Throw that blurb out the window, the novel is nothing like what is portrayed in that description. If you are interested in reading Fiona and Jane, you need to know that the blurb has no context in regards to the story and that this novel is predominately about two separate characters with an occasional bond in the background.

The writing is good, there is solid imagery and the beginning lays a good foundation to tie in the short stories but, the rest falls flat. There are better fiction novels out there to read, novels that encapsulate the heartache and joy only friendship can bring - The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa is one of those novels. I do not feel this novel is worth an hour of your time as it lacks the essence of what I believe friendship to be and despite the writing and attempt at connection, may have been best left as short stories that do not connect. As always, it is up to you to decide if Fiona and Jane is worth an hour of your time.

I recently wrote a review of The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James where I stated the importance of flow when shifting between past and present. If the flow is not fluid, I feel the reader can never fully immerse themselves in the novel. If you choose to read Fiona and Jane, do note that the flow is static between the characters reducing the ability for you to flow through the read. There is a touch too much choppiness for me to enjoy the plot but if you like distinct shifts (it's as if it's multiple short stories!), then you will appreciate the flow of this plot.

I feel the plot could contain more powerful imagery of their friendship and life hurdles that would have further amplified this concept of friendship and the power it holds. Overall, a slightly above average plot but the stilted feeling made it tough for me to read and could make it difficult for you too to enjoy.

Can I skip this section? No? Okay, I found Fiona and Jane to be flat characters who lacked any sense of purpose both in their friendship and also their lives. The supporting characters I found more interesting than the protagonist's and that is all. Their inner monologue's are written well and assist in providing insight into why they are making a decision but the impact of each choice was never fully fleshed out.

The ending is abrupt. The novel cuts off on a random note and I found there to be no finality to the ending. Fiona and Jane was filled with random and abrupt moments like this and for the ending to feel no different than the middle, it was tough to find a sense of completion.

I did not enjoy this novel but it does not mean you won't. There are elements within this fictional story that work well and could be better suited for your reading preference; it's up to you to determine if Fiona and Jane is worth an hour of your time.

If I had to describe this novel in one word, it would be "no." This was a novel that veered aggressively away from the promises made in the blurb and felt short and choppy throughout. At the end, it states Fiona and Jane previously had been published as separate stories and I feel it would have been better if the stories stayed separated. I felt the novel was trying to do something it didn't need to do - short stories that do not connect, or are very very loosely connected, are still solid pieces of writing and an underlying theme of friendship could have been used to span multiple short stories portraying different types of friendship including Fiona and Jane's, but only Fiona and Jane didn't work for me. Why? Because they weren't friends! Fiona and Jane were such polarising individuals, any signs of true friendship were never seen. They had a sort of parasitic relationship with each other and I never once believed they were friends.

Not once in the short stories did we read about them emailing, texting, calling, visiting or any form of communication that would indicate they wanted the other person in their life. I mean, I wanted a bit of a deeper bond between the women as this novel was suggested to be about a strong female bond. I would have been fine if the purpose of the story was to emulate an unhealthy relationship or a friendship that only existed because of societal expectations or a bond that arose from their struggles as Taiwanese Americans which they could never break even after they outgrew one another or how it bonded them regardless of time but nope - it was just about the "strength" of their friendship and that strength was not seen by me.

I also found frustration with Jane and Fiona's separate storylines. Jane's focused on her hatred for her dad for breaking their family due to his sexuality. The issue wasn't his homosexuality, it was that he abandoned them and why was this not expanded upon? I couldn't believe how Jane immediately told her mother his biggest secret and Fiona tells her it isn't her fault, um - that part definitely is. It is difficult for anyone to hold such a secret but we keep these secrets for others because we love and respect them so why was this catastrophic secret spilling not expanded upon? Show me this burden, show my why she immediately told, show me her pain, show me Fiona's relationship to this situation and give me more! This specific short story was so pertinent to the rest of Jane's story and it needed to remain a part of it, not hide in the background.

Fiona was presented as an individual terrible at picking a partner. She chose men who abandoned her, hurt her, stole from her and then we flash forward to her relationship with Bobby - a healthy partnership that we have no clue how it came to be. Fiona's storyline heavily involved her relationships with men and Bobby indicated she had grown but, how? How did she grow? What caused her to shift? The short story went from Jane and then to Fiona in the future with a significant other and a healthy lifestyle - but how?

Based on the blurb, I anticipated a story revolving around the struggles of a Taiwanese American living in the USA and how that influenced their friendships and what that friendship meant with another Taiwanese American. I received nothing of the sort - my fault really for anticipating what a novel's vibe will be before I actually read it. I wanted more and those are my personal thoughts on Fiona and Jane.