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josie_wu's review against another edition
4.0
3.5-4 stars. I've picked up and set down this book several times, but I finally decided to start it seriously last week. It's hard for me to gather my thoughts about this book. Chang is one of my favorite writers; her style is gripping, surreal, and grotesque. I grew to love her after following her poetry and flash fiction work. Her foray into the novel territory is certainly ambitious and unlike any book that I've ever read before. It does make me wonder if this style is unsustainable to the longer form; each voice sounded the same regardless of how it flitted between characters. The infrequent dialogue and constant flashbacks/stories within the story slowed the beginning's momentum. However, this novel is a magical, violent, ugly look at the way migration impacts motherhood across generations. It's a story about motherhood and mothering, storytelling and mythology. I'm excited to read more of Chang's writing.
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
I am not smart enough to fully understand this book but I still ate it up.
lsparrow's review against another edition
3.0
memoir as fable or poetry... I found it impossible to follow this book. I wished this had been written as pure fiction as I liked the flow of the writing and the images.
eestellar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
I listened to the audiobook & read this book and I have never read anything quite like it before. It was trauma heavy and gross (lots of bodily fluids). The plot got lost in all the metaphors and poetic writing, I was confused a lot of the time, but even with all of the flaws I still wanted to continue the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual violence and Vomit
lilymaite's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
alexarose19's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rara2018's review against another edition
4.0
<I>Bestiary</I> is a prime example of why I don’t DNF books. It genuinely took me an entire month to get past the first forty-ish pages because I just could not get into it at all. The book was disturbing and honestly a little disgusting at times, and at first that just made it really hard for me to connect to anything that was happening (seriously, though, I genuinely think if I had a nickel every time characters peed their pants or just generally peed not in the toilet, I’d have at least a whole dollar). Luckily, I persevered out of stubbornness and was treated with a moving and genuinely compelling story of generational trauma, colonization, and motherhood. I found I enjoyed (?) Mother’s chapters and Ama’s interlude the most out of anything in the book, especially with how the latter included footnotes. Ben was also such an amazing character who really grounded the story in her bluntness. The middle chunk I found to be the best part of the story with the combination of folklore and the family’s story, since I truly did not like the beginning and didn’t quite get the ending, but I don’t think everything in this book was meant for me. I’m definitely going to read more by Chang since I really enjoy her writing (most of the time) despite me being deeply uncomfortable for a decent chunk of this.