At the time THE DRAGON WARRIOR received a problematic review from a certain trade reviewer, I was busy w my 9-5, preparing for my book tour, and living my best life, so I kept it to myself. Now I see this journal has a pattern of harming marginalized writers, so here we go:

"Asian stereotypes?" I, who struggled for years to become proud of my Asian American identity. I, who wrote the Chinese American book of my heart. To have my debut middle grade Chinese fantasy novel reduced to "humor reliant on Asian stereotypes"? Is my existence a stereotype?

As examples, K*rkus cited these lines from TDW:
“You failed to recognize a hu li jing, Wendi, in your midst.” Mao’s head flew up. “Wendi? It can’t be. She had perfect test scores.”
"....dried mushrooms that smelled more like dried feet.”
“I have Tiger Balm,” Yulong offered,

Friends, these...these are called...jokes, inside jokes that I'm sharing with Asian readers. Am I not allowed to poke fun at myself? This humor isn't reliant on Asian stereotypes; it's SUBVERTING them. A reviewer who can't see that is a reviewer who missed the point entirely.

The most infuriating part is that this biased review paints TDW as a book full of Asian stereotypes, as though I'm some white lady exoticizing Asian culture. FYI I am Asian, and I'm allowed to write Asian stories with subversive humor. My experience isn't a STEREOTYPE. *mic drop*

This review isn't even nearly as harmful as other reviews K*rkus has given marginalized authors, and my heart goes out to those writers. We need to hold journals accountable when they mess up over and over again. Listen to marginalized folks. Do better. Seriously.

P.S. We all know if I WERE a white lady writing YA that exoticizes Chinese culture, K*rkus would be writing glowing reviews and singing praises and awarding me the Hugo, but you didn't hear that from me

Me: I had rice for lunch today

K*rkus: oh my gOD SHE'S AT IT AGAIN WITH THE ASIAN! STEREOTYPES!!!

(ok now i'm done i promise l m a o)