Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

6 reviews

kaylasbewks's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

stars ,, 4.0
cawpile ,, 8.14

i actually loved this, even if it took me a minute to wrap my head around some of the overarching metaphors, the writing was gorgeous 'nd i'll definitely be checking out 'severance' by the same author. :) none of the stories really fell flat to me either, i definitely had my favourites, those being 'the office', 'peking duck' & 'tomorrow' but all of them were great. not being too detailed in this rvw because there's just ,, so much going on.

boobclub pick with mari !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, and Blood

perkyanda's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.5

I loved this! The lack of resolution for the series Is the only aspect I didn’t love. But I loved the three and connection began stories, and the weirdness and realistic feelings and just aching they came through. I can’t wait till she has another novel or collection out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Body shaming, and Death

skyba3's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such a great book! Wonderfully written and imaginative. I l sometimes didn’t even know I’d entered the fantasy until it was blatantly obvious. It was disturbing, sad, beautiful, and sometimes even creepy (I’m talking to you, office hours)? It was witty, imaginative, and sometimes very jarring. I just really loved this one. I will note that most stories end very ambiguously (which I loved), so I’m not sure many would enjoy not receiving a clear answer, but I loved how the end of each story allowed me to take a beat and think about the meaning of the story, the imagery and symbols, what the fantasy was and what it represented. It was a very beautiful book, and I think anyone can easily pick up this book. It’s amazing what Ling Ma does to build a story so quickly and so engaging. I often struggle getting into new novels but each short story was enticing from the start. 

Also - I wanted to note that this book would be very easy to listen to as an audiobook (try libby).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer and Car accident

sakisreads's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I LOVED Severance by Ling Ma so I had high expectations for this one.
It was definitely very bizarre and out there, and not always my favourite read (for example, there were some gory moments which I found a bit tricky to read), but had some great moments highlighting the Asian-American experience 😳 

I found ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘Oranges’ to probably be the most influential (in terms of holding the most space in my brain), but there were other stories in the collection I could appreciate too. 

The narrator’s ex-boyfriend being an abuser and being condemned by his mum fucked me up! 😦

I will definitely include the content warnings needed for these stories below 🥲

All in all, I’m giving this story 3.5 out of 5 stars I think. Thank you ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Domestic abuse

robinks's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This was such an interesting collection of stories. They all left me feeling a bit uneasy and unresolved, though the fantastic elements in each of the stories were quite creative. I particularly enjoyed Oranges and Peking Duck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual content

chaoticnostalgia's review

challenging mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

Los Angeles: 2.5
Oranges: 4
G: 2.5
Yeti Lovemaking: 3.5
Returning: 3.75
Office Hours: 4.25
Peking Duck: 4
Tomorrow: 3.25

Overall rating: 3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Alcohol