Young person comes to America with nothing. They leave everything including their family and home. They make a better, more prosperous life here. That is how the American Dream is supposed to work. But what happens when you achieve your dreams against all odds, and still lose? Charles Wang is that person.

A Chinese immigrant raised in Taiwan; Charles came to America as a young adult with “just a list of urea in my pocket”. With this surprising secret weapon, he was able to use this ingredient to enhance cosmetics, the reason behind his multi-million-dollar makeup brand. Charles seems to have achieved the American dream; he has a beautiful home, beautiful family and successful career. However, this dream is shattered when he makes a fatal business gamble that costs him everything.

In a rushed flurry of panic, Charles sets out with his second-wife Barbara to collect his children from various points across the country. First, his youngest daughter, Gracie, who goes to a boarding school in Santa Barbara, California. Next, his son, Andrew, who’s in college in Arizona. With this rag-tag of reluctant adolescents, Charles and Barbara take a cross-country road trip to eldest daughter, Saina’s house, in hopes of getting the family back together. Saina is also the only one with an active trust fund her father left her. With that money, Charles hopes to travel to China to claim the land his grandparents lost to communist ruling. A plot as ludicrous as it sounds, the Wangs have many adventures on their way to Helios, New York, facing outrageously impossible situations and even bigger-than-life characters.

First off, as a book featuring an Asian family, written by an Asian author, I appreciate how decisive their race is throughout the story, without it being the catalyst to the plot. The family uses family pet names in Mandarin (Meimei, gege, jiejie, etc.) and even sprinkle some other phonetic Mandarin in there. It makes the novel feel more realistic to the Wangs and Chang does an excellent job of making her character’s meaning clear. However, this can be tedious in excess for those who do not understand even the bare minimal of Mandarin. The decision to make the main cast Asian also plays into the traditional mindset of emphasizing wealth and success. There is a keener sting of losing everything when you had everything, even for a moment. I empathized with Charles’ plight and shame. To have a story that tells of material downfall instead of an uprise makes for a more compelling, albeit saddening story. Unfortunately, even this initial empathy for Charles is not enough the entirety of what feels like a never-ending story. And not in a good way.

The novel is also crass with casual vulgarities flung every other page and countless sex scenes that do little to advance the plot or develop characters. It is a style but not one that I am overly fond of. The author takes too many pains to be clever and witty, when really it is infuriating and worse, boring. The unbelievable circumstances the Wangs faced, unlike Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’s charm or Crazy Rich Asians’ connection with its audience instead falls flat and unfunny. Somewhere between Texas and New Orleans, the book hits the dreaded middle. Saina’s separate story is only mildly interesting but too drawn out. The story tries to make itself significant with clever wording and existential questions but lacks real substance. Andrew’s fling is disturbing and uncomfortable. Splitting everyone up with separate storylines distorts the familial aspect the novel rides on and loses its most powerful weapon, the family unit. Just like the Wangs, the fiery ball of energy the story began with, slowly but surely dissipates until it’s all but gone. Even the last-minute grapple to make meaning of everything is not enough to save this story.