Parachutes Paperback – 5 Aug. 2021

Fantastic tale of culture, oppression of women, the corrupt school systems, family and young adult life. Truly painful to read so much of this but it’s important to know this happens every day and has to stop. Wonderfully written characters based on some of Yangs own experiences which makes it even more beautiful to read. Thank you for putting your story into Parachutes and spreading such important messages

An amazing book. Women supporting fellow women, and shows the truth of sexual assault, combined with the struggles of high school, racism, elitism and clash of cultures.

Goes into a lot of tough topics. Earning your way into a university while others can just buy their way in. Sexual assault by figures of authority. Rape. Racism. Keeping up facades. As long as none of these topics are a trigger for you, absolutely worth a read.Characters: I liked both Claire and Dani a lot, even while I wished they would just talk to each other, which would have saved them both some drama. Both felt like people with plenty of their own issues. I would give Claire credit for taking to a new environment so well. Her parents are rich and she barely complains when she’s moved into one small room in one small flat. She starts off upset but that’s more because the move was hardly her decision. I particularly like the depiction of Claire’s group of friends: they are all rich, or so it seems, and appear like a bunch of mean girls at first glance. When they need each other they really come through for each other. Once they get past the image they are trying to depict and talk to each other about what is really going on with their lives, they stand up for each other and it’s great.I may have rooted a little harder for Dani. The BS she has to put up with because she’s poor and not white while being at the top of her class are infuriating.The casual racism in the story just baffled me. Claire and Jay look at a house for sale, because Jay wants to prove to his dad that he knows a good investment when he sees it. They look around the house, end up in a bedroom and start making out. The real estate agents comes in and gets angry. Now being angry about two teenagers coming by an open house to make out, I’d get, but no, he hits them with “This isn’t Chinatown”. Assuming two teens don’t have the money to buy a house with a price tag of several million seems pretty fair to me, the racism is not.I don’t want to put too many spoilers in this review, but both Dani and Claire have to deal with sexual assault/rape throughout the story and it is a tough read on both accounts.Writing: Clean and modern, I don’t recall anything that took me out of the story.

This story provodes a bigger picture on sexual assault; how institutions deal with it, the stigmas etcEDUCATIONAL & defo a good read!

Content warnings: sexual assault, rape, racism towards Chinese people and Filipino people, sexual harassment from a teacher, bullying, xenophobiaI can’t remember when I first heard about Parachutes, maybe last year, but when I did I immediately added it to my TBR. I knew it was going to be a moving read. And I was right, I cried multiple times whilst reading it.Claire is a “parachute”, a teenager who has been sent to America to study in high school without her parents. She moves into the spare room of Dani de la Cruz, who is a straight A student, with her eyes set on a scholarship to college. They don’t really get on with each other, but have more in common than they think when Dani starts to get private lessons with her debate tutor and Claire starts to see a handsome boy called Jay.I knew that the author took a lot of inspiration for this from her own experience of being raped and how the university she was studying at dealt with it. But that didn’t prepare me for how much this would hit me. I’m honestly so glad there was a content warning at the start of this book because there are some really harrowing scenes that a reader definitely needs to be prepared for. My heart absolutely broke for these girls. This book felt so realisticWhat really stood out to me when reading this book was the relationship between Claire and Dani. They have a rocky start and from there on it is a pretty tumultuous friendship, however, after they begun to spend more time with each other they seemed to form a bit of a sisterly bond and most of my favourite moments in the books were between Dani and Claire. When they found out they had a shared similar experience and realised they weren’t alone… I am not ashamed to say I had a wee cry.Kelly Yang crafts an absolutely fantastic story in Parachutes. I was hooked by the writing really early on. Even the harder topics felt easy to read, as the writing style just really gelled with me. Her characters were all distinct,especially Dani and Claire. I find authors writing in dual POV can sometimes lack the distinction between character voice, but these girls definitely felt like their own people.I think this book has come at the right time, it offers a very interesting and realistic message to teens who will, unfortunately, probably use it. It shows how important it is for a person to speak out against sexual assault, because for a fair amount of abusers it’s not the first time they’ve done it, an one person’s voice could be the spark that lights the fire.Honestly, I absolutely loved this book and I think I will be thinking about it for a long time. I hope Kelly Yang has plans to write more YA fiction, though I definitely plan to check out Front Desk as I have heard great things!

The media could not be loaded.  Ainda não li. O livro chegou muito bem embalado, dentro do prazo, com boa diagramação para a leitura. Espero gostar!

Parachutes are teenagers from typically wealthy families who have come to the United States to study. Claire comes from a privileged but dysfunctional family. Everything the family does is influenced by what others may think of them. When they get the opportunity to send Claire to a respected high school in California, they jump at the chance.Claire travels with her mother to meet her new host family in the United States. She moves in with another high school student, Dani, and her mother. Dani and her mom, Mrs. De La Cruz, live by much more modest means. Despite a rocky start, in the beginning, Claire and Dani learn that no one is free of problems. They form a tight friendship eventually as they face a corrupt school that will overlook serious infractions and crimes if it means getting a generous donation from a wealthy donor.Kelly Yang has penned a masterful read full of memorable characters. There were plenty of villains throughout. It was impossible for me not to root for Claire and Dani as each girl is forced to deal with sexual predators. This was one of the five best books I've read this year.

Good

Usually I hate reading. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that I used to fall asleep while reading a book for school.I saw a short recommendation of this book on an Instagram account for feminist and I was really intrigued. I had to buy it and I must say I really enjoy the story. Haven't finished it but I like the two perspectives.Love the plain book cover with the golden book title on the side

No sé ni por dónde empezar a reseñar este libro. Sólo diré que, ha sido una de mis mejores lecturas en lo que va de año. Definitivamente se ha convertido en uno de mis libros favoritos.Desde el minuto uno conecté con la historia y los personajes, desde el primer capítulo supe que sería una buena historia porque lo sentí así. Amé la trama, amé cómo la autora desarrolló la misma, y cómo plasmó todas las emociones y sentimientos que sintió ella, porque esta es una historia en gran parte vivida por la autora por lo que eso la hace aún más especial y sentida.Claire y Dani (los personajes principales) se ganaron mi corazón y mi interés de inmediato. A pesar de la diferencia de culturas y clase social, ambas supieron entremezclar sus vidas y unirse gracias a la sensible y terrible experiencia que estaban viviendo al ser víctimas del acoso y el racismo.En fin, es una historia que recomiendo totalmente,y que sin duda alguna volvería a releer más adelante. El final me gustó mucho, fue muy bonito, y sobre todo, liberador. AMÉ la nota de la autora, mi alma lloró por ella y por lo que tuvo que pasar, y el que haya escrito un libro plasmando esas experiencias en sus personajes dándole voz a aquello que se quiere restringir la hace muy valiente.