Reviews

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart

storyjuiceman's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

bubbledncr's review against another edition

5.0

Very good book. An easy read, loved the tone and the personality of the characters. Funny, but also emotional, and you can't predict where the story is going to go next.

rintare's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

mynameisjeff's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

coris's review against another edition

4.0

There are two sides to this story.  One is the whimsical fable, the story and MCs romping along and everything coming right at the end.  The other is the heavy male gaze, and how every empowered woman is a bitch to be taken down, and unempowered women are prizes for the men to be won.  

Yes, written in the Eighties, but still.  I'd recommend it as a product of its time, rather than as a timeless classic, which with just a little more enlightenment, it really could have been.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Torture, Fatphobia, and Rape

ghempel's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

metalphoenix's review against another edition

4.0

I'm really glad I stuck with this story until the end, because that was a pretty wonderful wrap up to a well-crafted story. Things tie together in the way any good mystery should, and was made even better due to its fantastical elements. The book started off with a bit of a slapstick humor vibe that was not initially very easy for me to get into, but as the story progressed and more of the mystery began to be revealed, it shifted nicely into an interesting tale of mysticism and fantasy.

I was a little put off by some of the unnecessary descriptive violence (such as

Spoiler

Henpecked Ho brutally murdering the Ancestress and her daughters, or the Shirt of Iron

) in what otherwise felt like a children's fable: i.e. a story about saving the pure hearts of children, true love, and the almost comically exaggerated greed and cruelty of an evil man. I don't mind violence in stories where I'm expecting it, but it just seemed out of place here at times.

All in all, this was a great Quest story, and a fun read.

dandelionsteph's review against another edition

I flipped to a random page and immediately encountered an extraneous passage of sexual content. 

mary_soon_lee's review against another edition

3.0

This is a gentle-hearted fantasy novel set in an alternate version of Ancient China. There is much here to like, particularly the narrator, young Number Ten Ox, and Li Kao, who describes himself as having a slight flaw in his character. The plot is clever, the humor frequent. Yet something about the style or my mood kept me from being immersed in the story. I liked the characters, but I witnessed their adventures from a slight distance rather than identifying with them.

massmassmarket's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

So glad I took a chance on this one. Need to read the other two.