Gateway

Daiyu, a Chinese girl adopted by Caucasian parents, lives a fairly normal and boring life in St. Louis. Then one summer day at the fair, she buys a black jade ring, and suddenly finds herself in a fantastical alternate universe where St. Louis is inhabited by people who look like her. Daiyu is rescued by a young Caucasian man named Kalen, who takes her to two servants of the gods, Ombri and Aurora, who tell her that she has been brought to their world to help vanquish a rebel. She is understandably confused by everything, and clings to Kalen as she attempts to determine who is good and who is evil in the world she has been thrown into. Soon she finds herself caught up in society, posing as the niece of a wealthy and powerful society show more woman in order to more closely observe Chenglei, the man who she has been told to subdue.

I’ve been a huge fan of Shinn’s novels for adults, including her Samaria and Twelve Houses novels, but not so much of her young adult works. I felt that this book skimmed over too many important details, lingered too much on a whirlwind romance, and tied together far too easily at the end. show less

Daiyu, who was adopted from China as a baby and who lives in St. Louis, walks under the Gateway Arch after a transaction with a mysterious old woman, and finds herself in an alternate version of the city -- a different version of the whole world, in fact. There, she meets two operatives who travel between the many different worlds, and who have drawn here there to help them apprehend a suave, crooked politician. She also meets a charming local boy to whom she immediately feels a strong connection. Daiyu must decide who to trust, how to act, and what she is willing to sacrifice for love.

While not as good as some of Shinn's other writing (I like her Twelve Houses series best), this was a good read. I feel vaguely dissatisfied about the show more ending, but not enough that it ruined my appreciation for the book. show less

Daiyu, who was adopted from China when she was a baby, lives in St. Louis and is spending her summer as an intern at a headhunting firm. She spends her 4th of July beneath the St. Louis arch, and when a jewelry vendor shows her a ring of black jade, known in Chinese as "daiyu," she impulsively buys it. She soon after passes beneath the arch and is swept into a parallel universe where the ruling class is Chinese.

Alone and confused, Daiyu is rescued by a white (cangbai) boy who seems to be expecting her. It turns out that she has been brought to this world by a pair of world-hopping angel figures who want to send the world's leader back to his own world, or iteration. Daiyu's humanity makes her mind difficult to read in this new world, show more which makes her an ideal candidate to act as spy and send the purportedly evil man home. But Daiyu is increasingly skeptical about his true nature, and increasingly unsure that she will be willing to leave Kalen, the cangbai boy she has grown to love.

Sharon Shinn has written a very readable but fairly sophisticated world-hopping fantasy story, and while the characters are not always fully developed the story is intriguing enough to make the book worth reading. Daiyu faces a moral dilemma about whether or not she should send back this new world's charismatic leader, faces a few moments of intrigue and peril, and experiences a pleasant and heartwarming romance with Kalen. It is the romance, and the wrenching decision Daiyu faces between her home and her love, that many teenage girls will especially enjoy, but the suspense and new culture give the book a depth that makes it more than just another love story. show less

I hate to seem harsh, and to bring down the average GR rating even further, but this book could have been so much better. Terrific concept, fun world-building, interesting themes, drama, romance....

But it read as a debut novel - not fully graceful writing and a few forced characters and coincidental developments. I did believe in the romance, and I do recommend the book. If I were 13 I'd give it five stars because it would have spoken to my dreams and because, being a less-experienced reader, I would have easily forgiven the awkward aspects. But at this point I just can't rate it higher.

This book was... not what I expected from Sharon Shinn. It's a very generic young adult supernatural romance, with this particular twist being that the main character was adopted from China by white parents and the alternate world she travels to is Chinese-esque. There's the same shallow romance and pining, the same transparent alternate love interest, and an obvious villain strangely lacking in any sense of real motivation.

It really feels more like an attempt to cash in on the growing requests for more diversity in YA lit, and not like a true homage to Chinese culture and addressing what it's like to grow up adopted.

I expected better.

It was good but didn't leave any emotional impact on me. It felt superficial, in the sense that there was so much in the world that could have been touched upon, but instead the story was kept incredibly simplistic. I kept waiting for it to get deeper, but it never did.

If you haven't read Sharon Shinn's YA works, I recommend them. What I love most about Shinn is her books, while sometimes involving romance, never center around that romance. There's no predictable endings and the characters always face complex issues. While Gateway isn't as good as The Safe-Keeper's Secret was, it still has plenty of strength on its own.

Daiyu is the adoptive daughter of a couple who was unable to have a child of their own. Adopted from China and brought over to the States when she was a baby, she knows very little of China and has never been to visit it. Now a teenager, she is a hard worker and looking to go to college soon - that is, until she stumbles across a "gateway" to another reality, a reality in which China show more discovered the United States.

St. Louis is renamed, the landmarks we all know are gone, and the largest minority are Caucasians. But evil still exists - and it's against that evil that Daiyu has to figure out where she stands and what decisions she needs to make regarding her future.

This was a very easy book to read, the story flowed well and Sharon Shinn's development was great, as always. It seemed a little stilted in parts, however, almost like she was writing for an audience younger than the subject matter would normally speak to - but overall I had a blast with Gateway and will be recommending it. show less