When the Future Comes Too Soon (Malayan #2) by Selina Siak Chin Yoke: A Book Review

When the Future Comes Too Soon (Malayan #2)
Author: Selina Siak Chin Yoke
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Release Date: July 18, 2017
Pages: 322
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: In Japanese-occupied Malaya, lives are shattered and a woman discovers her inner strength in a world ravaged by war.

Following the death of their matriarch, the lives of Chye Hoon’s family are turned upside down. Now that the British have fled and the Japanese have conquered, their once-benign world changes overnight.

Amid the turmoil, Chye Hoon’s daughter-in-law, Mei Foong, must fend for her family as her husband, Weng Yu, becomes increasingly embittered. Challenged in ways she never could have imagined and forced into hiding, Mei Foong finds a deep reservoir of resilience she did not know she had and soon draws the attentions of another man.

Is Mei Foong’s resolve enough to save herself, her marriage, and her family? Only when peace returns to Malaya will she learn the full price she must pay for survival.

My Review: When the Future Comes Too Soon picks up where The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds left off. Shortly after Chye Hoon’s death, the Japanese bombed Malaya. Mei Foong, Chye Hoon’s daughter-in-law, must make the decision to flee the city of Ipoh and escape into the countryside. In the meantime, her husband, Weng Yu, is facing depression and becomes weak. Mei Foong must fight to keep her family safe and alive. They flee the city, but they find that they are in equal danger. Can Mei Foong be strong enough to save her marriage and her family?

I liked Mei Foong, but not as much as Chye Hoon. Mei Foong is different from her mother-in-law, who is feisty and strong-willed. Mei Foong is quieter, weaker, and more indecisive. I really did not like that she let many men walk over her.` I also didn’t like how her husband treated her. He mostly ignored her and was rude to her. Instead of expressing her emotions, Mei Foong just accepts it meekly. This is pretty much the problem I had with her. Unlike Chye Hoon, Mei Foong never shows her emotions unless we get inside her head. Therefore, it was harder to like and relate to Mei Foong as a character.

Overall, this book is about survival, family, and identity. I found most of the characters to be frustrating. Mei Foong’s husband is portrayed as a weak coward. I did like what the supporting characters thought about Mei’s mother-in-law. When the Future Comes Too Soon is a much shorter and faster pace novel than The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds. Still, I found this sequel not as good as the first. I also thought the ending was a bit of a letdown. The book is very well-written, and I liked the historical setting of Japanese occupied Malaya. Despite these negative aspects, When the Future Comes Too Soon was mostly an enjoyable novel. I recommend this novel for fans of The Diplomat’s Daughter, The Moonlight Palace, and The White Pearl.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer by Samuel Noah Kramer and Diane Wolkstein: A Book Review

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Dragon Lady: The Evil History of China's Last Empress by Sterling and Peggy Seagrave: A Book Review

Dragon Lady: The Evil History of China's Last Empress Author: Sterling Seagrave and Peggy Seagrave Genre: Nonfiction. History, Biography Publisher: Bowstring Books Release Date: 2010 Pages: 624 Source: Kindle Unlimited Synopsis: The author of The Soong Dynasty gives us our most vivid and reliable biography yet of the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, remembered through the exaggeration and falsehood of legend as the ruthless Manchu concubine who seduced and murdered her way to the Chinese throne in 1861. My Review: Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the last empresses of the imperial dynasty. She is attributed to the fall of the dynasty. She is often portrayed as a cunning, manipulative, and power-hungry figure. However, in this biography of the Empress Dowager, the authors claim that the rumors surrounding Cixi are false. The people who started the rumors were foreigners who blackened her name for personal reasons. Thus, the authors conclude that Empress Dowager ...

Guest Post by Aleksey Linetskiy: The Women Behind the Klondike Story

Today's guest writer is Aleksey Linetskiy. He is the co-author of Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , which is a unique yearly subscription in which the reader reads a story by mail. In this guest post, he introduces us to a few historical women of the Klondike era. Some of these women are Alice Freeman, Flora Shaw, and Helen Dare. Thank you, Mr. Linetskiy! The Women Behind the Klondike Story Before we began writing Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , my partner, Alona Umansky, and I spent a great deal of time researching the Klondike Gold Rush. We were interested in finding the stories of people who maybe didn’t become rich and famous but still went through the experience of a great stampede. As we were reading the newspapers of the time and firsthand accounts, it became very clear to us that we wanted to tell at least part of the story through the women’s eyes. There were so many incredible women who underto...

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

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