This Place Is Still Beautiful
Written by XiXi Tian
Narrated by Katharine Chin and Cindy Kay
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
With five starred reviews, this is an acclaimed novel about sisterhood, family, and the pernicious legacy of racism. Perfect for fans of Tahereh Mafi, Jandy Nelson, and Emily X.R. Pan, with crossover appeal for readers of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half.
The Flanagan sisters are as different as they come. Seventeen-year-old Annalie is bubbly, sweet, and self-conscious, whereas nineteen-year-old Margaret is sharp and assertive. Margaret looks just like their mother, while Annalie passes for white and looks like the father who abandoned them years ago, leaving their Chinese immigrant mama to raise the girls alone in their small, predominantly white Midwestern town.
When their house is vandalized with a shocking racial slur, Margaret rushes home from her summer internship in New York City. She expects outrage. Instead, her sister and mother would rather move on. Especially once Margaret’s own investigation begins to make members of their community uncomfortable.
For Annalie, this was meant to be a summer of new possibilities, and she resents her sister’s sudden presence and insistence on drawing negative attention to their family. Meanwhile Margaret is infuriated with Annalie’s passive acceptance of what happened. For Margaret, the summer couldn’t possibly get worse, until she crosses paths with someone she swore she’d never see again: her first love, Rajiv Agarwal.
As the sisters navigate this unexpected summer, an explosive secret threatens to break apart their relationship, once and for all.
This Place Is Still Beautiful is a luminous, captivating story about identity, sisterhood, and how our hometowns are inextricably a part of who we are, even when we outgrow them.
Editor's Note
Moving YA debut…
Tian’s moving YA debut explores the effects of racism and xenophobia through a coming-of-age lens. First-gen Chinese-American sisters Annalie and Margaret Flanagan have very different reactions to a hate crime, stirring up tensions in their home and predominantly white Illinois town. “This Place is Still Beautiful” reveals the complexities of navigating family expectations as well as the mixed-race immigrant experience.
XiXi Tian
XiXi Tian was born in China and immigrated to the United States when she was a year old. She grew up in central Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in history and then attended Harvard Law School. She is a tech lawyer by day and a writer by night. She lives outside of New York City. You can visit her online at www.xixiwrites.com.
Related to This Place Is Still Beautiful
Related audiobooks
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cafe Con Lychee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If You, Then Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding My Voice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charming as a Verb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flip the Script Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chandler Legacies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Queen of the Tiles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What's Coming to Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Message Not Found Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whiteout: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Million to One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Show for Two Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sofi and the Bone Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love Radio Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Acting the Part Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mika in Real Life: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Ever Getting Back Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Maya Got Fierce Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Keya Das's Second Act Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Truly Assumed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burn Down, Rise Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5She Gets the Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Deserve Monuments Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Mechanical Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Dreamer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
YA Family For You
Caraval Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Life With The Walter Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Listen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bloodmarked Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Do-Over Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's Not Summer Without You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer I Turned Pretty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We'll Always Have Summer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legendary: A Caraval Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Butterfly Assassin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finale: A Caraval Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Dark Crowns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Impostors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Long Way Down Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Monday's Not Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secrets We Keep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tokyo Ever After: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yolk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love & Gelato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Allegedly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rest of the Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stepsister Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quiet You Carry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Letters to the Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Like Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Truth About Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shatter City (Impostors, Book 2) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fever 1793 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for This Place Is Still Beautiful
9 ratings0 reviews