Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go

by Cleo Qian

The electric, unsettling, and often surreal stories in Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go explore the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian-American women today. A woman escapes into dating simulations to forget her best friend’s abandonment. A teenager begins to see menacing omens on others’ bodies after her double eyelid surgery. Reunited schoolmates are drawn into the Japanese mountains to participate in an uncanny social experiment. A supernatural karaoke machine becomes a K-pop star’s channel for redemption.

In every story, characters refuse dutiful, docile stereotypes. They are ready to explode, to question conventions. Their compulsions tangle with unrequited longing and queer desire in their search for something ineffable across cities, countries, and virtual worlds.

With precision and provocation, Cleo Qian’s immersive debut jolts us into the reality of lives fragmented by screens, relentless consumer culture, and the flattening pressures of modern society―and asks how we might hold on to tenderness against the impulses within us.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, LGBT, Contemporary, Queer, Adult, Asian Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2023

Reviews

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book slowly - I felt so immersed in the world of each short story that it was slightly painful to be wrenched away from them at every ending. Qian writes my favorite kind of short stories: beautiful, sometimes haunting, jam-packed with smart details that ask a lot of questions and answer few.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO by Cleo Qian is her first book and I really enjoyed the quirky and smart collection of stories centering the experience of Asian and Asian American women. These characters really came to life for me. Each protagonist is struggling with navigating and accepting the harsh realities of today's modern world including but not limited to the pressures on woman to look a certain way, act a certain way, and fit in to society's idea of who they should be.

I love that in each to these stories the characters experience a reckoning of some kind that truly challenges them to become their most authentic self even at the expense of what it costs. This collection smashes stereotypes of what it means to be Asian and celebrates the multi-faceted ways that folx move through the world while still paying respect to the cultural nuances that inform what people value at their core.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

[Mai H.]

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books

[Stephanie Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

vibrant with yearning, unsettling in the most mundane of ways, surreal and startling and honestly so beautiful. absolutely in love with every one of these stories, and how the protagonists are not afraid to look us in the eye and lay their hearts open for us even when they’re unable to do so in the mirror.

made me cry on the train (in a good way)! reminded me of Ling Ma’s works in that there was also a slipstream of subconscious emotions guiding us through the stories to an existential hollow.

will look forward to reading more Cleo Qian works in the future!!

[annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

still not really a stories person as I am too often left like “huh” with such abrupt endings but lots of these left me with a good kind of “huh”. the stories only got better imo so don’t be discouraged by the first couple (or maybe even skip them lol). I appreciated the various takes on asian american lives - some stories took place around asia and others in the us with characters trying to make sense of their place between those worlds. lots of sweetness, strangeness, and yearning.

[Skylar Miklus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a feeling I would like this one, and Cleo Qian delivered a noteworthy debut! These short stories are tightly crafted, with not a word wasted. Themes include longing, loneliness, desire (especially when queer), identity, self-conception, technology, and modernity. I thought Qian had a great surrealist edge and a unique voice. The real standout story for me was “Power & Control,” which puts the reader into the perspective of a narcissistic abuser— a subversive take on an age-old story.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adding this to my list of top short story collections. Qian incorporates a creative mix of sometimes harsh realities with fantasy elements that makes each story a page turner. Stories take readers to a variety of places and in the middle of complicated relationships - family, friends, romantic, even spirits - from a youthful point of view. Favorites that I won't forget any time soon include Seagull Village and Wing and the Radio; I was stunned by Power and Control and We Were There.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some nice moments in these stories, but overall it was another collection where I felt like overall the narratives lacked a clear vision of where they were going/what they were saying. All vibes and not much else. I'm wondering if I'm losing my mind and this is what short stories have always been, or if we've entered into an era where this kind of story is more popular than it used to be. IDK. Not living/laughing/loving.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fitting that Ling Ma reviewed this because it absolutely rivals Bliss Montage as one of my favorite short story sets, absolutely stunning

[Sally Butin · Rating 3 out of 5]

first few stories were not for me but as I kept reading they got better and better. lots of cool twists happening with fantasy and surrealism arriving when you least expect it. my favorite of the whole book was the title story “let’s go let’s go let’s go”

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely relatable asian american stories and feelings of loneliness, longing, not belonging. so many complicated feelings i never thought could be reflected back to me...

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been slowly reading the stories in this book for AGES and now I’ve finally finished the collection! Let’s go let’s go let’s GO review it, finally.


Chicken. Film. Youth.: 3/5
I loved the writing and the nested storylines were really interesting but I just wish it had been more made clear what exactly was going on. Is Mr Kang’s movie a masterpiece that moved the narrator so deeply, or is it just a really bad no budget movie (as implied from the dialogue of the other characters)?? I think it would make a lot of thematic sense if the movie was just a low quality passion project that the narrator happened to be extremely moved by. But I also liked the extra surreal possibility of this average man just spontaneously having the means to make a high budget high quality biopic of himself somehow…

That last sentence came out of nowhere and (spoiler) if the narrator was going to kiss someone unexpected, it definitely shouldn’t have been the rando who has been mentioned once and literally just appeared like? What? Also I feel like she should’ve said something unexpected instead. That just came across as a bit immature and it was anticlimactic/bathos which would be fine if that was the intention (but I don’t think it was).



Monitor World: 4/5
Huh this was a quite compelling for a short story that I paused halfway through for like a month to read other stuff (oops).

The plot is basically detached woman meets creepy man and belatedly realizes he is too creepy for her own good. And this premise is executed really well.

But I’m not sure about the “twist” with the aviator at the end. Like, what’s that supposed to symbolise? I can guess, but I don’t really know.


Zeroes:Ones: 4/5
I loved the voice of our disaffected protagonist. Some really interesting threads in this one, but they could’ve been tied together a little more.

ADORE the ambivalent ending. Yes yes yes ask a question, leave it unanswered.



Wing and the Radio: 3/5
Okay, what was THIS. The Chinese radio station girl and the K-pop star?!

I love that concept.

But honestly I found the radio station perspective much more interesting than the K-pop star one. The K-pop industry is so famously secretive and the idols are always surrounded by a billion staff so I actually didn’t find the Wing being mostly alone with just his manager thing accurate. Also the fact he was allowed to openly(?) date his makeup artist? And to date during idol training?! I am a pretty low key K-pop fan but even o think this is not accurate.

Wing as a character also wasn’t very compelling. If he had been then the magical realism karaoke room conclusion might’ve been emotionally resonant.



The Girl With the Double Eyelids: 3/5
Okay, I’m noticing a real trend with these stories. There’s so much potential and so many interesting threads but sometimes it doesn’t quite connect. Or there’s too much.

What was going on with the magic symbolic tattoos? Did that ever go anywhere? Did the narrator even LEARN anything from the tattoos she didn’t already know?

Additionally, the plastic surgery thing was a big theme at the start and then completely disappeared partway through this long story.

I don’t know if it felt long cause I intermittently read it over many days or because it really is that long.

Also, that relatable teen girl struggle! Don’t you hate it when the older male teacher you kind of used to have a crush on turns out to be inappropriately involved with your underage female best friend who you also have a crush on?


The Virtuoso: 2/5
Lol I used to play piano like this main character except I played super badly. This made me want to go practice again. It didn’t really make me feel anything for neurotic Nora though or her humdrum life. It just felt kind of boring and all the side characters felt flat. Except for the radio moment at the end, which really did feel cathartic.


Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go: 3/5
Ahhh this felt like it had a lot of potential and it really picked up in the last few pages with that whole theme of whether you can really know anyone but is that all just self-imposed and what about the alienation and loneliness etc etc etc.

But ONLY in those last few pages! Too many unanswered questions… what about Goto and Emi’s relationship? What’s up with Reiya? Why did Lily disappear in high school and why is she disappearing now? I honestly think this story should’ve just begun with them in the house right before Lily’s disappearance. And then the rest of the story would’ve been so much more interesting.


Power and Control: 3/5
LMAO I would be pissed if my girlfriend basically psyopped me into liking her and also nicknamed me KEYCHAIN(!!!) in her head and used MAGIC (which is real in this story) as part of her creepy psyop.

Greta is the worst girlfriend…

She’s so manipulative! And jealous! And self-delusional!! AND a cheater to boot!!! But it was so fun to read from her (terrifying) perspective.

Idk why some conversations of were written as a script instead lol. It ended up feeling like the writer got lazy and copied and pasted in part of her plan instead of writing actual prose lol

But the ending just felt so flat ugh. Nothing really escalated and nothing really happened.



We Were There: 4/5
Ooh finally a real goodie!

Idk I just found this lonely directionless twentysomething really compelling, and I liked reading about her not-all-that anti-romance. Felt more like real-life.



Messages From Earth: 4/5
Omg this was so good?

I loved this childhood and high school story. Wish it had been a bit more of a character portrait of Vicky though.

Tail end of the collection finally pulling through? Let’s go let’s go let’s GO?


Seagull Village: 2/5
This draaaaaagged on and on and I didn’t feel enough chemistry between Aimee and Ghost Woman to even care about the plot twist that Ghost Woman was a ghost.

Or is she even a ghost. That’s left unresolved. And I don’t care about Aimee and I don’t care about whatever moral this story is trying to get across about loving and letting go or moving on and staying cause I don’t care about the characters… and I didn’t even find the setting that atmospheric although I was feeling the Ghibli vibes at first…

What a mid story to end with. Let’s NOT go to Seagull Village.



Overall: 3/5
Qian is clearly a really talented writer but I feel like some of the concepts and the emotional arcs and especially the endings of her stories just weren’t quite there yet.

I think the best stories that felt the most complete were the mostly realistic “slice of life-ish” stories about disaffected young Asian American women and technology. BUT I LOVED the ideas behind the other more surreal concepts, especially the ones that tooled around with art and the meaning/making/receiving of it (the first story and the title story). Those concepts and their emotional resonance / endings just didn’t fully pull through for me.

However, this collection as a whole still has so much potential and Qian is so talented and hyperspecific in the worlds she crafts.

She reminds me of a younger, lonelier, queer and screen-obsessed Elaine Hsieh Chou.

I like Qian’s writing style. Interested to see what she produces next.

[Sherice · Rating 5 out of 5]

a rare short story collection where i enjoyed every single short story
favorites: chicken film youth, the girl with the double eyelids, let's go let's go let's go, power and control, we were there (yeah i guess this is like half the collection)
I liked this because she combined some mystical elements with real feelings without feeling too much like it was a sci-fi book like some of these short story collections tend to feel like. The characters were solidly relatable and covered a huge range of ages which I liked.

“I couldn’t forget the feeling I had had watching him dig his fingers into the clay and the smell of dryer sheets in the laundromat. These are the feelings of someone at sixteen, or eighteen, or even twenty-three, and I wish I could say I was that young, but I was twenty-six, and by that age we have already seen more of the world, it’s not so young as all that.” lots of other good quotes but i forgot to bookmark them so i will have to do that in the future

[Rebecca Steinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic collection of short stories. Cleo Qian has a way of encapsulating feelings and thoughts unique to the Asian American experience without outright, blunt descriptions. In this way, she makes the reader, who may or may not have shared that same experience, feel the same sense of unease, longing, and curiosity too complex to put into words. You leave each story with unanswered questions, which can be both frustrating and feel right at the same time. Would recommend to anyone who has ever felt lost, displaced, inquisitive, or awestruck by life’s twists and turns - aka the human experience.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories all had a similar sort of dreamy, unsettling, curious observer vibe. I read one story between every couple books I read, which I think was a good way to consume it. Idk if I’d read it again—thus 4 stars—but I think the author has a strong point of view and I’d read more from her.

[cam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feeling wistful in the best way possible

[Molly Adelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

took me a while! short stories are hard!
favs were:
messages from earth
we were there
chicken. film. youth.

gentle, powerful, wandering stories. loved the stories revolving around knowing and being known.

[Michelle Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I savored these short stories as long as I could

So satisfyingly GOOD

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading - not one you can rush through. Each story is layered and meaningful. 3.5/5

[vio ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

ong i loved seagull village, messages from earth, & the girl w the double eyelids…. this was so chungking express coded

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great collection with so much to consider, plus interesting airs of the supernatural! Some of which worked better than others, but ultimately loved the voices and the pacing. Great stuff

[Alyssa Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

guys…idk. why can I instantly tell when a book is someone’s MFA project 😭😭😭

Each story was a little too pointed — I knew the point each one was trying to make early on; which facet of Asian American society it was critiquing.

It seems like the author wanted to fill a gap or make a point with the stories instead of just writing from the heart idk! Interesting and relatable but just kinda… shallow? And no discernible voice.

Im comparing this to bliss montage and I just feel like the stories were so much richer and well-developed in BM.

[sheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

she wrote this for me. i've never felt so seen!!

[Ying]

i love her mind

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Qian is truly gifted at setting up a story. I felt completely drawn into her powerfully written narratives, steeped in yearning and queer desire. I was particularly haunted by “Power & Control,” a tale of an abusive relationship with a witchy twist, told from the perspective of the narcissistic partner. Another memorable saga, “The Girl with the Double Eyelids,” follows a girl who starts seeing hidden truths about the adults around her after double eyelid surgery. These deeper observations are literal – actual images imprinted on their bodies. I dropped down to 3/5 because, as I often do with short stories, I wanted more resolution from the endings. But, this is a debut collection and the writing is impressive!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Tin House Books for the gifted ARC

In this unsettling yet poignant short story collection, LET'S GO explores loneliness in young Asian women living in a digital world. With incisive writing and eerie atmospheres, Qian brilliantly examines emotions of uncertainties, yearning, jealousy, and the length we go to escape/quench these thirsts.

I adore the blend of technology and humanity in LET'S GO, reminiscent of Black Mirror but not in a scary way. And I think the unique settings in each story will translate very well onto screens. It'd be awesome if LET'S GO is adapted into a TV series like an Asian Black Mirror 🤣

Monitor World perfectly captures the life of a single young woman looking for a partner and the impossibility of feeling safe online or irl. Zeros:Ones is an excavation of feeling alienated from both one's ancestry & adopted country, and rings especially true for Asian Americans. Wing and the Radio asks readers to consider our options as young women when we experience intense desires. And Power and Control explores the ways in which abusers act in a toxic relationship.

The titular story is another stand-out from the collection. Qian beautifully investigates "authentic" relationships through two reconnected high school friends. This story left a significant imprint on me as I ponder my friendship—those I still hold on to and those that severed.

For readers who get existential crises at 2 am, LET'S GO is a perfect read for you! (or perhaps it'll make you spiral even more 🙈)

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fucking loved this spooky, internally anguished, short story collection book. Like, I fucking loved it. No questions are answered, always eerie, unsettling sometimes, fear that you recognize because you've felt it before with strange men just like the one being described.

[amira · Rating 4 out of 5]

“‘But when I came back outside, I appreciated the night more. Compared to being in the Hole, the night wasn’t dark at all. When I came back out I realized there was all this light in the night sky I’d taken for granted. And I felt that life was very precious.’”

I’m blown away by how quickly this book grew on me. At first I was really confused and a bit jaded by the unfamiliarity of storytelling, but there came so many points where I was RACING through Quian’s prose or had to exhale very deeply because of how long I’d been holding my breath. There’s something so enticing about each story — the plots are all so insanely original, and a bit berserk, but laced with human and typical emotions that are elevated through prose that is intellectual and distinct in its diction. There’s also an unfished air that feels palatable and understandable for each story, the same way life is. I’m just overall impressed. And I can’t waitttt to reread this. Definitely a book to eternally cherish.

[den · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m not quite sure if it's because i’m going through a rough and lonely patch in my life, but i didn't enjoy this book as much as i expected.

it’s supposed to be about asians (and asian-americans), but as a southeast asian, i found that i couldn't really connect with most of the stories because they mostly revolved around east asian culture. though, i have to admit, when i did find elements i could relate with in the stories, the resonance was powerful.

if i had to choose a favorite, it would be "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" which feels appropriate, considering it's the book's title after all 😁

[TheLastMango · Rating 3 out of 5]

wasn't a huge fan of how the stories tend to end on a discovery, and loose ends aren't tied up, but i think that style could be for someone else. favorites were "power and control" for the magical realism element and being in the narrator's head, "we were there" for the sally rooney relationship vibes and conversations, and "seagull village" for the black mirror esque setting in my head (was picturing loch ness henry)