This reads like a memoir, or perhaps more of source material from a journal for a memoir. It’s a quick read of only about 200 pages, and maybe that’s my most significant criticism. I wanted more. I wanted to know the main character more. I wanted to know why she thought her marriage fell apart. I wanted to know why she didn’t ask her husband the “why” question. I wanted to know why she didn’t tell her (soon to be ex) husband about her cancer diagnosis. I don’t feel like I got to know her as much as I wanted to.

This has been on my wishlist for so long! I am happy to say it was just as a fabulous as I had hoped it would be.

It's so easy to read, and such fun. Yes I know there's depressing elements to it but still, I just found it so joyful to read. It's a relatively short book and quick to read, I read it in a few hours.

I docked half a star because it is just one long text, no chapters, and I really dislike long chapters, let alone just one book-long chapter. But I'm aware that is a personal choice.

I do have a slight issue with the characters. As characters go, they're fine, interesting, very real. But they all felt like they lacking something, a bit of emotion or anything. The anger, sadness, confusion...it was all a bit tepid and I'd have liked that to have been hyped up a bit more.

I read one review that said because the author is young, she didn't have quite the level of experience to give justice to the topics in the story. And whilst I understand what they meant, I think that's quite a narrow way of thinking. You don't necessarily have to experience something in order to write about it. I think Katie has done a wonderful job at observing everything, from the mundane and everyday to the extraordinary

I believe this is her debut and it's definitely a promising start.

This book covers some really heavy topics (the breakdown of a marriage, infidelity, a cancer diagnosis) but never feels too heavy. The unnamed protagonist has 2 children with her husband, who casually tells her one evening whilst out for dinner that he’s been having an affair with a woman from work called Maggie. She takes this news (and her subsequent breast tumour, which she names Maggie) surprisingly well. There are some moments of emotional turmoil but the protagonist seems quite detached from her emotions for a lot of the book. Having said that, the writing is insightful and I found the book very easy to read. Secondary characters such as the husband and children are named but are mostly referred to as “my husband”, “my daughter” and “my son”. The comedic elements of the book aren’t laugh-out-loud funny, but utilise a more dry humour, which is funny all the same. I really enjoyed the folk tales as bedtime stories element, and the contrast between the bedtime stories told by the mother and the father. The female friendship at the core of the story is strong and I enjoyed this element; everyone needs a friend like Darlene. Overall, a good read!

This was too depressing for me. Marital separation and a cancer diagnosis was too heavy going. It needed some lightness in my opinion. According to the blurb it was supposed to weave comedy with tragedy but I totally failed to detect any humour. It just wasn't for me.

4.5 star.
A book for those going through divorce and/or breast cancer.
The husband admits to cheating on his wife in a restaurant. The un-named Chinese wife calmly takes it all in.

The book is very calm. It's like there's a silent argument in the background but you can't hear it.

It has a twist of Chinese and Greek legends/myths told as children nighttime stories, it brings back memories of being told these from my own childhood.
Very well written.

Thanks to Netgalley and Octopus Publishing for this copy!

"Maggie" is a literary exploration of the concept that each crisis may also be an opportunity. For the narrator the crisis is multilayered - her husband's disclosure of an affair, his subsequent leaving, and on top of that the diagnosis of breast cancer and seemingly unhealed trauma of her mother's death. The story is not only one of overcoming life's obstacles but also an exploration of race, especially in the context of entering a white family as an Asian woman deprived of her own familial support system; of the power of friendship; as well as how one's life story is told and re-told depending on a context.

Surprisingly humorous and uplifting, considering lots of heavy subjects. A very strong debut.

Maggie by Katie Yee features a central character going through a difficult time as her husband leaves her for another woman at the same time as she is battling breast cancer and grieving both for the loss of her own mother and for the family life she thought she'd put together.