The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang by Stan Yan
From the publisher, Atheneum, Published September
30, 2025.
In this hilarious and
heartfelt debut graphic novel, a girl born on a day considered unlucky in
Chinese superstition starts to wonder if she really is cursed when she’s
troubled by visions of doom set to occur on her thirteenth birthday.
Twelve-year-old Eugenia Wang
has never celebrated her birthday on her actual birthday, April 4th, because of
her mom’s belief in the Chinese superstition that four is an unlucky number.
And that’s not the only thing Mom’s strict about; she won’t let Eugenia go to a
summer comic art camp because she thinks art is a waste of time. This year,
Eugenia is determined to defy her mom by applying for the camp, having her
party on her actual birthday, and inviting her super cute crush while she’s at
it, too!
But when Eugenia gets hit in
the head with a sneaker during PE, she starts getting unnerving visions of
impending doom about her upcoming birthday. It might be the aftereffects of her
head injury, or maybe she’s just anxious about turning thirteen. As the visions
get worse, even affecting her artwork, Eugenia suspects an unseen force may be
sending her messages. If she’s haunted after all, Eugenia will have to figure
out why before it’s too late. Even more horrifying, she may have to do the
unthinkable: admit her mom was right.
The title is exactly what happens to Genie. Many, many misfortunes. Many funny disasters. Plus, the weird dreams she’s trying to fix, not realizing what they actually are. Like her Po Po is trying to warn her and I liked the twist with the grandmother also liking art.
I found her behavior with her friends, her younger brother and her parents to be very realistic. I didn’t find it spooky, but that might just be me. I was lucky that my friend attended an event with Stan and his editor and gifted me a signed copy.
