Reviews

Severance by Ling Ma

scottyoung02's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It is shocking this was written before COVID. I really enjoyed the story overall, but especially the focus on modern work culture. 

hanppiny's review

reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

maiajanssen's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

annacaroline's review

emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

izzyergh's review

reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

pickle_jar's review

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

natalie_deane's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Despite being written before COVID-19, this book felt so familiar to my experience living in Brooklyn during the early days of the pandemic. Though we as readers were kept at a distance from the main character Candace, especially for the first half of the book, the author was able to evoke so many emotions about what it means to be a human living under capitalism when capitalism itself starts to crumble. This was especially poignant from the perspective of Candace as the child of immigrants.

The similarities between the fevered and Candace were really striking: All of them felt the need to carry on with monotony, even in the worst of times. While I enjoyed the overall story arc and message in this book, I did find that certain parts were a bit too slow, and there were places where I just wanted more detail. (Including the ending!

Was Candace fevered?? I’m all down for ambiguous endings, but I feel like this one could have done it a bit better.

) I usually prefer books that dive deeper into characters and their emotions, but I did enjoy reading something so different from my usual.

Oh and for anyone who is not a fan: This book foregoes quotation marks. (I adapted to it once I was a few pages in and think the author did it well!)

kllyholt's review

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

alealopes's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

mishimarlee's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0