In this exquisitely told tale, Lily, a young adult, discovers that everything she believes to be true about herself, her background, and the world around her is untrue. We witness Lily's transformation in real time, where we occasionally become irritated with her and her decisions before realising that her viewpoint was incredibly narrow and is gradually broadening.
Many people will be able to relate to the characters' struggle with identification and figuring out where they fit because they are flawed but relatable. I had a lovely time seeing Lily develop throughout the book.

<b>4.5 stars</b>

<i><blockquote>The more comfortable and confident I felt, the more risks I took. She had watched me learn to express myself, to become emotionally articulate, to become a person in Chinese.</i></blockquote>

This, for me, is Rebecca Kuang's coming of age as an author book. I loved her [book:Babel|57945316] and [book:Yellowface|62047984], was so-so on [book:The Poppy War|35068705] and positively disliked [book:Katabasis|210223811] - so it's satisfying to see her write a book that pares back to a pure story of emotional growth without all the flash of fantasy and/or plot.

This is a simple story in terms of trajectory as Yale student, Lily, goes to study Chinese in Taiwan on a summer programme. But within the sparse plot, there is what feels like something emotionally authentic. Kuang's own interest in linguistics is used brilliantly to convey both alienation and difference as Lily gradually learns to penetrate the Chinese 'heritage language' that she picked up partially as a child from her Chinese diaspora parents. But more importantly than 'simply' learning a language is the underlying linguistic theory that we are different people within the spheres of different languages. Lily's development, self-understanding and expression as she adds to 'American Lily' to also emerge as 'Chinese-speaking Lily' is so relatable and satisfying to watch.

There is more at the story level that just worked so well here for me: the changing dynamics in the relationships with Anna and JC, the intimations of a troubled family, intersections with Chinese history - and all of these aspects feel bound in to Lily's journey, not side streets.

In the end I think this is the book I've been waiting for Kuang to write - stripped of flash, this feels like watching an author develop in real time. Once started, I could hardly bare to be parted from this book: it's so relatable, so emotionally resonant and personally relatable. This is one I'll be putting into the hands of all my friends!

This book is a love letter to second generation immigrants. In excruciating detail, RF Kuang lays bare the guilt, the shame, the alienation from our roots, that permeates our existence. The writing is exacting and raw and so deeply clever—even more so for those who understand some of the particular Chinese language and culture references. This book is also very much an exploration of the way language (and the lack of it) shape who we are.

I was absolutely enthralled with every page of this book. Kuang has the ability to create a compelling narrative arc despite the lack of a lot of high stakes “action” in the story, and the richness of Lily’s internal dialogue plays a huge part in this. I also love the way Kuang weaves in fascinating information and concepts throughout the book.

One of my favorite books of the year, without a doubt, and one that made me feel understood in a uniquely deep and tender way.

I loved this story about finding one's identity and connection through language, landscape and history. This is a beautiful story with complex and human characters some likeable while others less likeable but added context to Lily's story.

Taipei Story follows Lily, a student trying to reconnect with her roots and her family through a language programme. In true R F Kuang fashion, the characters in this book feel flawed, real, and fleshed out. She makes it so easy to hate certain characters or feel sorry for others. I found the point of view to be really interesting; we see nothing of Lily's life before or after her programme, and there're less chapters as there are collections of short anecdotes about her time there. This style may not be for everyone (admittedly it took me a little while to find the flow of it), but in the end I thought it described her moments in Taipei fantastically. After all, it is a collection of shorter moments and interactions that she has with others, rarely do we see a full day from Lily's perspective. I really enjoyed Lily's growth and the realistic resolutions that her relationships had with the other characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I learnt so much about Taipei and the American-Chinese experience and I always looked forward to picking up the book. I thought Lily was a great character and I was rooting for her, even though she’s imperfect and could be a little frustrating. As I’d now expect from Kuang, it’s compelling, intelligent, interesting and impeccably planned. I don’t know how she manages to make every book feel completely different!

An absolutely realistic portrayal of learning languages, of grief and in a way of life too. It doesn’t shy away from the negative emotions, doesn’t ignore them, it lets you feel everything that Lily feels from good to bad.

This book actually wasn’t what I expected it to be. It was marketed as a novel, focused on grief, and while it was one of the main topics, it actually was about the relationship with different languages, especially foreign languages. Kuang highlighted in a previous interview that learning a new language can open up a door, not only to speaking, but to thinking as well. Languages were built around the speakers lives, their culture, their habits, their priorities. And that we should read more diverse because it can open up our eyes to things we would have never thought. This book stands with that statement. While we follow Lily as she studies and as her relationship evolves with Taipei, we can also see her inner thoughts on languages and learning a foreign language and how it changes her and the people surrounding her. We also get to see that learning a language is hard and it’s a rollercoaster, sometimes going smoothly, sometimes feeling like you don’t know anything. And we get to realise how that’s totally normal, we’re not in the wrong for feeling that way. This is why this book gave me a lot, it inspired me and opened up my eyes. It comforted me as I’ve felt the way Lily felt before and I think while the book focused on the language learning experiences, it can be interpreted to other things as well. Life is not linear, and the book repeated that well.

I’m lucky that I got to read this book, and I’m even luckier that I could read it before the release date. I’d like to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to do that. To connect to this book in this deep level even before it hit the shelves. It’s a pleasure. Especially as someone who writes this review (and all of my other reviews) in a foreign language.

So we follow Lily who goes to Taipei for the summer to be part of a language program where she hopes to become proficient in Chinese and learn/connect with the culture/family she felt disconnected from for so long and her journey through the program and her time in Taipei.

It is a coming of age story but written wise, it feels like a student personal journal that shares personal thoughts and experience, even with food entries, studying entries; a language notebook with notes of the words meanings and explanations; a historical book as well to provide information between China and Taiwan, and an educational book as well.

Personally, I don’t think Lily is supposed to be likable and a favorite, however she’s real and relatable. Lily isn’t perfect, she’s socially awkward surrounded by strangers in a place she is unfamiliar with, learning a language she wants to be fluent in, but isn’t. She can’t read the room well, she has her own problems and thoughts. I don’t think it’s bad that Lily thinks she’s smart, or reminding herself, even complaining about it, because it isn’t bad to know what you’re good at and what you’re bad at, and she feels lacking in her skills because she doesn’t improve as fast she’s used to do things in America. And that’s something that can happen in real life. Also everyone judges everyone, a character in a book doing it is part of the life game, especially someone who’s as young as Lily.

Another reason Lily feels real, is that she can’t help making mistakes, she can’t protect herself when things happen to her. We can also see how easy people can turn against her, how they’ll judge her, how rumors can start so easily. All these are parts of life, as frustrating it is, and sometimes it’s just easier to let it be and move on than start trying to make it better.

The second half we have the grief, losing a family member, and the shock of it when it comes out of nowhere. And how it just feels so unreal and how painful/confusing it is, even if it wasn’t a person the character was close with. Mentioned mental threats by suicide and a try as well, briefly mentioned and explained but enough to give us perspective. The struggle when it comes to relationships between family members, the struggle when you don’t know how to act when something changes and suddenly the relationship between a child and a parent has to change too.

I’d say many topics are mentioned but they’re not that deeply involved in the story itself, nothing is resolved for sure and nothing much happens either. Everything is on a surface level writing wise, but they’re important enough that gives us an idea what type of a person Lily is and the life she had, how she grew up. And I think this is what worked me that well. Considering this is a student’s perspective and her life at the moment and how she moves through it, it makes sense. Because I can see her feeling things deeply but not wanting to dig that much further into it either.

All mentioned above are the reasons I love this book and enjoyed it. Even if the writing feels very straightforward and a little dry maybe, if I can even call it that, it worked perfectly for me and what I wanted from this book. Surely I haven’t read Yellowface, so I don’t have a base for comparison regarding Kuang’s writing in similar genre, but I find myself wanting to read more of her writing like this. There is something about this type of writing that just works perfectly for me and I couldn’t put it down when I started reading it! It’s a new favorite for me.

Thank you so much NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for giving me the chance to read this one in advance! I appreciate it!

This one turned a little long, I’ll make sure the instagram review is a little shorter. I plan to post it closer to the release date on instagram, maybe in the middle of August I’ll post it there and share the link on here too.

[ARC provided by NetGalley and The Borough Press. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Taipei Story.]

Rating: 5/5

Is it any surprise that I’m rating another Kuang book five stars? By now I can say with certainty that if Rebecca writes it, I’m going to love it. A big part of that is down to the depth in her stories. I find myself often pulling at threads, falling down rabbit holes as I research some things further, and by the end of each book I feel like my worldview has expanded a little bit more. Taipei Story was no different, and I found this tale of culture and identity to be outstanding in every way.

In this book we follow Lily Chen, a Yale student who has arrived in Taipei to further her Chinese studies on a summer programme. Having experienced diaspora herself, Lily sets out to reconnect with the Chinese side of her heritage, but along the way learns more about who she is as an individual, rather than who has come before her.

“History mangled everyone. We weren’t the only ones cursed. And my personal tragedy derived not from the fact that it had happened but the fact that no one has thought to include me in this story-the child’s indignation that this was not all about me.”

This is Kuang’s take on a coming-of-age story, and her strength in linguistics places her as the perfect writer for Lily’s journey. Lily craves authentic connection, only to grapple with the realisation that she doesn’t actually have much of a tangible connection to Taiwan itself. The story explores questions of belonging and heritage while examining how the choices and sacrifices of previous generations shape who we become. At the same time, it considers that understanding where you come from is only one part of the equation, and ultimately, it’s up to you to decide who you want to be.

“Learning Chinese was about access. I wanted to talk to my family-that was the entire point. But now I’m wondering: What happens when you’re late to the conversation?”

Throughout the story it’s clear that Lily so badly wants to walk in the shoes of her family, ignorant to the fact that those who came before her underwent brutal trials to get her to where she is. As the summer progresses, her understanding of both her family and herself deepens, and what began as a search for belonging gradually becomes a journey led by her own curiosity.

All of this is held together by an excellent dive into Taipei, from its culture and food to its weather and atmosphere. Even little things like pesky insects and humidity are captured in stunning detail, making you feel as though you are right there with Lily. And, as it’s a Kuang novel, you’d better believe you’re going to learn something. I loved the language breakdowns and seeing Lily’s development as a learner throughout the book. Language functions as more than just a tool of communication here, and various events in the book showcase it as a symbol of access and belonging, as well as a symbol of the distance between generations.

I’m grateful for the elements that I can’t relate to well like the diaspora experience and the demands of intensive language learning. But I’m also grateful for what was familiar. It’s the moments of shared emotion that bridge stories like this to our own experiences in such a poignant way. Things like grieving family members we don’t know well, or being alienated by friends due to decisions we’ve made, it all contributes to this sense that despite any differences we may share, we're all in this together.

If you like character driven stories with a focus on language, coming of age and diaspora, then this is definitely a book you need to check out. It’s also a great follow up if you’ve read and enjoyed Taiwan Travelogue, the recent winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize.

Whilst I've read other reviews of the book, I disagree with some of them because I have a slighly similar perspective to the main characters. I lived overseas in Shanghai for 5 years, surviving before, during, and after the pandemic, and I understood Lily's development of learning Chinese, the awkward relationship between roommates (trust me, I've been there for those breakdowns/moving out situations!), but most of all, I felt her grief at osing her grandfather.

I'm going to be honest, I've never known my grandparents on either side, but for me, the grief connection came from trying to reinsert myself back into life in the UK after such an experience abroad. It's the missing of memories and familiarities whilst trying to occasionally force a relationship/myself back into my families/friends lives, and most of all its coming to terms with where you belong.

Additionally, I'll add that I've read everything but Katabasis by Ms Kuang - to directly address those who are review-bombing this because it isn't fantasy or what they'd perceive as different to what they're used to; people change, and also, authors can write about whatever they want in whichever genre or format they'd like. And actually, Taipei Story is very in the line of Babel with the linguistics, and you obviously have the focus on Asian heritage which is evident in almost all of Kuang's books (sorry, I can't say anything for Katabasis yet hence the tentative language), but honestly, I wish people stopped the smearing and just kept an open mind.

Taipei Story feels more like a diary entry than a novel, following the life of a Chinese American student, Lily, who moves to Taipei to study the language and learn more about her culture on her own terms. Her classes are challenging, and her accommodation is terrible but she's learning and she has a new community of course mates.

But Lily's search for belonging and a new understanding of the language isn't easy, and there are times that this books starts to feel like the ramblings of someone who really needs therapy. I wanted to both give her a hug, and shake her by the shoulders to tell her to do something about her situation. This style of book (which reminds me of something like Cleopatra & Frankenstein or My Year of Rest and Relaxation) can be a truly frustrating read. Essentially the protagonist doesn't behave in the way that I want them to, and that's annoying. Of course, that's a deliberate choice and Kuang's excellent writing keeps you gripped, wanting to know what the hell this young woman is going to do next. Taipei Story comments on Chinese / Taiwanese socio-political history, grief, and loneliness. For me, it perfectly encapsulates the feeling of living in a foreign country and trying to learn the language - it took me back to my six (admittedly quite lonely) months in Spain and put into words some of the feelings I had there, in a way I could never have articulated.

As ever Kuang's commentary on language is one of my favourite elements, so if you're interested in linguistics this is a worthwhile read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for eARC.

This is my favourite novel by Kuang so far.

I might be a little biased because this book as a huge nostalgia factor for me, since I also came from a Western Country to an East Asian to learn its language at the same age as Lily, the protagonist of this novel. Only I came to South Korea and I don't have Asian heritage, but still, many of the culturary and culinary experiences felt like Kuang had written them out of my memory. The same goes for the descriptions of going to language school and living on very limited space in a foreign country with a person you grow to dislike.
So yes, I am the target audience.

But I think many readers who didn't have those specific experiences will enjoy the Taipei Story. Composed of many 1-3 page long vignettes, this novel is a deep meditation on heritage, language, home and growing up, with a little food writing sprinkled on top like sesame on a bowl of rice.

Taipei Story is almost entirely character driven. There is not much happening, still I couldn't put it down, it was just a joy to read and experience the writing. I have so much love for this novel and hope, many readers give it a shot, even if it doesn't include Fantasy or the vortex of thrill and satire that Yellowface had.

Thanks a lot to Harper Collins UK for the Netgalley ARC

A huge fan of RF kuang, i think this book doesnt deserve the backlash its got. Kuang is masterful with her words, insightful with her history and absolutely delightful with the gravity of her worlds.

Thank you Netgalley for a free Earc in exchange for an honest review

📖Tapei Story
📖 Literay fiction
📖 368 pages
📖 7 chapters
✅ Read if your looking for a book about finding your place in the world
❌ Don't read this if you dont enjoy quiet interospective character studies
✅ Recommend
✅ Would read again
⭐ Rating: 5

I was so excited to get an arc for this and I was instantly torn with wanting to read it all in one go!

I knew this would be a lot differnt from the previous novels I had read Babel and Katabasis. This wasn't a book with a magic system or fantasy element but I knew one thing it would have that signature intellectual charm.

I loved how the book was written in a way that made it feel almost likeit was a biography. I even had to check if it might have been semi autobiographical, which it wasn't.

I always find myself getting lost within the pages. The chapters are a bit lengthy but I just enjoyed reading about what are esentially rather simple mundane things at the start of the book.

This played a great part of the character development and it was a perfect coming of age style story. It was real and handled grief in a way that felt true and realistic.

A great read and one I will enjoy reading again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️