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chaaatales's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
triztruz's review against another edition
3.0
3,5
a raiva que esta gente me deu e o final todo apressado ai ai
a raiva que esta gente me deu e o final todo apressado ai ai
classicbhaer's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really was an interesting and eye opening book. It was a good read and I appreciate the author writing a story like this. Sadly, towards the end of the book I started to like it less and less.
arflegel's review against another edition
5.0
My initial reaction was that the book ended too abruptly after taking us on such a journey. After taking a few days to collect my thoughts, I realize that if it had been drawn out, that would have been a complaint of mine. I was truly transfixed on this story and would rate it 4.5 if Goodreads allowed halfsies. Would definitely recommend.
ladywren890's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
A family separated, and the journey to find their way back together
amber_bookworm's review against another edition
2.0
It felt as though this book was continually building up to something, before letting itself down with a rushed (and unrealistic) ending. A frustrating read.
miszjeanie's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those books whose titles grabbed me before anything else. I'm pleased to report that the rest of the book is just as evocative as that title. In Maoist China, twelve year old Ah Liam reports his grandmother for vandalizing a portrait of Chairman Mao and so starts a terrible chain of events. The family attempts to flee China, but in a heartbreaking plot twist, they are can only take one child. The novel follows the consequences of the devastating choice, Seok Koon (the mother) makes.
The story is dramatic and despite bearing the burden of multiple intersecting characters and subplots, it remains fast-paced. From a third person POV, Chen shows great mastery of a child's voice and San San's character anchors the story excellently. This sophomore novel lucidly captures the plight of the girl child, Chinese history and heartbreaking betrayal. Utterly mesmerizing from the first sentence, Bury What We Cannot Take paints a portrait of family shaken by a grave mistake, the results of which will linger after the story ends. This is what makes the book spectacular.
Kirstin Chen's Bury What We Cannot Take is unsettling, vivid and compulsively readable. Highly recommended.
Full review at http://www.afomaumesi.com/2018/03/23/kirstin-chens-bury-what-we-cannot-take/
The story is dramatic and despite bearing the burden of multiple intersecting characters and subplots, it remains fast-paced. From a third person POV, Chen shows great mastery of a child's voice and San San's character anchors the story excellently. This sophomore novel lucidly captures the plight of the girl child, Chinese history and heartbreaking betrayal. Utterly mesmerizing from the first sentence, Bury What We Cannot Take paints a portrait of family shaken by a grave mistake, the results of which will linger after the story ends. This is what makes the book spectacular.
Kirstin Chen's Bury What We Cannot Take is unsettling, vivid and compulsively readable. Highly recommended.
Full review at http://www.afomaumesi.com/2018/03/23/kirstin-chens-bury-what-we-cannot-take/
suvata's review against another edition
4.0
For some reason, I passed on reading Soy Sauce for Beginners when it came in 2014 which was strange for me because I have a “thing” for Asian literature. I just ran into Chen’s second book, Bury What We Cannot Take, and I was completely absorbed in nine-year-old Sen Sen’s story.