I really tried hard to finish Kathy Wong’s new novel but despite getting to around 60% I just could finish. I’m so sorry to say but I was just bored. I found the characters quite flat and I didn’t really care about their lives. I know this is a personal view as so many have thoroughly enjoyed this book but it just wasn’t for me.

When Joan escapes from a restricted life in Taiwan to go to University in America, it seems that she has a bright future ahead of her. However, she soon becomes trapped by convention and expectation into a life she was not expecting- speedy divorce from her first husband, marriage to a much older man, being a full-time wife, step-mother, mother and later carer. Facing prejudice as an immigrant and as a woman, she dreams of one day owning a cafe for the lost, the lonely and the unhappy to visit for talk and company. There was a lot to like about this book which portrays a certain time and lifestyle very well, and how this can be different for someone from a different culture. I would have liked there to have been more depth to the characters, as I often felt that I didn’t know enough about them and their motivations. I would love to visit somewhere like the Satisfaction Cafe though!

I loved this book. It is the story of Joan, who moves to America from Taiwan as a student, and makes a life there.
Joan is a kind and principled person, and puts other people before herself when her circumstances become difficult. Despite this, she is very determined. She is loved by the people who see her goodness and grace. This sounds a bit dry, but it is lovely, and I don't want to give anything away to spoil it for the reader. The writing style flows. I read it on the beach in a day, and couldn't put it down.
Highly recommended.

I enjoyed The Satisfaction Cafe. It avoided some of the obvious tropes, and wasn't as whimsical as the title suggests. It didn't move me or stay with me as much as Kathy Wang's other books and some of the set-piece scenes and storylines don't pay off as you'd expect. Still, it's absorbing with some engaging characters and would make a good holiday read.

I never really like comparing authors but there are definitely shades of Anne Tyler here who is one of my favourite authors so I absolutely adored this novel.

Definitely keen to read more

"Joan Liang’s life is a series of surprising developments...."
Brilliant story telling
Really enjoyed the style of writing. Can't wait to read more from Kathy Wang.

This is such a surprising novel which gently builds and broadens into a fascinating exploration of what it means to be happy, what constitutes a contented life.

Set in downtown America, the book charts the fortunes of a Chinese immigrant who leaves a troubled household to get an education and make a life. Her very different experiences of two marriages and lifestyles take up the majority of the book, as we see her adapt and fit into her idea of married life and an acceptable US citizen. Her struggles to blend in and be a good wife and mother are thwarted at every turn, and it is only when she is in danger of losing everything that she finally follows her own path.

The last part of the book develops her idea of the Satisfaction Cafe, which tries to help others to feel more comfortable and connected with life. It is poignant for her to discover this satisfaction just as she is coming to the end of her own understanding.

This is a steadily paced, subtle exploration of belonging and contentment, which surprises and fascinates as the plot develops. I really enjoyed this book. The ideas and its thought-provoking conclusion will stay with me for a long time.

I enjoyed The Satisfaction Cafe. Kathy Wang tells us Joan's story beginning in Taiwan and ending in California.
Her childhood comes across as one typical of that part of the world, but when she finds herself in California her life alters.

The start is a little peculiar although kudos to her for sticking up for herself. As we move through time exploring marriage, parenting and widowhood it's compelling.
In my opinion she lives in her husband's shadow until he dies. Of course Joan asks, what next. For me it was at this point when the story improves. How the writer explores loneliness and connection was really interesting and I think the world over would benefit from a real life Satisfaction Cafe.

There were a couple of opportunities for further explanation and I would have liked to understood more about some of the characters. Her sister-in-law for example.

Thankyou NetGalley & little brown group for this arc copy for my honest review, I was recommended this book on the basis of the previous books I’ve read and enjoyed, I went in blind with this book and had no expectations and I am so truely happy I did. WOW.

Ok at first I thought is this book sattire, now hear me out it’s only because of the wild things Joan encountered from her first marriage, being a immigrant etc. I don’t want to go into too much detail as it will spoil the masterpiece of the story. All I’m gonna say is Joan is iconic, I love the dual POVs from different characters as we saw the insight of how Joan experienced her life with them and their perspective also. I laughed, I smiled I cried this book took me through a turmoil of emotions that even made me have all those emotions at the end.

This book was beautifully written and I 100% recommend

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, it was a great read overall, the middle of it felt a bit slow and was dragging. Some of the topics were a bit left unexplored and unsaid. Especially about Trevor Theo Adam etc
Joan was a bit annoying when she pretended to not speak English sometimes and she totally forgot about her family sometimes,
I liked the topic and the book but I am not sure if I would recommend it since I would’ve liked to get more information about the secondary characters. I really enjoyed concept of the cafe to fight loneliness and just have a chat.

Thank you Little Brown Book Group UK & NetGalley for my first arc, & what a first one it was!

This book follows the life of Joan throughout her life - from a childhood in Taiwan to adulthood in California. There is such a vast range of dynamics in this book which I found really interesting; between family, living as an immigrant in the USA and power imbalances in relationships. The short chapters made it feel as though we were seeing windows into Joan's life during certain periods, which made it a very accessible and consumable read.

To have such a concept as a satisfaction cafe be thrown during the times we're in now, where loneliness can feel so prevalent even in times where we've never been more connected to the world around us, was so interesting and something I couldn't help but think we could do with. I only wish there was a bit more development with some other characters in the story, but that can also be a testament to how much I was compelled to read on.

This is a quick read I would recommend, though with hesitation towards anyone who has ever known or loved someone who has experienced what Joan did later on in her life especially. Kathy handled this with great care, but it may hit closer to home than others!

I'm a big fan of Kathy Wang's books, though they seem to hover around a 3.2 average rating on Goodreads, which is uncommonly low. But, looking over the reviews, I see a lot of misplaced expectations. People disappointed that Family Trust was not Crazy Rich Asians; others disappointed that Impostor Syndrome was not a thriller.

I don’t say this to dismiss those readers who genuinely just don’t enjoy Wang’s writing, but I do think it is very helpful to know what kind of story you’re getting. And what Kathy Wang writes are intimate and slow-moving character studies, sometimes about unlikable people. I find her books to be less about what happens, and more about how the characters process and respond to events psychically and emotionally. It's not Kevin Kwan or Harlan Coben. It's more Celeste Ng, Ann Patchett or Angie Kim.

This kind of storytelling works for me. I enjoy it. I can see why it would be boring as hell for a reader in the mood for a thriller or soap opera.

The Satisfaction Café is another slow-moving character-driven story-- primarily about a woman's life, but also about the cast of characters she meets over the course of her lifetime. While we're setting expectations, I think it's worth noting that the titular cafe does not make an appearance until later in the story. Before that, we see Joan coming to the United States from Taiwan, having a quick and disastrous first marriage, then eventually marrying Bill, an older and very wealthy American.

I found Joan very easy to sympathise with, and I eagerly followed all the ups and downs of her life story. She faces hardships, and sometimes she gets very lucky, while through it all Wang weaves in the stories of all those around her with emotional intelligence and empathy.

The actual cafe, when it does emerge, is a kind of talking therapy cafe dedicated to offering a compassionate and listening ear to all those who enter, a similar idea to the Chatty Cafe Scheme but with its own base (i.e. not hosted by other businesses.) Joan's observations throughout her life have been that most people are just looking for someone to talk to, to make them feel listened to, and so the cafe becomes her passion project.

Not a propulsive pageturner, but I found The Satisfaction Café to be a quietly compelling novel that rewards patience. If you appreciate nuanced character studies that explore the complexities of human connection and the subtle ways people cope with life’s challenges, this book will likely resonate deeply.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book contained jarring descriptions of abuse and was written with a tone that seemed distant from the reader so I couldn’t care about the characters. DNF at 10%.

The Satisfaction Café by Kathy Wang depicts the immigrant experience, blended families, family dynamics and life satisfaction.

This is a delight, I loved to delve into the life of the character,and what a character she created with a tough, realistic exterior and yet such an emotive interior.
So many aspects of true family life ,makes this an enjoyable read,a hardworking individual simply holding the whole family together,yet portraying the life and death , the ups and downs of an extended family,the insights that many do not truly perceive is all here in this book,a cultural achievement to enjoy,inspirational in every sense.

oh the power behind this book. but not in a loud way. no no, this book swept you up and floated you along on its power. it made you feel. it made you feel a whole entire lot of lots. its one of those books that you want to go away and quietly cherish. you want to cry but are not sure even why. and at times you dont want to be pulled away to do anything else until you have completely been taken over by its pull.
i loved it.
we follow the life of our main characters. and i have no idea how Kathy and authors who manage to do this, made that such a stunning read. these kind of books are top tier.
we get to see a few points of view through this woman's life which can bring some unique moments.
this book is a must read. dont think just block out all your time and read it.

This novel follows Joan, a Taiwanese woman who moves to California to study at Stanford. After an unsuccessful marriage, she meets Bill, an older man with a slew of failed past relationships and two children of his own. We see how complicated family dynamics, affairs and arson lead Joan to set up her own business - The Satisfaction Cafe - which attempts to cure the universal epidemic of loneliness through conversation.

This was an incredibly mentally draining read. When I read the premise I was intrigued by the idea of a ‘satisfaction cafe’, but that element of the book doesn’t come to fruition until the last 100 pages. Instead we get a rather mundane account of Joan’s life from childhood to after Bill’s death with snippets of the happenings of her kids’ lives too. The novel attempts to be profound, but its musings on life fell flat. The discussions around cultural assimilation and race in particular were very surface level. I had issues with the pacing too. It felt like it took an eternity to get through this, while at the same time we skipped through 10 years of Joan’s life in a matter of pages. I wanted both less and more detail at the same time.

Sad to say this is yet another book not for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book - a very intricate and compelling character study of one woman’s life, from her childhood in Taiwan to her adult life in the USA. I actually chose to read this over my brand new novel by my favourite author Sarah Moss, so that’s testament to how much I was enjoying it!

It touches on a wide range of family dynamics and social nuances - culture clashes, life as an immigrant, feminism and power imbalances in relationships. The characters are well drawn and feel very genuine and fully formed - it was an immersive read and moves along at a good pace.

It reminded me of novels by Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler in the way it builds very real-feeling characters and the focus on family dynamics.

My only criticism would be that it felt like certain elements of the story weren’t explored as much as they could have been. It felt like there were perhaps too many side characters who could have been cut in order to give more space for deepening the story about others. For example, her relationship with her parents - she cuts contact with them for a few years, they have another brief interaction, and then never crop up again. I had lots of questions - did her children not wonder about her family, did her parents try to have a relationship with them, would they have accepted both children equally despite one being adopted and white, did their death (which we don’t hear about) require her to reconnect with siblings etc etc. Any of those would have provided an avenue to explore some of the dynamics she touches on lightly, but in more depth. Meanwhile, Ellison, the guy who reads mythology books, or Kailie are characters who add little to the story and don’t really need to be there - I think it means it ends up spread a little thin in terms of focus.

Saying that, I overall enjoyed it, found it an easy and quick read, and my desire to have heard more detail about some of the characters probably demonstrates how compelling a read it was and how real the characters felt. I’ve already recommended it to a few friends.

The Satisfaction Cafe tells the story of Joan and her life after she leaves her home in Taiwan and moves to America. We learn of the ups and downs in her life along the way and how The Satisfaction cafe is brought to life.

I enjoyed how the novel raised important topics and presented them in a real and understandable way, such as prejudice and bullying. I felt by the end of the novel that I had really come to know who Joan was.

It would have been nice for the novel to be longer, as because it spans so a long time of Joan’s life there were some things I felt were skipped over. Otherwise a very enjoyable read.

I think this novel is perfect for deep thinkers, people who like to question things in life, and also for people who have found themselves on the edges of society.

This was such a great book.
It follows the life of Joan, from her early life in Taiwan to her moving to California, marriages, children, the lost of loved ones and new beginnings. The book is mainly from her POV, but we get also her children’s and Theo's POV which was refreshing.
I loved the concept and vision of her business!
I recommend it!


Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!