🌿 ARC REVIEW 🌿

Title: When Sleeping Women Wake
Author: Emma Pei Yin
Release Date: 17 June 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

**Thankyou to Quercus Books for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

First of all, I am a little biased because I've been a fan of Emma's for a while (a few years, I think?) now, but all of my thoughts are true.

I'm not usually much of a historical fiction person (depends on the day), but I was sucked into this novel so quickly! The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong is something I knew (really, know) very little about, so it felt like this book was a long time coming.

It was so wonderful seeing women's stories being at the forefront, especially at a time when they are so often used and/or overlooked, as shown in the book. The complexity of each woman's relationship made everything feel so authentic and genuine.

Of course, there were many parts of this novel that were quite difficult to read. The Nam Koo Terrace scene hit me especially hard, and it, among many others, needed to be written very carefully because of the sensitive material. It stood out to me what a great job Emma did of that while still not hiding the reality of the Occupation.

I'm feeling quite emotional after reading this and can't wait for it to be out in the world. I'm even more excited to get my hands on a physical copy because every single cover is absolutely stunning!

5 stars.

Beautiful. Powerful. Heartbreaking.

My only issue with this book is that there isn’t more of it.

“One day, when I become the person I am meant to be, I will find you again”

The plot:
Mingzhu, her loyal maid Biyu and her daughter Qiang are Chinese residents of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War II. The women are separated in the occupation and must find their way back to each other as well as survive.

My thoughts:
This book was so powerful. I laughed, I cried (a lot) and highlighted many beautiful quotes. This story taught me so much about the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II as well as what life was like there during that time. The strength and resilience of women in this time impressed me so much. What impressed me most of all was the writing the beautiful descriptions of the land and of people and their interactions with each other. Mingzhu, Qiang and Biyu are very strong women and I found them very inspirational. My only issue with this book is that I wish there was more of it. Even at only 20% through the book I was stressing about it ending too quickly. I loved hearing the story of these women and I would read another book about them.

Themes of: Invasion, occupation, war, resistance, gender equality, love, friendship.

Thank you Quercus Books for providing this advanced reader copy for review. When Sleeping Women Wake is expected for release in June 2025.

Thank you Emma Pei Yin for writing such a beautiful book.

Superb and full of life and loss. Set in 1940's Hong Kong during the Japanese invasion. I learnt new information about the Japanese occupation of SE Asia during WW2. Interesting characters and a great read.

4⭐️

[a copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher from netgalley. thank you!]

an enthralling tale about three women during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. not a period of history I am super familiar with, so it was really fascinating to read about

I know very little of the Japanese occupation, so this was somewhat enlightening.
An interesting tale with strong female characters, each taking their own path through those days.
Takes its time to get going, but uses the time to set out each of the characters and their social standing.
Enjoyable.