By Samantha Pak
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Well dear readers, we’ve come to the end of another year. We survived 2025 and for me, that was a large part thanks to my favorite form of escapism: reading. Here are my top 10 AAPI reads from this past year. Happy reading and happy holidays!
Congratulations, you’ve successfully overthrown the government! Now what?
Heavenly Tyrant
By Xiran Jay Zhao
Tundra Books, 2024
After overthrowing the government in Huaxia, Wu Zetian finds herself in the seat of power. But with her loved ones being held hostage, she’s forced to share that power with Qin Zheng, a very dangerous man she trusts about as far as she can throw him. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the feelings of dislike and distrust are mutual, but the pair has no choice but to find a way to work together to take down their common enemy, all while stoking a revolution. As frustrating as this may be for Zetian and Qin Zheng, it makes for a fun time for readers.
Picking up where “Iron Widow” left off, is the point in a revolution when you actually have to start running things yourself. Zhao shows readers that it’s easier said than done—especially for Zetian, an uneducated peasant who has no idea what she’s doing. What I love about this is that while Zetian is just as angry as in the first book, she’s not as reckless because she actually has something to lose this time around. She still speaks her mind, but she’s become more thoughtful—so you know, she’s growing.
Like father, like son (but not always)
Everything We Never Had
By Randy Ribay
Kokila, 2024
The Maghabol boys have had issues connecting with their father for generations. From Francisco, who traveled from the Philippines to Watsonville, California in the 1930s after his father left the family, to Enzo in 2020 Philadelphia struggling with anxiety as a global pandemic shuts down the whole world—and everyone in between—”Everything We Never Had” follows a Filipino American family over decades and four generations in the United States. Told from multiple perspectives, we follow each Maghabol boy as he tries to forge his own path amid familial and societal expectations.
When it comes to parent-child relationships in Asian diasporic stories, it’s not often that we get the father-son dynamic—especially in young adult books—which is what I particularly enjoyed in this book. Ribay does a great job of realistically portraying how each boy worked through his issues (or, honestly, didn’t) with his father, with varying degrees of success. We also get to see Filipino and Filipino American history in the United States, ranging from the 1930 Watsonville riots, to the Delano Grape Strike, with Ribay giving readers just enough to want to learn more on their own.
Is the grass actually greener on the other side?
The Rainfall Market
By You Yeong-Gwang, translated by Slin Jung
Ace, 2025
On the outskirts of Rainbow Town, there’s an old abandoned house. And if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes, you might receive a ticket that will grant you into the Rainfall Market, where you can choose to completely change your life. With this kind of deal, it’s no surprise that Serin—a young woman living with just her mom, after her father died and her younger sister ran away—has written such a letter. But it is a surprise when she actually receives a ticket. With no real prospects for the future, Serin visits the market, acquiring a magical cat companion and making friends with the resident Dokkaebi (the species that inhabit the market) along the way.
This sweet and cozy fantasy is the embodiment of the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side,” as Serin tries to decide what she wants in her new life. But Serin’s constantly changing mind reminds readers that everyone is different, success means different things to each of us, and no life is perfect.
Why does family drama always end in a food fight?
The Family Recipe
By Carolyn Huynh
Atria Books, 2025
Duc Tran, founder of the bánh mì sandwich chain Duc’s Sandwiches, is retiring. No one has heard from his wife, Evelyn, in 20 years, after she abandoned the family. But the money has to go to someone. So with the help of the family lawyer, Duc informs his children that in order to receive their inheritance, his four daughters (Jane, Paulina, Bingo, and Georgina) must each renovate a rundown shop from around the country, within a year. But if his firstborn son, Jude, gets married first, everything goes to him. Needless to say, drama and hilarity ensues, lessons are learned, and family secrets are revealed.
Nobody does messy, unhinged Asians quite like Huynh. From family estrangement, to emotional reunions, she does a great job of balancing heart and humor—with a little food fighting thrown in for good measure. This story also dives into a time of U.S. history that many people likely don’t know about: when Vietnamese fishermen went up against the Ku Klux Klan in Seadrift, Texas. As interesting as it was to learn about this time, it’s also difficult as it is not a fun story, but still a very important one to not forget.
You’ll never look at a ramen restaurant the same again
Water Moon
By Samantha Sotto Yambao
Del Rey, 2025
On a backstreet in Tokyo, there is a cozy, little ramen restaurant. But for the chosen few, it is actually a pawnshop—where they can pawn their life choices and deepest regrets. When Hana Ishikawa awakens on her first morning as the shop’s new owner, the place is ransacked, the shop’s latest acquisition has been stolen, and its previous owner, her newly retired father, is missing. Before she can figure out what to do, a man stumbles into the shop, and upon seeing the mess, offers to help. So Hana and Keishin set off on a mystical journey to find her father and the stolen choice before the Shiikuin—soulless creatures that oversee Hana’s world—find him and administer justice.
“Water Moon” is a story about our choices and their impact on us and the people in our lives. While Keishin comes from a world like ours—where we are free to make our own choices—Hana’s world is predestined and predetermined, and straying off the path is punishable by death. This juxtaposition will have readers gaining an appreciation for the fact that we (mostly) are able to live the lives we choose.
The return of San Francisco’s nosiest auntie
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)
By Jesse Q. Sutanto
Berkley, 2025
Vera Wong is back, and she is just as nosy as ever. Ever since she solved the murder of the dead man in her teahouse, her life has been good—if just a little boring. Then, the universe answers her thoughts in the form of a distressed young woman looking for a missing friend. And as luck would have it, Vera just happens to come across the police file on the death of Xander Lin—an influencer who also happens to be the young woman’s friend—while cat-sitting for her son and his police officer girlfriend. Obviously, this is a job for Vera.
Sutanto is a master when it comes to writing meddling Asian aunties and this latest installment in her Vera Wong series is no exception, as Vera steamrolls her way through life (hers, and other people’s) in the name of solving the mystery of Xander’s death. And while Vera’s antics and her forcing her way into people’s lives may be amusing, it also shines a light on loneliness and how social media may not be bringing people together the way we think it is.
And you thought you had trust issues
Five Broken Blades
By Mai Corland
Entangled: Red Tower Books, 2024
The king of Yusan must die. And the five most dangerous liars in the land have just been recruited to work together to do the job. While the quintet can agree on murder and treachery, and that God King Joon has it coming, they’ve spent a lifetime spinning lies. So trust is hard to come by among the group. But one thing they all have in common is being affected by Joon’s rule—one way or another—and wanting revenge.
Told from multiple points of views, “Five Broken Blades” is a story about a group of very different people, with very different backgrounds, histories, and backstories, coming together for a common cause. Despite their differences, Corland shows that they’re not as insurmountable as the characters think, and it’s fun to watch them slowly realize that the others are more complex than they first seemed, just like people tend to be in real life. I also enjoyed how Corland created one cohesive story from many different perspectives, which is definitely not easy. It was fun to see everyone meet, get to know each other, and work together to achieve their goal.
Check your privilege
Blood Over Bright Haven
By M.L. Wang
Del Rey, 2024
When Sciona becomes the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry, her colleagues make her feel as unwelcome as possible. This includes giving her a janitor named Thomil as a lab assistant. For Thomil, who was once a nomadic hunter who lost his family on the deadly journey from the wild plains to the city of Tiran, his new job is an opportunity to understand what happened to his people, what drove them from their homeland, and what’s keeping the privileged in power.
As Sciona and Thomil work together, they uncover an ancient secret about how magic works in their city that could change the course of magic—and the world—forever. It could also get them killed. It’s been a while that a book has left me feeling something, long after I’ve finished it. And while “Blood Over Bright Haven” won’t exactly leave you with a good feeling—it’s a story about how people mistreat and take advantage of others simply because they are different—it will leave you thinking. And for me, that is one of the marks of a good story.
A love to last several lifetimes
The God and the Gwisin
By Sophie Kim
Del Rey, 2025
Seokga the No-Longer-Fallen has been reinstated as a god, and he’s working on himself. As he searches for his lost love, Hani, the trickster god attends some much-needed therapy. When he feels the red thread of fate tug on his finger, Seokga boards a luxury cruise on its way down the river of the dead. But the woman on the other end of the thread isn’t Hani. Her name is Yoo Kisa, and she doesn’t know him. What Kisa does know is that she’s exhausted and whoever she was in her past life, they had racked up quite the karmic debt as she’s been paying it off by working on the SRC Flatliner for years.
When the heavenly emperor—Seokga’s brother—is murdered aboard the ship, Seokga and Kisa team up to solve the crime. And as they get closer to solving the mystery (and to each other), they realize something bigger is at play. This sequel to “The God and the Gumiho” sees Seokga reunited with his true love and it’s fun to see the two of them navigate this new (to them) relationship. I also enjoyed seeing the return of certain characters and how they tied into Seokga and Kisa’s story.
Nostalgic over the good, but not the bad
Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty
By Kaila Yu
Crown, 2025
Growing up in the 1990s and 2000s, none of the beautiful women on the screen looked like Kaila Yu. Asian women were often reduced to overtly sexual or submissive stereotypes, while the “girls next door” were usually white. So Yu concluded that the only way for her to have any value or be considered beautiful was to sexualize and fetishize herself. And that is exactly what she did.
Blending stories from Yu’s life—from her time as a pinup and import model, to playing in an all-Asian-women band—with cultural critique and history, “Fetishized” is a memoir that explores feminism, beauty, yellow fever, and how pop culture and colonialism has shaped the pervasive and harmful stereotypes around Asian women and their bodies. It’s not an easy read at times as Yu doesn’t sugarcoat her trauma, but it is a must-read. This being said, this is also an uplifting story as Yu shares her healing journey and how far she has come. It’ll also be a fun read for many Asian American Gen Xers and Millennials as Yu references very specific cultural movements, moments, and phenomena that will have them smiling with nostalgia.
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