, examining their different approaches to the same situation, was fascinating to me.

One sister just wants to forget about what happened and continue to live in her small, lovely, peaceful hometown. The other is enraged by the underlying racism and won’t rest until the perpetrator is brought to justice.

But whose approach is right? Shall we make a big fuss over something that “really wasn’t that big of a deal” or should we push for recognition and acknowledgement when someone has stepped over the line? Should we take it personally or laugh it off as “just a prank”? Should we examine motivations, intent, even sobriety? Or just let it slide because…well, you’ll see! This book asks so many complex questions and deals with them in a brilliant, sensitive and insightful manner. Would highly recommend.

As always thank you for Netgalley, Penguin and Xixi Tian for giving me access to this book.
I will start by saying I gave in to something I rarely do and let the cover draw me in. It is stunningly beautiful and when I read the synopsis I was sure I would love this book. Thankfully I was not wrong.

This is a debut novel by Xixi Tian and what a debut it is. Following the Asian-American Flanagan sisters, Annalie and Margaret, seventeen and eighteen respectively as they deal with a horrible racist attack on their own property. Told through both Annalie’s and Margaret’s point of view we learn how these two sisters and the family all deal with the attack strikingly differently.

With such a vile, but unfortunately very prevalent, topic as racism Tian masterfully deals with this tough topic showing how each family member and those around them is affected differently. While racism is one of the driving factors in the novel that isn’t all the novel deals with, we have friendships, heartache, family and seeing two young adults not only navigate the normal ups and downs of life but trying to find their place with their communities and family as well.

In terms of the writing it is beautiful and easy to follow meaning you can easily lose yourself reading and falling into just one more chapter. The cast of characters are well created and grounded, each built up with their own flaws and virtues (well a few might not have virtues but I don’t want to spoil anything). I thoroughly enjoyed this book although it brought home how some people still wish to judge someone purely for their family or skin tone and reminds us that actions have consequences, as they should, although I feel like I would have liked more confirmation of what did happen to those responsible the ending wrapped everything up and I hope we have more novels from Xixi Tian in the future.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

It's a YA contemporary novel about two sisters who have a Chinese mother and a white (presumably Irish?) dad who is not present in their lives, living in a town in Illinois. Margaret the eldest jas moved out for college in NY as she doesn't like how close-minded and little her town's people are. While the youngest Annalie is still in HS, and wants to date this guy she's been crushing on for quite some time, and finally, that happens with the help of her Filipina bestie Violet. One day their garage door gets vandalized with a racial slur and in panic, Annalie calls her sister who she doesn't really have a good relationship with, and she immediately flies home. The sisters have different ways of dealing with things, Margaret who is the more headstrong one, calls the police and wants to investigate to find out who did it and punish them, while also putting it in the local newspaper and on social media, meanwhile Annalie doesn't want to make a big deal of it, she thinks that Maragaret is just overexaggerating. This summer they have to spend it together as Margaret has no means of going home without putting the people responsible for this racist hate crime to justice in the total disgust of her littlest. She has to deal with the past she tried to avoid with her ex-love, and mom who she is sure hates her, and that Annalie is best. While Annalie is dealing with the racist hate crime, first love, and summer jobs with new people.
I'd say it was an interesting premise and both versions of the cover were so gorgeous so they drew me to it, even though I don't read YA contemporary novels often. I didn't like much of the focus on romance, but because it was done through more of a different lens, and they didn't go the way they thought, I'm fine with it. I really liked Daniel, he was a pretty interesting guy and I liked that he tried to fix his family bonds. Actually, family bonds in this book were pretty crucial to the lesson and plot, and the resolving of the conflicts that have happened before or do happen throughout the book. In the way of Margaret and her mom, Margaret and Annalie, Daniel ties his dad and grandad back, also friendships and love. It was sweet in that way. I appreciated how the sisters differ a lot from each other in looks but also have some things in common. I liked how the ending was very realistic, and not all too ambitious, as things don't always go the way we may hope, but it's for the better, and there may be second (or third) chances. I don't want to say more for fear of spoiling things, but it's a pretty good book as it deals with a lot of things that teens, college kids, mixed kids, kids without present dads, kids of immigrants, not realized dreams, toxic relationships, and standing up for what you think is right by also listening to what others close to you think and say. Pretty solid YA novel, the author is pretty good at writing, so I guess they got a future!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. The cover is absolutely divine but the story read like melted butter. Smooth and beautiful.

This debut novel from Xixi Tian follows the Flanagan sisters through a horrible racial attack on their property. The Chinese American family deal with the racism quite differently from each other and what follows is the aftermath of those reactions and what it really means to stand up against racism. Having a Chinese mum and a white dad who left long ago, both sisters struggle with each other’s way of dealing with the horrible attack on their race. The sisters looks very different with Annalie looking more white and like their absent father and Margaret looking more like their Chinese mother. How they look also impacts their feelings towards the racism.

This book reads beautifully. Once you pick it up, that’s it. You’ll read for hours. It’s like having a conversation with a friend. I would say the book leans towards a more YA genre seeing as Annalie, the younger sister is only 17 but Margaret comes across as so much older. She’s only in fact 19 but her experiences in life have forced her to grow up a lot quicker than she would have liked.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it’s a perfect book for anyone wanting to introduce a thought provoking book regarding racial slurs to a young adult. The book focuses on much more than racism, theirs friendship, family relationships as well as how the young ladies navigate through life being half Chinese and half American and having that missing male role model in their life.

I would definitely read more by this author. I felt really at home reading this book. It resonated with my emotions when I think about what I want and need from a book. I loved it.

I really enjoyed this story about 2 sisters who believe they are very different but come to find they have more in common than just their family ties. A story of racism and coming to terms with who you are as a teen and young adult. Who should you trust and who will be there for you no matter what.

This Place is Still Beautiful | XiXi Tian
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tian’s debut YA novel covers the complexities of love, family dynamics, social norms and the harmful legacy of racism.

Margaret (19) and Annalie (17) Flanagan grew up in a small Illinois town, raised by their Chinese mother after their Irish American father left when they were young.

Yet despite having these shared experiences, it often seems like they couldn’t be more different. Self-conscious Annalie wants to blend in with her peers and stick to societal expectations, while strong, assertive Margaret keeps finding new causes to champion and new wrongs to right.

When Margaret leaves for college, Annalie finally has the chance to shine, no longer hidden in the shadow cast by her older sister, until a racist incident in which their house is vandalised with a shocking slur has Margaret rushing home from her summer internship in New York City.

Margaret expects outrage. Instead, her sister and mother would rather move on. Especially once Margaret's investigations begin to make members of their community uncomfortable. But, Margaret taking after her Chinese mother in her looks, has always felt more passive racism towards her growing up, she looked Asian and no one let her forget it.

The sisters then grapple with what it means to be mixed race and Asian American in a predominantly white Midwestern town, when to speak up, and whose expectations they should meet; they also struggle to navigate their relationship with each other and the ways in which they are different and similar.

This book is character driven instead of plot driven and it works beautifully. Told in alternating perspectives, this emotionally layered novel culminates in complex resolutions.

About much more than just racism, this novel deftly tackles the precarious moments surrounding the end of school and the beginning of college, when romantic and familial relationships are complicated, changing, and all-consuming.

Do you know what else is beautiful? That cover!

This Place Is Still Beautiful is a book about two sisters. The elder sister is more in touch with her chinese heritage and the pair have never been close. When their home is subject to racist vandalism, the younger sister calls her sister home to help with their mother and the two start to connect. It's an interesting look at cultural differences and a quick read.