Pages: 261
Published: Apr 2026 (Releasing 28 Apr 2026)
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
My Rating: 3.5/5
Find it at: Amazon
First, a shout out to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance review copy through Netgalley for this review! I feel so much in my element when I’m able to do this!!
Boring Asian Female caught my immediate attention with its fun title and cover design. Reading the blurb made me even more intrigued and I knew this would be something I want to read - and I am glad I did! While there was a layer of mystery in the story, it was mostly the story of an immigrant Asian girl obsessed with proving herself by getting through to Harvard Law. Yes, it does feel like a cliche but that’s the whole point - the expectations set upon some people, directly or indirectly through society, and how it influences the trajectory of their entire existence.
Blurb
Thank you for your interest in our school, but we regret to inform you that…” You’re not special. You’re too average. You’re too boring.
Elizabeth Zhang is well aware of her place in the world. She’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics. While she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, she knows she has the intelligence and ambition to achieve her greatest dream: Harvard Law School.
But when Harvard rejects Elizabeth for not standing out enough—which she knows means she's just another boring Asian female—her carefully constructed life falls apart. What shocks her even more is that Laura Kim, a classmate at Columbia, got in. Elizabeth can’t figure out how this could have happened. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?
At first, she follows Laura because she’s curious to see what made her stand out to Harvard. What does Laura order for lunch? Where does Laura shop? What are Laura’s hobbies? But no matter how hard she tries, Elizabeth just can’t understand what makes Laura so special.
The only thing she does understand is that Laura has taken her spot. A spot that, after all her hard work, she feels she deserves more. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered and subversive, Boring Asian Female reveals how societal expectations and personal pressure can unlock the darkest parts of a person and exposes how far one young woman is willing to go to fulfil her deepest ambition.
My Thoughts
I definitely enjoyed reading this book, though not due to my usual reasons. I appreciate the depth of the plot after finishing the book more than what I had imagined reading the blurb - Asian culture is known for their deep focus on academic excellence and Elizabeth is no exception. Her family moved to the US for a better future, but after dissatisfaction with their mediocre job and low prospects, her father returns to his home country and Elizabeth stays on with her mother in a small town in South Dakota. But Elizabeth has dreams - dreams that involve New York and securing a fancy and comfortable life for herself. She is determined to become a lawyer. The book follows her story as she studies at Columbia and spends lots of time preparing for Harvard Law, but she gets a letter of rejection.
The story takes us through the following days, weeks and months as Elizabeth slowly starts to spiral trying to understand the reason for her rejection, and obsessed with her classmate Laura who was accepted. She goes on to behave in questionable ways, making assumptions, and engaging in stalker-like behaviours bordering on illegality, until the characters reach a breaking point and Elizabeth is officially diagnosed as someone going through mental distress and requiring help. The ending was satisfying but not 100%. However, considering the circumstances, I suppose there was no other way it could go!
I like the concept and the message the story is trying to bring forward- it was especially eye-opening to see things from Elizabeth’s point of view. A third party observer would always be more judgmental and critical (and for some actions, rightly so), but the point of the story is to get inside the head of someone who’s spiralling and see things from their perspective. What they feel, understand, perceive and how it defines their sense of self. It is relatable as most of us go through university with certain degree of hopes for our futures and expectations around the same. The story gives a satirical angle to elite institutions and high-achieving kids whose identity weighs heavily around merit and certain definitions of success.
The writing itself is fast-paced, well-written, although a bit boring especially in the first half. I think it could be due to lack of POVs or shifts in timeline. We are completely in Elizabeth’s head all the time and it felt like a change was needed here and there to break up the monotony. There were also parts that felt rushed or unexplained, and the mystery itself was lacking - even though the point of the story was something else, I felt some mystery could have been added as separate layers rather than having a singular narrative stating facts as and when they happen.
The story also explores friendships and their importance in one’s life. How these relationships can help ground someone going through mental distress and help them feel hopeful about themselves. I liked Elizabeth and Eunjin’s friendship as well as characterization. Each had their own set of positives and flaws and the story brought that out well. It made me feel lots of empathy while simultaneously feeling annoyed with the characters.
Is this a book I would read again? Possibly not, but mostly because the story is unique and kind of not easy to forget.
Would I recommend others to read this? Absolutely! If not for the writing, I’d recommend reading it for the story and the themes.
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