Reviews

<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.

br00k3a133n's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

3.0

gabybenitez's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don’t even know where to start! this book is a masterpiece. an exercise in wildness. k-ming chang bends language to create new ways of looking at the world in all of her work. bestiary reshapes human as animal, animal as earth, earth as body — and I have never read a book that so truthfully tells what it is to have a body! bestiary is full of the language of the body, of trauma and violence, of prayer, of desire and want, of orifices and bodily fluids. a book about rewriting and revising ancestral / generational trauma. and the queer eroticism! a book that is so queer and yet the queerness is not a plot point/place of conflict — we love to see it! the candor and humor in this book is also impeccable —

some favorite quotes:
“all men are synonyms and none the word you’re looking for”

“costco: the only place in the country where you could buy your cradle and your casket”

“if the body is really mostly water, then how come it can burn ?”

Content Warnings

kjd's review against another edition

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2.5

Unfortunately I had no idea what was going on

tamaru22's review against another edition

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2.0

DNF 18%. Too much imagery that seemed to clash amongst itself, like mixed metaphor. Sparse imagery would carry further. I just felt like everything was smashed onto my skull. In this was it's like poetry and I think I would have liked to have read short poems that linked into a story, digestible in single units.
Some parts were beautifully written but too much imagery started to make me feel like there was no real image.
Then there was the piss and shit multiple times on each page. I get it, the book is edgy. Just like the flowery, evocative prose, it's just too damn much.
Again, high praise from critics and I'm obviously missing something, but I could not wade through it. I am interested in checking out the author's poetry though, so some good came for me.

carson_lommers's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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

3.75

So challenging but often very rewarding. I can’t say I understand all of it, but I think only the author does. I think it was worth the read though, and I loved her style of writing.

carissachristenson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Not everyone will enjoy this book, but I loved it. I picked it up on a whim while walking through the library, and I’m glad I did! It’s weird, but it’s beautiful, and I love K-Ming Chang’s writing style!

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