Diversity and inclusion win

The Takedown, Lily Chu  (library book)

This was first released as an Audible Original. Since I find it hard to follow audiobooks, I have been waiting a good while for the print edition, and it was worth the wait. I enjoyed Lily Chu's first two books, both set in Toronto, as this one is. The Stand-In is a celebrity romance, with Gracie Reed hired as a stand-in for Chinese superstar Wei Fangli while she is appearing in a play. I found the reason for her striking resemblance to Fangli (revealed late in the story) too big a coincidence. The Comeback is more of an anti-celebrity romance, where Ariadne Hui is surprised to find a beautiful man staying in her apartment, who turns out to be the cousin of her roommate. Ariadne knows as little about K-Pop as I do, so she doesn't recognize Choi Jihoon. When she does, romantic and professional complications ensue. There is some crossover between all three stories, since they are all set in the Canadian Asian community, but each story stands on its own.

The Takedown begins with Dee Kwan enjoying her perfectly organized life in the family home she recently received from her parents when they moved north. She has just spent her savings renovating and decorating to make the perfect sanctuary. She has finally achieved her dream job as a diversity consultant, one she worked hard to earn. She relaxes by playing Questie, an on-line puzzle-solving game that involves finding clues scattered around the city.

This perfect life goes off the rails very quickly (and in only the second chapter). The owner of the company where she works announces that he is retiring and closing the business. Her mother calls to tell her that her grandmother has broken her hip, so her parents want to move back in to their house with her, to care for her. Dee ends up sleeping on a camp bed in her former home office, while trying to find a new job in a tough market. There is tension at home, because her grandmother disagreed with her daughter's decision to marry a Chinese man, and she has been hostile to both him and his two daughters over the years.

This story deals with some difficult topics. Dee (who uses her given name Daiyu at work) finds a new job as a diversity consultant, where she is assigned to a fashion company that has image problems (and more) due to its homogeneous staff, particularly the upper management. There are rumors that the creative director is stealing ideas from younger designers. Meanwhile, the handsome young man she has met playing Questie turns out to work for the company she is consulting for, which creates a conflict of interest. And her family crowding her out of her home is driving her to distraction, especially her grandmother's pet chinchilla and his squeaky exercise wheel, but worse is the tension over her grandmother's racism toward the Chinese members of the family. Dee's mother, a relentlessly positive person, refuses to even discuss the situation, or to acknowledge Dee's complicated feelings.

I enjoyed the story of Dee's work more than the family situation. It was a refreshing change to see diversity and inclusion celebrated and valued, even if there is constant pushback to Dee/Daiyu's work. It's not described in detail, nor is the work of the company (other than a disastrous runway show). The ending of the story felt cathartic in that bad people get their comeuppance, and the good people find their way to happiness and new beginnings - and Grandma repents and apologizes.

Lily Chu's next book is also an Audible Original (sigh). Drop Dead sounds like a bit of change for her: "One mysterious mansion. Two rival journalists. Three weeks to uncover the story—and love—of a lifetime." I'm looking forward to reading it when I can.