By Frankie Martinez
As a young reader in the late ’90s, I, along with many others, came across a book series set at a now-famous magical boarding school in the English countryside. Of course, this led me to develop an ardent boarding school fantasy of my own. The idea of being immersed in a completely new world where I could “find myself” was exciting. Perhaps this very fact is part of what sparked my interest in Abigail Hing Wen’s 2020 debut novel many, many years later.
Loveboat, Taipei is the story of Ever Wong, a sheltered Asian American high school grad forced by her parents to attend a summer immersion program in Taiwan before matriculating into the Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern. Soon after arriving at “Chien Tam,” she quickly discovers its real reputation among its attendees as ”Loveboat,” the ultimate, parent-free destination for rich, up-and-coming Chinese youth to enjoy the many delights of Taipei. The novel, with its gorgeous descriptions of movement and city life as well as its nuanced main cast of characters, is the ultimate boarding school story. It bubbles with glamorous escapades in the city and messy, lively romance, all of which is balanced out with a satisfying coming-of-age story.
Ever feels like a character that we all know at the start of the novel. She’s the first-born daughter of immigrants in America, weighed down by the expectation of becoming a doctor even if she becomes faint at the sight of blood. When she feels forced by her parents to decline admission to her dream dance program at Tisch School of the Arts and to attend a completely random Chinese immersion program the summer before her medical program starts, it feels so incredibly unjust. When she arrives at Loveboat we’re really rooting for her to break out of her shell. I loved seeing Ever go through her “firsts” in defying the “Wong Family Rules,” including the purchase of her first skimpy outfit, her first bump n’ grind with her friends at a seedy club, her first (and probably last) snake-blood/vodka shot, and her first delightfully chaotic love triangle.
This also leads me to one of my favorite things about the novel: its complex, diverse Asian and Asian American cast and the relationship dynamics between them. Most of Ever’s classmates flock to Loveboat for their own reasons, whether it be to escape their own parents’ expectations, to find love, or to party hard before they go to college, and though Ever is positioned as an outsider and someone who has little experience making friends, she is very observant, kind, and brave. This helps her garner respect among her peers and makes her a good foil to the supporting characters as events in the novel unfold. Her friendship with Sophie, her roommate, is soapy and dramatic; her enemies-to-lovers arc with Rick, her long-distance childhood rival, is complicated, then sweet. I particularly appreciated the shared love of the arts and the development of mutual trust between Ever and Xavier, a mysterious and volatile heir to a multi-industry business empire.
While the novel seeks to break down Asian stereotypes within these younger characters, I did find Ever’s parents felt tepid in this regard. They are a looming, ever-worrying presence in the novel, and though we do get some insight on Ever’s father and the sacrifices he’s made in order for their family to find success in America, Ever’s mother remains unreasonable and combative to the end.
But perhaps that’s part of Ever’s journey of coming into her own and the exact point of the novel—that life isn’t perfect, that getting accepted into your dream school doesn’t mean you’ll be able to attend right away, that giving up your dreams doesn’t mean it’s the end, that your family isn’t always going to appreciate your point of view or values, that friendships have ups and downs, and that being sent away from home over the summer isn’t the end of the world.
Who knew that rebelling at boarding school could impart so many life lessons?
Loveboat, Taipei is available from Bookshop, Eastwind Books, Laguna Beach Books, Loyalty Bookstores, Magers & Quinn Booksellers, and Skylight Books.
Frankie Martinez is a writer, reader, and editor from Southern California. Her prose has appeared in 3 Moon Magazine, Poetically Magazine, and The Winnow. She is currently a fiction editor at Miniskirt Magazine and has a slice of life column at The Daily Drunk Mag. Find out more at frankiemilktea.carrd.co.