betweenbookends's review against another edition
1.0
I had high expectations for Bestiary based on its premise. It is marketed as a mythological, magical realist novel following a Taiwanese-American family’s queer history with a particular focus on its women. However, my reading experience was far more muted, possibly even disappointing. I’m not entirely sure what K-Ming Chang’s intention was with this narrative. If it was to tell a story of immigration, lineage and personal history, I’m not sure if it’s entirely successful.
The narration switches between the Mother and the Daughters' perspectives, interspersed with letters from the Grandmother. The storytelling is saturated with surrealism, so much so that the main plot arc is nearly lost in the multiple myths and magical realist fables woven in. Adding to the obscurity of the plot is Chang’s writing style itself which felt disjointed and bloated, straddling the border between prose and poetry, realism and surrealism, not quite achieving either.
Chang is first and foremost a poet, and it clearly shows. There is so much imagery at play here, whilst some of it was really quite inventive, there was also plenty of imagery and symbolism that just felt really odd. She seemed to have a curious fascination for bodily secretions and the more gross, baser functions of the body and it oftentimes appeared in instances where it made no sense. For example, there was a line where she writes of warplanes dropping bombs as ‘anuses that dilated open and shat bombs, spraying diarrhea that scarred your skin’. Really? Are we really talking warplane anuses here? And I’m only scratching the surface, there’s a lot of really strange imagery that, more often than not, didn’t work for me. There wasn’t much character development either and I was often getting confused with who’s who, the motivations behind their actions and the inner conflicts, mere guesswork.
I know I’ve made it seem like there is no redeeming quality to this book and it’s not the case. Certain sections and fables were very well written as standalone pieces. For me, personally, the novel just wasn’t cohesive enough, the characters really not distinctive from one another and the main thrust of the novel lost under the overbearing weight of its obscure imagery.
The narration switches between the Mother and the Daughters' perspectives, interspersed with letters from the Grandmother. The storytelling is saturated with surrealism, so much so that the main plot arc is nearly lost in the multiple myths and magical realist fables woven in. Adding to the obscurity of the plot is Chang’s writing style itself which felt disjointed and bloated, straddling the border between prose and poetry, realism and surrealism, not quite achieving either.
Chang is first and foremost a poet, and it clearly shows. There is so much imagery at play here, whilst some of it was really quite inventive, there was also plenty of imagery and symbolism that just felt really odd. She seemed to have a curious fascination for bodily secretions and the more gross, baser functions of the body and it oftentimes appeared in instances where it made no sense. For example, there was a line where she writes of warplanes dropping bombs as ‘anuses that dilated open and shat bombs, spraying diarrhea that scarred your skin’. Really? Are we really talking warplane anuses here? And I’m only scratching the surface, there’s a lot of really strange imagery that, more often than not, didn’t work for me. There wasn’t much character development either and I was often getting confused with who’s who, the motivations behind their actions and the inner conflicts, mere guesswork.
I know I’ve made it seem like there is no redeeming quality to this book and it’s not the case. Certain sections and fables were very well written as standalone pieces. For me, personally, the novel just wasn’t cohesive enough, the characters really not distinctive from one another and the main thrust of the novel lost under the overbearing weight of its obscure imagery.
xtinabryan's review against another edition
1.0
(finally putting reviews for some of my recent reads!)
let me start by saying that I was SO excited to read this. I had been seeing it all over youtube and instagram, so when I saw it in my fav bookstore back home during a haul I just had to pick it up. that's why it pains me to rate it this low:( the way K-Ming writes is very poetic which isn't a bad thing...but it becomes a bad thing when it starts taking away from the main plot of the book. some chapters would have me so confused as to what was happening and I didn't have a firm grasp on what the plot was until maybe halfway through. what really bothered me, however, was some of the language used. there were a lot of references to things like shit, spit, assholes, etc. to the point where it was completely unnecessary. for example, there was one part where she was describing the scenery in a flashback and compared the sun to an asshole...WHY. WHY WAS THAT NEEDED? you couldn't go a chapter without reading something like that. things like this made it very hard to read/get through and on multiple occasions, I was so close to DNFing it. I was close to the end so I pushed on and honestly I'm just glad I got it out the way.
let me start by saying that I was SO excited to read this. I had been seeing it all over youtube and instagram, so when I saw it in my fav bookstore back home during a haul I just had to pick it up. that's why it pains me to rate it this low:( the way K-Ming writes is very poetic which isn't a bad thing...but it becomes a bad thing when it starts taking away from the main plot of the book. some chapters would have me so confused as to what was happening and I didn't have a firm grasp on what the plot was until maybe halfway through. what really bothered me, however, was some of the language used. there were a lot of references to things like shit, spit, assholes, etc. to the point where it was completely unnecessary. for example, there was one part where she was describing the scenery in a flashback and compared the sun to an asshole...WHY. WHY WAS THAT NEEDED? you couldn't go a chapter without reading something like that. things like this made it very hard to read/get through and on multiple occasions, I was so close to DNFing it. I was close to the end so I pushed on and honestly I'm just glad I got it out the way.
patchworkculture's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
georgieb's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
sash_bun's review against another edition
challenging
slow-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? No
3.5
Very bizarre read. If you enjoy heavy use of metaphorical language and unique imagery you may like this. 3.5 from me.
mb918's review against another edition
2.0
I need to stop picking up these books.
It physically pains me to rate this two stars, but I just didn’t like it. Every time I open a book like this I think, “Maybe this will be the one!” It’s not. It never is. Something about a nonlinear story made up of 90% flashbacks/memories and 10% plot is just not my style. I have got to stop reading generational family dramas, even if they have a slightly intriguing hook.
Despite wanting some more plot than just whatever the hell happened in the last thirty pages, I will be the first to readily admit that the writing is GORGEOUS. Specifically in the daughter’s chapters, Chang writes with such deliberate word choice to weave the most stunning descriptions of human mundanity I’ve ever read. That being said, I feel like this wasn’t a novel. Each chapter felt like it’s own long-form prose poem rather than chapters contributing to a larger work. Not to mention there were so many metaphors and flowery comparisons that at times I had trouble differentiating which parts were extended metaphor and which were actual instances of unreal fantasy.
ALSO I have never in my life read a book that talked about piss so much. Every other page someone was wetting the bed, peeing their pants, comparing their urine to some body of water, etc. I wouldn’t bother complaining if it was just mentioned a couple times, but I swear this book discusses piss AT LEAST thirty times, probably more. I literally don’t even know what to say on the matter.
It physically pains me to rate this two stars, but I just didn’t like it. Every time I open a book like this I think, “Maybe this will be the one!” It’s not. It never is. Something about a nonlinear story made up of 90% flashbacks/memories and 10% plot is just not my style. I have got to stop reading generational family dramas, even if they have a slightly intriguing hook.
Despite wanting some more plot than just whatever the hell happened in the last thirty pages, I will be the first to readily admit that the writing is GORGEOUS. Specifically in the daughter’s chapters, Chang writes with such deliberate word choice to weave the most stunning descriptions of human mundanity I’ve ever read. That being said, I feel like this wasn’t a novel. Each chapter felt like it’s own long-form prose poem rather than chapters contributing to a larger work. Not to mention there were so many metaphors and flowery comparisons that at times I had trouble differentiating which parts were extended metaphor and which were actual instances of unreal fantasy.
ALSO I have never in my life read a book that talked about piss so much. Every other page someone was wetting the bed, peeing their pants, comparing their urine to some body of water, etc. I wouldn’t bother complaining if it was just mentioned a couple times, but I swear this book discusses piss AT LEAST thirty times, probably more. I literally don’t even know what to say on the matter.
elipkin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
biblioleah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
muchturnedpages's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-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
3.25