Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao

Title: Our Wayward Fate
Author: Gloria Chao
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: October 15, 2019
Pages: 320
Source/format: e-ARC//Publisher and ARC from Emma of Miss Print
Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

Seventeen-year-old Ali Chu knows that as the only Asian person at her school in middle-of-nowhere Indiana, she must be bland as white toast to survive. This means swapping her congee lunch for PB&Js, ignoring the clueless racism from her classmates and teachers, and keeping her mouth shut when people wrongly call her Allie instead of her actual name, pronounced Āh-lěe, after the mountain in Taiwan.

Her autopilot existence is disrupted when she finds out that Chase Yu, the new kid in school, is also Taiwanese. Despite some initial resistance due to the "they belong together" whispers, Ali and Chase soon spark a chemistry rooted in competitive martial arts, joking in two languages, and, most importantly, pushing back against the discrimination they face.

But when Ali’s mom finds out about the relationship, she forces Ali to end it. As Ali covertly digs into the why behind her mother’s disapproval, she uncovers secrets about her family and Chase that force her to question everything she thought she knew about life, love, and her unknowable future.

Snippets of a love story from nineteenth-century China (a retelling of the Chinese folktale The Butterfly Lovers) are interspersed with Ali’s narrative and intertwined with her fate.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Ali Chu is the only Asian person in her middle-of-nowhere Indiana high school until Chase Yu arrives being the new kid. Ali gravitates toward Chase because she finds out he is also Chinese American and Taiwanese. They bond over similar traditions, food, culture and language. It's her way of connecting with her true identity. No longer will she have to wear a façade pretending to be someone she is not. She is not Allie, but Ali like the mountain in Taiwan. She doesn't have to pretend she likes eating those horrible PB&J sandwiches just to fit in.

Although Ali and Chase become more than friends after awhile her parents don't want Ali and Chase to be together even though they are both Chinese. Both families hide secrets from their children regarding their history or their plans for their children. The families are saving face. They want better for their children. Ali discovers what her mother has been hiding from her when she journeys to China. Her mother wants to carve a better path for Ali because Ali's mother did not find happiness for most of her life. Ali's mother lives in regret and doesn't want Ali to live a life of regrets as well.

Ali and Chase make a cute couple. Both are sarcastic in their own way and they get each other. With their Chu and Yu puns, it keeps me laughing throughout the whole novel.
Gloria Chao writes books about her history and origin but she also writes for her readers who can relate to what she goes through. With American Panda, she writes about family expectations with a prestigious college and going into medicine when in fact Chinese folk dance is her passion. In Our Wayward Fate is touches upon how Kung Fu is something she wants to pursue. She fights the patriarchy with her main characters. Ali fights sexism. She does things that men can do. Chao delves more into cultural identity in Our Wayward Fate compared to American Panda.

Chao weaves the Chinese folktale of the Butterfly Lovers, Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo, within Our Wayward Fate to connect Ali to China. The park dedicated to the lovers is the only reason why Ali agreed to go to China and to appease her parents, especially her mother. At first, the excerpts of the Butterfly Lovers halted the flow of the book but it made sense later why the excerpts were inserted within random chapters.

Our Wayward Fate is one of the most relatable books for me. Even though my family is not Mandarin speaking, I can picture myself being in Ali's shoes being an Asian American in a sea of White people. I can understand how she feels when microaggressions are thrown at her. The writing resonated with me. I grew up in Boston, just like Ali did before she moved to Indiana. However, I ended up attending public school from 4th grade to 12th grade in a very affluent and very White suburban town west of Boston.

Chao navigates how Ali approaches her cultural, racial and family identities. Who is Ali? How did she learn to appreciate her Chinese heritage and to become the real Ali. What made her shed her feeling of impostorism and trying to fit in with her peers. Instead of blending in with everyone else at her school, she steps up and owns her heritage. A turning point is when Ali tells her friends that her name is Ali and not Allie. She becomes empowered to embrace who she truly is.

Our Wayward Fate has a feminist approach while exploring racial and cultural identity. Our Wayward Fate is a coming-of-age novel that is important and needed in our society. Check out this fantastic #OwnVoices novel.