Tiananmen Square

by Lai Wen


Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction (Adult),Literary Fiction,Women's Fiction

I'm old enough t0o remember the events surrounding this novel.
I love books that are about lives in other cultures but sadly this wasn't a great fit for me.

Its a good story, well written but just didn't pull me in. I found Lai quite a selfish character, and hard to like. At other times she was very innocent and the dangers of what they were proposing didn't seem to have occurred to her.
Her friends were a strange group, I found it hard to get a sense of any of them. I think maybe that's my biggest issue, the characters just didn't feel real, I couldn't empathise with them, didn't connect with their problems.
That's on me – not all books suit all readers and I tend to enjoy those based strongly around characters and their every day lives. I can see others love this book, but for me it was just an OK read.


Stars: two and a half, it was a good book, just not a good fit for me.

ARC supplied by netgalley and publishers

I enjoyed reading 'Tiananmen Square' and found the story both engrossing annd compelling. Although the events of the 1989 protests are infamous I think a lot of people don't know exactly what happened or the events that led up to it in the years before. It was very interesting to see how the political climate was heating up and how the youth mentality was starting to ask questions. I did find the pacing a little unbalanced as the actual events of Tiananmen Square seemed to arrive in quite a hurry with the majority of the book following the educational journey of Lai Wen. I also found the writing to be slightly inconsistent. It was mostly very immmsersive and readable but every now and then certain phrases, images or word choice were slightly jarring. I will say however, that Lai Wen's ability to replicate the atmosphere leading up to the protests was so tangible. The rising tensions and anxieties were palpable in her writing.

I didn't know that this book is actually based on the author's life - although, I should have guessed from the names! This raised some significant questions and for me is ultimately why I'm giving this novel three stars (I wish I could give it 3.5!). In. many ways it makes the vivid images and raw emotional descriptions that much more compelling. However, I am now wondering how much of the novel is autobiographical and how much is imagined. I assume that the author did in fact grow up in Beijing and attend the Tiananmen protests. However, I now understand the ending even less than I did on my first impression. I won't include any spoilers, but the final reveal is an extremely bold claim if the author is infact claiming the final few lines to be factual. It would be very shocking and change our understanding of one of the most memorable images in recent history. If it is an imagined embellishment I feel it really takes away from the authenticity of the text and goes against the intimate, raw, vulnerable and honest account of 70s and 80s Beijing which is what I enjoyed most about the text.

In any case, I would still reccomend this book to anyone with an interest in this time period as a first hand account of this highly censored and secretive time is a privelage to access.

This is an incredibly moving book which shows life in Beijing in the 70's and 80's through the eyes of Lai, a young girl coming of age. At times she struggles to find her place in life as she compares her relationship with her family to that of her friends. We watch her grow up in the political turmoil of the era leading to the horrors of Tiananmen Square when the young students rail against the regime's dictatorial control . Beautifully written, this book opened my eyes to China in the same way as 'White Swans'.

A very detailed account of student life before the protests in Tiananmen square ,it was really chilling .

I remember the student demos held in Tiananmen Square in the late 1980s, especially the lone figure standing in front of the tank as it rolls ominously towards them. This novel, drawn from the author's experiences growing up in China reimagines how one student, Lai, finds herself in the Square as the demonstrations grow. The story deals with her complex relationships with her family and friends as well as the impact of the Chinese Revolution and its aftermath.
i found that I could not put this book down; I was intrigued by the history as much as the storytelling.

Autobiography and fiction mixed together to give a view of Chinese life from the perspective of a young girl growing up in the 1970-80s. Wen lives in apartment with her grandmother, parents and brother. We are gradually introduced to her friends, some who have so much less than her and at least one who comes from a more affluent family. All adults are still affected by the traumas unleashed by Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Their children however retain their spirit and desire for more say over how their lives are run.

An interesting version of what happened on Tiananmen Square is spoiled by the final interpretation of the Tank Man.

Part memoir, part novel, this is an extremely impactful book charting the life of Lan as she grows up in Beijing. I’m ashamed to know that before reading this I had very little idea of the atrocities committed in Tiananmen Square or why they occurred, so this book hit harder than perhaps it would have done if I were already aware.

It’s a beautifully written, atmospheric book that stays with you long after reading.

With thanks to the publisher for access to this ARC.

Tiananmen Square follows Lai Wen growing up in Beijing during the 1970s and 1980s, during a period of the political unrest and social change. Written as a mix of a memoir and novel, we follow her from her childhood in a poorer part of the city to her studies at Peking University and the protests of 1989.

A compelling and insightful account of a turbulent period in China's past, it’s a fascinating book, one that has really made me reflect on how privileged we actually are! It’ll be a read that stays with you some time after you finish reading it.

Everyone knows, or should know, and never forget, what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989. I was perhaps at an age where the gravity of the situation passed me by. But subsequently, I've been to China many times and studied their economic strategy, so I was very keen to get my hands on this book. To understand what brought the person to stand in front of a tank so defiantly.

So this book, written some thirty years later, is the journey that led to that moment, seen through the eyes of a young girl growing up in communist China. Part memoir, part novel, deeply personal writing.

It is beautifully written. You feel you not only know the characters, but I have images in my head of their appearances. You know the individuals so well by the end that it invokes strong emotion, and I very rarely get emotionally entangled in book characters, but I did cry at the end!

The revelation around who stood in front of the tank and why is a major surprise, and indeed describing that would be a spoiler. So I highly recommend this book not only for the journey, but for the end scene.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I found this book fascinating. I learnt so much about the times and hardships. Loved the characters although very emotional from start to finish. Loved reading Lai story and how she grew up all the things that happened in her life and how she overcame things and dealt with hardships.

I enjoyed this book a lot and felt it was a good balance between an autobiographical account and the actual events of Tiananmen Square. It was interesting to learn about Chinese culture and how even the older population supported the students. The characters are well defined and I loved Po Po and the influence she had on Lai and also her brother .
Definitely recommend this book - thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Deeply personal and moving account of a young girl growing up in 1980's Beijing. The student protests of April to early June 1989 in Tiananmen Square provide the historical backstop for the period and mark Lai Wen's final coming of age. It is beautifully written and filled with characters that showcase both the very best and the very worst of humanity. Highly recommended. Definitely one of my two favorite books of 2024. Special thank you to Swift Press and NetGalley for a no obligation digital advance review copy.

Lai Wen's novel, Tiananmen Square, will bring to mind in most western readers mind that famous image of tanks rolling towards a protestor during the protests and massacre of the 3rd of June 1989. It immediately frontloads the reader with an expectation. The novel does feature those events, but it spends a long time getting there, because this is not the story of those events, but of a girl, growing up in China. She loves to read, her world is expanding, and Lai Wen beautifully shapes her on the page. Much here feels very autobiographical, authentic and is at times moving. It is easy to mistake this as memoir than fiction.

Lai Wen is a very fine writer and this was a fine novel. It is simple human stories such as these that can shine a new light on major events, and for anybody interested in the human story of Tiananmen Square and China in the late 70s to 80s, this is perfect.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen is a deeply compelling, humanising and heartfelt account of the life of a young person in Beijing leading up to the terrible events of June 1989 and one of the most poignant images of the late 20th century

This book is absolutely fascinating and it is a significant reminder that history told from the perspective of people who lived it gives a deeper understanding than when it is told from the perspective of thos from the outside. Yes, you get a certain level of understanding from observers, but to truly understand, an account from a person who lived it, grew up in the regime and experienced social change as it happens, gives a more holistic, deeper insight

A fantastic account and essential insight that an autocratic government regime is never representative of all of the people it controls.

Thank you very much to Netgalley, Swift Press and the author Lai Wen for this very important and illuminating ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This is a good story that is autobiographical and tells the story of the author. She is a talented writer and I'm curious as to what she writes next!

I'm afraid I was a bit disappointed by this, as I had high hopes for it. I did find it interesting, but I found it hard to like Lai, as she came across as quite self centred and at times, annoyingly naive. I also found the ending too contrived and not very plausible.

A fascinating perspective on the events, even if fictionalised. I also love reading about East Asian culture, which this book falls into nicely. Ticked quite a few boxes for me.

An important book. I learnt many things about China. Well written and draws you in to the story and lives leading up to Tiananmen Square. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This is a remarkable book with an important story. I can understand why it’s been so long in the making; it’s an incredibly personal memoir and Lai Wen has shown exceptional courage in drawing upon her life experiences to document some of the realities of life in China during and after the Cultural Revolution.

It’s difficult for westerners, used to alleged freedom, to understand what it’s like to live in a totalitarian and oppressive regime. Lai has captured many of the intimacies of day to day life as well as some of the atrocities. We are largely familiar with the photo of the young man holding a flag in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square. He didn’t live long after that photo. Along with another estimated 10,000 students, he was slaughtered by Chines soldiers ( mainly brought from the North of China ), to subjugate further revolution.

Kai tackles a very complex and difficult era with compassion and honesty in this truly moving account, It gives those of us on the outside an opportunity to glimpse the rigours of living under a Communist regime and understanding of a culture entirely different to our own. It’s very well written and there is much joy as well as sadness and although the subject matter is often challenging, I have to say I really enjoyed this.

A short review as I didn’t enjoy the book and that’s down to me and not being a correct match for this book. It was a bit too general and not really engaging. Thanks to the author however.