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michaelion's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.5
Heartbreaking in a way that makes you smile? Or maybe I'm just a little skewed. It's so real. The beauty of the writing style alone hooked me but the story? Too real. There's a paragraph where mom is thinking about Lydia and how she can mold her future and everything her daughter is going to be that she couldn't and in the middle Hannah is mentioned, as mom is pregnant, and so quickly is she forgotten. She is sandwiched between Marilyn and Lydia, in story and in sentence, just barely acknowledged, but nothing more. That's only ONE example of the writing that had me hooked much earlier than that scene. So painful. And despite everything that happens the family loves each other so much, in a bad, terrible, abusive and abused way, but as the title shows, none of them know how to tell each other that. None of them know how to be better to each other, but they all want to. I fucking love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Outing, Alcohol, Suicide, and Vomit
aandromeda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism and Child abuse
vedpears's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I think I have become a Celeste Ng fan girl now. The writing is beautiful and mesmerizing - such great storytelling! I disliked every character except Nathan and Hannah (spelling? I consumed this book via audiobook). Narcissists all around. I recognized so many scenarios from my own family dynamics and those of my friends'. I find it interesting that some reviews I have read said these characters weren't believable. I whole-heartedly disagree with that sentiment and am certain that those reviewers aren't paying attention to others in their lives, are like one of the parents in the book themselves, or live very fortunately charmed lives.
I think Celeste Ng does a great job threading context/ characters' histories into the current narrative. That story telling tool often irritates me but she does it so well that it doesn't feel like an interruption.
I think Celeste Ng does a great job threading context/ characters' histories into the current narrative. That story telling tool often irritates me but she does it so well that it doesn't feel like an interruption.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Vomit
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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? Yes
3.5
I was fully ready to rate this book 5 stars until I read the twist ending that undercuts the first 80% of the book. Don't get me wrong though: it's beautifully and expertly written. The characters are richly described, have deep inner lives, and have exquisitely unique senses of their self. I appreciated the exploration of family dynamics at play, as well as seeing things from the point of view of characters of color as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book...except for the last 30 pages, which I will discuss in the spoiler tag below.
The catalyst for the entire novel is because Lydia had an accident. Even her death robbed her of her agency. I was going to give this book a five-out-of-five rating because I thought I was reading an actual true-to-life account of a teen struggling with depression, but no. She drowns on accident. Because her foot missed the dock when she was climbing out of the boat.
This book is just another example of literary fiction grief porn. Lydia "had to" die for her family to learn how to live. Even her death is only meaningful to those who are living. Even her death was taken away as a thing meant just for her.
I was hugely disappointed.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book...except for the last 30 pages, which I will discuss in the spoiler tag below.
This book is just another example of literary fiction grief porn. Lydia "had to" die for her family to learn how to live. Even her death is only meaningful to those who are living. Even her death was taken away as a thing meant just for her.
I was hugely disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Bullying and Racism
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The book was difficult to get into at first, with the slow pacing and long chapters. But I really began to enjoy this book after the first 75 pages! I loved getting to know each character, even if they frustrated me or confused me at times.
The book takes an interesting look at each family member’s secrets, grief, and insecurities. It’s definitely a character driven novel but one that kept me hooked and invested in how it would end!
Ng has a beautiful way of writing and telling stories. After reading this and previously, Little Fires Everywhere, I want to read everything she writes in the future!
The book takes an interesting look at each family member’s secrets, grief, and insecurities. It’s definitely a character driven novel but one that kept me hooked and invested in how it would end!
Ng has a beautiful way of writing and telling stories. After reading this and previously, Little Fires Everywhere, I want to read everything she writes in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child death, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Suicide, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Bullying
Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Medical content
chloenk_1011's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Suicide, Racism, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death
marioosa517's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Racism, and Racial slurs
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
neera_duke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Writing is heartbreaking in its eloquence. Wasn't a huge fan of the tidy wrap up at the end of the novel but otherwise the story flowed very naturally between past and present. Hard to read at times but none of the traumatic events felt forced.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
megmccreery's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This story opens with Lydia Lee, a 16 year old, in a small Ohio town, being found dead in a lake. The story explores everything that got Lydia and her family to this point, and how their whole family unit implodes with Lydia's death. There's generational trauma with the Lee parents projecting their wants, dreams, and desires that were never realized onto their favorite child, Lydia. There's two other kids in the Lee family, Nath and Hannah, and they have always been backburner children to Lydia. They have to find where they fit in in the family now that the star is gone.
I loved the discussion of not fitting in and being "different." James Lee was born from Chinese immigrants and has been the butt of racist jokes in all the Midwest towns he has lived in throughout his life. He dreams to fit in and have his kids fit in. Marilyn Lee is a woman who has always wanted to be different. She never wanted to have the husband, family, and white-picket home that her mother force-fed her her whole life. She wanted to become a rare female doctor in the 1960s.
The big question is: What happens when you just can't do it anymore? "It" meaning anything, a culmination of things, something you can't describe but only feel. The feeling of something suffocating you, holding you back, or maybe even the absence of feeling or feelings.
It did take me a minute to get into this book because Celeste Ng's writing is more complex and deeper than I'm used to reading, but it was such a heartbreaking, thought-provoking story. My heart hurt so much for all of the characters; I didn't think anyone's feelings or actions in reaction to their feelings were invalid. In conclusion, ouch my heart. Read this book.
I loved the discussion of not fitting in and being "different." James Lee was born from Chinese immigrants and has been the butt of racist jokes in all the Midwest towns he has lived in throughout his life. He dreams to fit in and have his kids fit in. Marilyn Lee is a woman who has always wanted to be different. She never wanted to have the husband, family, and white-picket home that her mother force-fed her her whole life. She wanted to become a rare female doctor in the 1960s.
The big question is: What happens when you just can't do it anymore? "It" meaning anything, a culmination of things, something you can't describe but only feel. The feeling of something suffocating you, holding you back, or maybe even the absence of feeling or feelings.
It did take me a minute to get into this book because Celeste Ng's writing is more complex and deeper than I'm used to reading, but it was such a heartbreaking, thought-provoking story. My heart hurt so much for all of the characters; I didn't think anyone's feelings or actions in reaction to their feelings were invalid. In conclusion, ouch my heart. Read this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Infidelity, and Bullying
Minor: Suicide
honeyfauna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Infidelity, Child abuse, Death, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide