This is a family drama told backward. It starts in the year 2040 and ends in 2014. Each chapter is told by a different family member and a few non family members.
The writing was good and it’s a pretty quick read coming in at under 300 pages.
If you like family dramas and a future setting you might want to pick this one up. I enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for a honest review. 3.5⭐️

I was completely mesmerized by this novel that begins in the future but ends in 2014. The story follows a Shanghai household, telling stories of a wife, husband, three daughters, their driver and nanny along the way.

This book starts in the near future and then goes backward in time, revealing family secrets along the way. I thought the format was intriguing. I would recommend this book to fans of Ann Napolitano or anyone that enjoys a character study/ family saga.

"𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘮 . . . 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵."

Interesting in theory, poor execution. A timeline that moves backwards, to reveal things deep-rooted in tenses of things done to become undone in the future.

At times, I wanted to DNF this because the interest is splotchy. There's not enough here. Not enough excitement, not enough crescendos in pathos or plot to really move the story along.

Also, Min's writing is weak in technicality as her rhythms are repetitive. At first I thought this was beautiful in that it mimicked the way time echoes, but it just became formulaic to the point of boredom.

Ex)

"𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.
…
𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

Sentences are constantly written as so, dragged on by commas to create a flow that becomes too easy to spot as you move through the story. There isn't enough creative dance or creativity in prose to maintain a titan of time such a novel contains.

This book centers around a married couple, Leo and Eko and those around them.

There’s no real plot but more a meandering backward and forward through their lives and moments in the lives of their three children, staff, and other friends and family.

To be honest when the book finished I was surprised as there was no real lead up to an end. No climax. Nothing really happens.

Meh.

Big and ambitious,
small and intimate, unique.
Impressive debut.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


I write haiku reviews on Instagram but am happy to provide more feedback.

Shanghailanders by Julie Min was a really interesting piece of literary fiction. It starts in 2040 and throughout the book goes backwards in time, ending in 2014. It follows a family, three daughters and their parents, who live in Shanghai. Parts of the story are told from each of their perspectives and there are also a few chapters from the perspective of other people in their life, like people who have worked for them.

I'm not sure I've ever read a story told this way, and it definitely is an interesting way to see who these people are. We initially see them as they are, in their present day (our near future) and slowly go back in time little by little exploring small snippets of their lives and see the things that shaped them. It's especially interesting with the daughters, since they are just coming into adulthood at the beginning of the book which means we see a lot of their childhood, some of which took place during covid which I found interesting although it is not a main plot point by any means, it's just mentioned offhandedly.

While Shanghailanders does take place in the near future, don't expect a SciFi type of story. This is a very character driven novel that explores the complexities of familial relationships in a pretty melancholy way. It was overall a really great story and I'm definitely interested to read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy.

"A dazzling and ambitious debut novel that follows a cosmopolitan Shanghai household backward in time - beginning in 2040 and moving through our present and the recent past - exploring their secrets, their losses, and the ways a family makes and remakes itself across the years.

2040: Wealthy real estate investor Leo Yang - handsome, distinguished, a real Shanghai man - is on the train back to the city after seeing his family off at the airport. His sophisticated Japanese-French wife, Eko, and their two eldest children, Yumi and Yoko, are headed for Boston, though one daughter's revelation will soon reroute them to Paris. 2039: Kiko, their youngest daughter and an aspiring actress, decides to pursue fame at any cost, like her icon Marilyn Monroe. 2038: Yumi comes to Yoko in need, after a college-dorm situation at Harvard goes disastrously wrong.

As the years rewind to 2014, Shanghailanders brings readers into the shared and separate lives of the Yang family parent by parent, daughter by daughter, and through the eyes of the people in their orbit - a nanny from the provinces, a private driver with a penchant for danger, and a grandmother whose memories of the past echo the present. We glimpse a future where the city's waters rise and the specter of apocalypse is never far off. But in Juli Min's hands, we also see that whatever may change, universal constants remain: love is complex, life is not fair, and family will always be stubbornly connected by blood, secrets, and longing.

Brilliantly constructed and achingly resonant, Shanghailanders is an unforgettable exploration of marriage, relationships, and the layered experience of time."

I love books that explore time differently.

Emotionally thorough, Shanghailanders excels at exploring familial roles, connections, responsibilities, and identity. Each character is well-rounded and the changing POVs make for an interesting device. However, that and having the timeline move backwards made this feel less like a complete story and more like interconnected short stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy to read and review.

I enjoyed this work. Told in a series of vignettes, the narrative works backwards in time from 2040 to 2014, exploring the dynamics of families, marriages, and the impacts of lives on others in a fascinating and unique way. Shifting characters and perspectives create a dynamic and living universe to dive into.

This work feels like one that should be taken in slowly, breathed in over time and savored. It's one of those stories that makes you stop to think.

Congratulations to Juli Min on a wonderful debut!

Taken in parts, I really enjoyed this novel. I thought it would as beautifully written - with each chapter a little vignette of the Yang family - Leo and Eko and their three daughters Yumi, Yoko, and Kiko - as we move backwards through time, learning more about them in each chapter. There are also two chapters told from the perspective of household staff, though one of them felt a little out of place. The characters and family dynamics were intriguing and well-developed for the most part. I loved all the little stories and really loved the writing.

I think this book had a lot of potential, but ultimately what held it back from me is the unique story-telling structure of moving backwards through time. In order for it to be more than a gimmick, there needs to be some sort of payoff, some incentive to reread it to pick up all the little hints, to have all the things you learn about the characters come together as a full image at the end. This didn't really have an overall arc or revelation. There's a little bit of a reveal towards the end, but there wasn't any real emotional payoff and it ends a little abruptly without fully understanding the characters. The chapters had me wanting more from the characters, to know more about the family moving forward, and it would be a little frustrating when the chapter would end without having anymore insight into the chapters and stories that came before (from the future). Especially since about halfway through the book the daughters become too young to have their own stories and they're essentially abandoned.

I think it's a sign of a good writer when you're so invested that it leaves you wanting more, but also incredibly frustrating when you see a potential that wasn't fully realized. I still have so many questions about the family, I just want to know more, I want more of their lives. So although I think the book suffered from it's structure, I can't bring myself to rate this less than a 4. I would definitely read more of what Juli Min writes.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via NetGalley.

This is a book I can see myself rereading, which I rarely do. I was apprehensive at first when I realized that each chapter was going back in time but this added a truly unique perspective to the story. I definitely recommend SHANGHAILANDERS if you enjoy reading books with multiple POVs. All POVs were compelling and connected to each other in interesting ways. On a reread, I may read the chapters in chronological order to see if I notice anything different. Juli Min is definitely an author to watch and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

This was such a unique novel. The novel begins in 2040 (with each chapter representing a different year, in descending order) and takes you right back to 1990, and all the stories loosely intertwine, a device I really loved.
The novel was written with punchy, direct, and candid prose, which I loved. I think this added to the authenticity of the characters and their stories. The characters were so individual, and I really loved them all for their own quirks and stories.
I did feel like I got bored at about halfway through this novel and wished that the stretch of time was a bit longer, i.e., chapter 5 would be 2035 and chapter 6 would be 2000, etc. But that would be a totally different novel anyway!
Looking forward to this being published as I really hope (and expect) it is loved!!! Definitely a book for summer and holidays.

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

I think with this book it was more me than the book. I keep trying this storytelling style because I think it sounds really good, however I always find that I don't enjoy the style. I think Min did a really good job on the writing though and in creating the characters. This one just wasn't for me.

What an impressive debut novel. Shanghailanders follows the Yang family: Mother and Father, Eko and Leo, and daughters Yumi, Yoko and Yukiko. Told in a reverse storyline, the timeline opens in the year 2040 and ends at the beginning of the Yang’s relationship; during the wedding of Eko and Leo in 2014. Along the way, through a series of remembrances, the flaws, secrets and complexities of each family member emerge.

The author beautifully explores marriage, falling in and out of love, and the secrets and betrayals of both parents and children that are a part of the foundation of any family.

Highly relatable and ubiquitous, I found myself quickly immersed in the story of the Yang family. The unique timeline gave the story depth and interest. The more intense and surprising secrets emerged later in the story and during the earlier years of the Yang’s relationship. I felt an appealing connection to the characters, story and writing. I enjoyed the perspectives of the nanny and driver as well.

I can’t say exactly what was missing for me in this story but I felt the ending was abrupt and I wasn’t done with the story. I still have some questions I wish were answered. But this does not take away from the fact that this is a beautifully written story that captivated me from page one.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau Publishers, NetGalley and the author, Juli Min, for providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was curious about Shanghailanders’s story telling method when I read the blurb, thinking a reverse chronology is not something I’ve seen much of. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that well for me. Instead, this felt like a loose set of short stories about the same group of people at different periods in time. And, for me, that concept fell flat.

We follow a family backwards from the future to the not so distant past. Three daughters, a husband and wife. They’re privileged. There’s some interpersonal conflict inside and outside the family. But truthfully, I couldn’t follow the story well enough to say much else. The writing itself is fine enough, and it seems like this worked well for plenty of readers.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 stars rounded up.

Favorite quote:
“In this way, Kiko came to the understanding that to become a true star, you had to have either the face of a child and the body of woman or the face of a woman and the body of a child.”

Very interesting book and was glad for the opportunity to read it. Loved the cover as well. Many thanks to the author, to Netgalley & to the publisher for the ARC copy

Every book worth reading has moments that make you wonder what is going to happen, so how should a reader deal with a book written backward — each chapter a year or so earlier than the one before? Those “what’s going to happen” moments become “oh…I guess I know what happens” moments, and that left me a bit cold. Did I know what happened? Should I go back and reread earlier chapters? Why would I want to do that — isn’t that counter to the author’s purpose? So went my reading of Shanghailanders by Juli Min, which if you haven’t guessed moves backward from 2040 to 2014 following a wealthy Shanghai family. Min’s writing deftly captures a variety of voices and moments that ring true, but the structure inevitably leads to a book with very little plot that feels a lot more like a solid collection of short stories than a novel.

The book has been getting advance praise so I was really interesting in checking it out. The story is told in reverse chronological order from the PoV of different characters which makes for an interesting reading. The short story like chapters sometimes felt rough and unfinished but good work overall

The Shanghailanders follows the lives of The Yang family, an extremely wealthy family in Shanghai who are barely holding themselves together. The book begins in the year 2040, and progresses back through time slowly revealing the events that lead them to their present day. I really enjoyed the way that the author approached writing this book - it felt like I was catching glimpses of memories from the characters. I just wish that the memories would have been more connected to one another and the ending would have been more full circle to the year 2040.