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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wouldn't have chosen to read it. It was very interesting with the worldbuilding and how each creature does a 180 after theyre introduced.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a tough one to get through -- quite a lot of darkness and a series of deeply unhealthy relationships
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship
DNF after chapter 2. It's me, not the book - I just can't handle the combo of surreal + sad + whimsical + a touch of horror. It's a very creative way to examine human cruelty (is there any other kind?) and I would strongly recommend this book to someone who finds all that intriguing. Maybe I do too, but I just don't want to look! I usually don't give a star rating to a book I quit so early, but I'm rating this one based on what I think the right reader would feel about it.
In the fictional Chinese town of Yong'an, humans and monsters live alongside each other. An amateaur cryptozoologist turned novelist was commissioned to write about these beasts. With the help of her former professor and his assistant, the narrator sets off to document each beast. You have "sorrowful beasts", "joyous beasts", "sacrificial beasts" and so on.
Each chapter reads like a short story collection, so you're introduced to a new beast every time. First by describing their mythical and strange characteristics, and then stating that “other than that, they were just like human beings”. The story continues to describe some human/beast interactions, which usually has really sad endings. Within the human/beast interactions there would be acts of love such as beasts consuming their lover whole "at the moment of greatest pleasure" during the full moon and taking on their likeness until they die. Or beasts that don’t die easily so they would do things like slice open their stomach and cut their intestines into pieces to try to kill themselves.
There is a nice amount of body gore in this book as well so be mindful of that going into it.
The interaction between the protagonist, her professor and the rest of the men in her life were very off and emotionally abusive? And a little too dramatic for me.
I loved the twist at the end, kinda saw it from a mile away but I still enjoyed the reveal nonetheless. I recommend you put this on your spooky reads for the season, it's not scary as much as it is strange, and creepy with a lot of gore.
Overall this was a cool, unique read!
Each chapter reads like a short story collection, so you're introduced to a new beast every time. First by describing their mythical and strange characteristics, and then stating that “other than that, they were just like human beings”. The story continues to describe some human/beast interactions, which usually has really sad endings. Within the human/beast interactions there would be acts of love such as beasts consuming their lover whole "at the moment of greatest pleasure" during the full moon and taking on their likeness until they die. Or beasts that don’t die easily so they would do things like slice open their stomach and cut their intestines into pieces to try to kill themselves.
There is a nice amount of body gore in this book as well so be mindful of that going into it.
The interaction between the protagonist, her professor and the rest of the men in her life were very off and emotionally abusive? And a little too dramatic for me.
I loved the twist at the end, kinda saw it from a mile away but I still enjoyed the reveal nonetheless. I recommend you put this on your spooky reads for the season, it's not scary as much as it is strange, and creepy with a lot of gore.
Overall this was a cool, unique read!
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is a collection of short stories about beasts that live alongside humans in a fictional Chinese city. Each story has a similar structure, describing the individual beasts at first ("apart from that, they look exactly like humans") then the main character finding something out about them, and a big or small twist at the end. The overarching story tells a deeper tale about the world and is almost a fable about humanity.
Most of the stories are gruesome or heart wrenching in one way or another, and while the flippant and poignant writing style invites to rush through the book, I took my time and read no more than one story per day to digest what I've read.
I thoroughly enjoyed these extraordinary stories about the beasts, and while sometimes convoluted, the overall plot made sense to me and added an extra layer to the already great individual stories.
Most of the stories are gruesome or heart wrenching in one way or another, and while the flippant and poignant writing style invites to rush through the book, I took my time and read no more than one story per day to digest what I've read.
I thoroughly enjoyed these extraordinary stories about the beasts, and while sometimes convoluted, the overall plot made sense to me and added an extra layer to the already great individual stories.