Reviews - Strange Beasts of China

1.05k reviews for:

Strange Beasts of China

Yan Ge

3.82 AVERAGE

duzzle's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The mystery and intrigue surrounding the mythology of Yong'an is what kept me going to the end, but the follow-through of the narrator's backstory left me wanting and honestly a bit confused? Often times the author's twisting, stream-of-consciousness way of writing the narrator's emotional epiphanies needed about 10% more clarity. This book is also woefully dark and cynical, to the point where I kind of lost the plot about half-way through and didn't care to sift through any greater allegory. Overall, a solid collection of short stories that tried to weave a mystery throughout.

rainisfallingdown's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

shinie's review against another edition

3.5

reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

emoric's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

smytester's review against another edition

4.0

4.5

notenchanted's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

coneyboro's review against another edition

3.0

Goodness, a strange book with allegorical tales about imagined beasts and the need to be accepting of difference, alongside stories of friendships, family and identity. Felt a little repetitive at times, and this made it a bit of a slog towards the end.