Joan Is Okay

The narrator is a doctor working at the hospital in Morningside Heights (very near my old apartment) just before and just after the onset of the pandemic. The pandemic looms in the background as a harbinger of racism and distress for Americans of Chinese descent, like Joan. When Joan's father dies, she grieves in the way she knows: by throwing herself even more whole-heartedly into her work, which is both her identity and her home.

The style of this book takes a little while to find a rhythm, but then it builds momentum into some complex thoughts about children of immigrants, Chinese language and culture, and how we define “home.” It's a quick read and well-worth it.

American Dream



I was on a mission to start my year of reading off with a bang but at the same time I wanted to read something out of my comfort zone. So, when I saw this on NetGalley it checked off a few of my reading requirements for 2022. I wasn't sure initially if I was going to like Joan is Okay. The writing style very straight forward which is much like Joan out main character. She is a team player at a big hospital in NYC and her big interest and focus is to keep everything running like a well-oiled machine. As I continued reading and learned more about her parents, it was easy to understand what formed Joan into the person she is. There is an underlying dry humor in this book that makes it more relatable. What I loved about this book is that it shows the reader that it is okay to be unapologetically yourself. Without conforming to the want and need to fit into a mold that was set out for you.

Thank you to all parties involved in the decision for my receiving this arc in exchange for my honest review. Overall I enjoyed this book very much four stars from me. I will read more from this author moving forward.   

Joan is okay. So don't worry. She may seem like she is...well, a little off, but she's good. No, she doesn't have kids or a spouse and she's in her mid-30s. No, she doesn't get along with her only sibling. No, she doesn't get along with her mom. No, she has only a few furnishings in her apartment. And, no, she doesn't have any friends or companions. And, yes, she works every shift she can possibly work. But she is okay.

I love Joan. I see and respect and appreciate her so much. This book read a little differently than I think it was billed (I thought it was going to be much more of an intimate look at doctors and their struggles with being unsung and necessary heroes throughout events like the COVID-19 pandemic), but I still loved it because I really enjoy Weike Wang's characters and style of writing.

"An immigrant family controls nothing and so raises two average children obsessed with gaining it back, albeit in different ways." This line is from about halfway through the book, and it really stuck with me. It so simply describes what this book is about. Joan, like Weike, being an Asian American, has her own struggles that are shared by countless of this identity. Through explorations into Joan's family we see the ways Joan deals with these struggles, as well as her brother, who responds as an almost polar opposite way. We see the ways they conflict with one another and their family and the almost insidious way it strains all of their relationships.

This book is about so much more than simply the tough life of a doctor. So much of this book is spent about the treatment of oneself in the company of a harsh, overbearing family. We see the compartmentalization of one's entire person as chipped away at by their family and those close to them for years and years--the inability to even get close to anybody simply because they are so worn down and boxed up over time. And yet, despite that, Joan truly is okay. What I loved about this book, tragic though it may be, is that you can see Joan's inner monologue and she is indeed okay. But you very much want her to be more than okay but to be better, to be thriving, to be living.

Honestly, I enjoyed reading the book because some of the things Joan went through hits home for me. Like her, I also dealt with grief and thought I was okay for a while before it suddenly hit me. Granted that I didn't get paid time off since I was little, but point stands that grief is never a linear process. Also, I resonated with the Asian American immigrant experience.

Wang's writing has improved from her debut novel, Chemistry, and I'll be looking out for her novels in the future.