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yooniereads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I would just like to start us off with the fact that this book gave me the emotional catharsis that “A Little Life” couldn’t, and that’s saying something.
Nagamatsu’s anthology is so visceral and heartbreaking because of the expanse of stories you follow through. What I love about this is how he trusts his audience— he doesn’t spoon feed you the whole picture, because he trusts you to unravel it. That factor lends to how palpable and real these stories felt. His use of language is so intentional, and his writing draws you in so easily in the short handful of pages these characters exist in. You root for them, you cry for them, and you definitely feel for them. It’s simply so masterful at that!
And because of how it closes in on how the big, big chunks of history affects an individual, it’s a good thinking piece of how our social reality constructs so much of how we grieve, how we love, and how we feel. And since you’re following these stories through a span of so many years, you see how it affects people from different walks of life: those who lived before the plague, those born during, and even those born after.
This book is certainly existential, and I know I will spend days thinking of and crying over certain lines. That’s what I love about it. It holds up a mirror to our own current landscape and says, “This is what it means to be human.” I highly recommend, and I hope it brings you the same sense of solace it gave me. :)
Nagamatsu’s anthology is so visceral and heartbreaking because of the expanse of stories you follow through. What I love about this is how he trusts his audience— he doesn’t spoon feed you the whole picture, because he trusts you to unravel it. That factor lends to how palpable and real these stories felt. His use of language is so intentional, and his writing draws you in so easily in the short handful of pages these characters exist in. You root for them, you cry for them, and you definitely feel for them. It’s simply so masterful at that!
And because of how it closes in on how the big, big chunks of history affects an individual, it’s a good thinking piece of how our social reality constructs so much of how we grieve, how we love, and how we feel. And since you’re following these stories through a span of so many years, you see how it affects people from different walks of life: those who lived before the plague, those born during, and even those born after.
This book is certainly existential, and I know I will spend days thinking of and crying over certain lines. That’s what I love about it. It holds up a mirror to our own current landscape and says, “This is what it means to be human.” I highly recommend, and I hope it brings you the same sense of solace it gave me. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Medical trauma and Pregnancy
whatswrenreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A dark, yet hopeful story that deftly weaves individual stories together in subtle ways. It's dark, plague stories always are, especially in the current world state were living in. But the interconnectedness and human emotions explored in many of these tales leave you with a spark of hope, for safety, for connection, for a brighter future for those who come after us.
I found some of the stories stronger than the others, a few that could have been cut down or left out without losing anything in the process. Some of the characters are a pain, but that's kind of the point. Also great to mention that most of the characters are Asian, and located throughout various cities in the world. There were times where stories leaned heavily on the experience of growing up under strict Asian parents and the relationship/trauma that came from that childhood. Many if not all the audiobook narrators are also AAPI from my understanding, and they do an absolutely haunting and beautiful job narrating this tale, it was a breathtaking experience.
The stories that stuck with me most were the Theme park for dying kids, Pig Father, and painting the spaceship (all of which connected funnily enough), as well as the robo-dogs, and the Virtual Reality forums (topical discussion around lack of governmental supports for mental health and support for folks with disabilities). The Void was also very beautiful, despite it feeling out of place until much later in the book.
Big ol list of TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Pandemic, plague, child death, mass graves, euthanasia, medication, medical trials, mass casualties, suicide, cremation, talk of human remains, emotional abuse, use of recreational drugs and alcohol, dissociation, filicide, death of a disabled child, animal death, sexual content, minor gore.
All in all, a dark and hopeful tale, with some interesting sci-fi vibes. Check the trigger warnings and take care of yourself while reading💕
I found some of the stories stronger than the others, a few that could have been cut down or left out without losing anything in the process. Some of the characters are a pain, but that's kind of the point. Also great to mention that most of the characters are Asian, and located throughout various cities in the world. There were times where stories leaned heavily on the experience of growing up under strict Asian parents and the relationship/trauma that came from that childhood. Many if not all the audiobook narrators are also AAPI from my understanding, and they do an absolutely haunting and beautiful job narrating this tale, it was a breathtaking experience.
The stories that stuck with me most were the Theme park for dying kids, Pig Father, and painting the spaceship (all of which connected funnily enough), as well as the robo-dogs, and the Virtual Reality forums (topical discussion around lack of governmental supports for mental health and support for folks with disabilities). The Void was also very beautiful, despite it feeling out of place until much later in the book.
Big ol list of TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Pandemic, plague, child death, mass graves, euthanasia, medication, medical trials, mass casualties, suicide, cremation, talk of human remains, emotional abuse, use of recreational drugs and alcohol, dissociation, filicide, death of a disabled child, animal death, sexual content, minor gore.
All in all, a dark and hopeful tale, with some interesting sci-fi vibes. Check the trigger warnings and take care of yourself while reading💕
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Death, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Cancer, and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Dementia
pvbobrien's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide
Minor: Cancer and Pregnancy
bookbuzzard's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
I liked the idea of an event viewed over time from a multitude of perspectives, but it sometimes felt to me like there was a little too much going on, a talking pig, a rift in someone's head, euthanasia theme parks, a generation ship and an alien that seeded life on earth... it's a lot to keep in one's head all at one time, it doesn't really weave into a complete narrative for me.
This book ended up being a lot more surreal than I had expected, though that was a bit of a relief as it kept me from reflecting too closely on the Earth's current predicaments...
This book ended up being a lot more surreal than I had expected, though that was a bit of a relief as it kept me from reflecting too closely on the Earth's current predicaments...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
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