Single Sashimi - Camy Tang

I've been waiting for this one. Sushi for One caught my eye because it was the first time I'd ever seen my favourite food mentioned in a Christian bookstore, and I was hooked by the first paragraph. Single Sashimi, the third in Camy Tang's Sushi Series, does not disappoint.

Though primarily focused on Venus, one of the four lone Christian cousins in a big, loud, extended Japanese-Chinese-American family living in Silicon Valley, Single Sashimi does bring satisfying updates to the continuing stories of Lex, Trish and Jennifer. Venus, however, is at the forefront, and it's wonderful to see that character fleshed out. Formerly dowdy, now beautiful Venus is struggling to be treated as an equal among the arrogant male gaming executives she calls her colleagues. After being condescended to one too many times because of her gender and good looks, Venus leaves her company, intending to start her own. However, she needs finanfical backers, and a job in the meantime. Enter Drake Yau, the most arrogant and condescending male executives she's ever worked for, the one who pushed her into the lowest moment of her career. Though the opportunity he offers her is terrific, Venus is wary of being around him once again, in spite of the evidence that he's changed.

Tang's knowledge and presentation of the cutthroat gaming industry is excellent, woven so seamlessly into the narrative that it feels part of, rather than an addition to, the story. Grandma, the high-powered, painfully controlling family matriarch and one of the primary antagonists in both Sushi for One and Only Uni shows a refreshingly kind side in this text, rounding out one of the very few characters in the whole series that is in any danger of becoming a stock stereotype.

If I need to find a flaw in this book, it's that it's seriously light on the spiritual side. Venus, through her volunteer work with a local youth group, is supposed to undertake some sort of spiritual journey, but if she's actually doing that, it's difficult to see. It would have made the change the character undergoes in the text far more powerful and impactful, but it's still an excellent story. And I'm still craving dumplings.

Highly Recommended. Go Camy!