Throwback (Review)

Information:

• Author: Maurene Goo
• Genre: Contemporary
• Page Count: 368
• Year Published: 2023

Read This If You Like:

• Asian-American Representation
• Feel-good stories
• Time Travel Stories
• Social commentary on racism and the immigrant experience
• Stories focusing on families
• “Right guy, wrong time” trope (literally the wrong time)
• 90s references

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Samantha Kang has never understood her mother, Priscilla. After all, Priscilla is the daughter of a first-generation immigrant who just wants Sam to have the standard teen-movie high school life, including winning prom queen. Then Sam and Priscilla get into a massive fight, and while Sam just wants to move on, she then finds herself transported into the 90s… with her mom as a high school senior. To get back to her timeline, Sam has to help Priscilla win the Prom Queen title… which should be easy, because 90s Priscilla is a lot more chill. But there are also unfamiliar references, casual racism, and the fact that Sam is falling in love with the perfect boy in the absolute wrong era. As Sam tries to find a way back to her timeline, she also finds out new things about her mom, and herself.

Review/Opinions:

This book is basically Back to The Future but with Asian-American characters and updated for the current generation. (If you are curious, there still is a time-traveling car involved.) It’s also like a 90s teen movie and is more on the feel-good side of YA books, and has great messages mixed into its plot.

One thing that I liked about this story is how it focused more on family connections than romance, although there is a subplot where Sam falls in love with someone from the 90s. I will gladly accept romance in my books, but it’s rare in YA books these days to focus on family. The majority of the story focuses on the relationship between Sam and her mom, and how Sam tries to fix their relationship through time-travel. We also get to see Sam and Priscilla’s relationships with Priscilla’s sister/Sam’s aunt and Priscilla’s mother/Sam’s grandmother, and the way that they have different connections with the same people adds depth to the story.

The story also has a focus on racism toward Asian Americans as well as the immigrant experience. Throughout her time in the nineties, Sam encounters multiple forms of racism and misogyny, there isn’t anything too brutal but it is used a few times in speech. Priscilla is also accused of being “not Asian enough” , and these scenes add a lot of meaning to the book. Priscilla is also the daughter of a first generation immigrant from Korea, which helps to develop her character and how being in America has changed it.

Despite the themes presented in this book, it is also very uplifting and feel-good. I accept pop-culture references in most books, and my favorite references are those from the 80s-90s, and this novel did not disappoint in including them, many older readers will find this one nostalgic. There are also several teen-movie like storylines, with Priscilla having to win the homecoming queen for Sam to return to her timeline, and the homecoming football game also plays an important role for one side character, which adds to the laid-back and cheerful vibes.

Overall, I recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun and feel-good story. While cheerful, it also greatly includes its themes on the Asian-American experience and its hardships, as well as the relationships between family members.