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jparmley's review
fast-paced
3.0
This book is...fine. A collection of short stories about various Chinese or Chinese-American women. Had a hard time seeing the connective tissue between the stories, and the stories, while pretty fast-paced, weren't the most exciting. Not a collection I would reach for again.
heyfarahey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
redwrapped's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Meng Jin is a talent to be reckoned with, from the searing portrayals of domesticity, settling, and reaching for more. Each of these stories brings a multilayered story that takes a long time to peel apart and begin to fully understand due to the complexity and richness of the settings and the way that the writer portrays the stories set in this collection's isolative world to be.
Let me also mention how marvelous and shocking that cover is, too. It weaves around with complexity and wilderness
.
My favorite stories were the "Interstitial" interludes, which allowed a shorter story to come in, and they were punchier and exhibited a looser form of storytelling. Another psychological knockout was the twisty "Suffering", where a woman is steadily driven to the point of no return, convinced someone is watching her and harming her son.
This collection of short stories is deliciously literary, but sometimes the stories feel hollow and incomplete, yet they sprawl on for page after page, as if the stories could have used a good pruning. The characters have the components to be compelling, but the setting of the stories are more intriguing, than the storylines themselves. And another facet of why I don't love this collection is because none of the stories are particularly memorable or elicited an emotional response from me.
Self-Portrait with Ghost is a fine, taut collection of literary short stories that are too heavy to read all at once, and need time to be consumed slowly and thoughtfully.
Thanks to Mariner Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
that_bookaholic_gal's review
4.0
A beam of sunlight washed over her porcelain skin as she retreated into the cocoon of silky fabric and plush pillows. Life was not worth thinking of today when the unconscious form was more appealing in the early morning light. The sunbeam was relentless in its pursuit of waking her mind and try as she may to fight off its persistence, she loses the battle and forces her body to break free of comfort and instead break into conscious thought.
Self-Portrait With Ghost is a collect of short stories focusing on the complexities of women and how they adapt and change themselves to fit into societies definitions of normal and acceptable. Stories navigating how to get through life’s trials and tribulations… isolation vs. intimacy. Tales of love and the exploration of new and old relationships, also the discovery of one’s self and how it’s okay to not be okay. A rhythmic, dynamic collection of stories sharing how powerful and also how powerless women are in this world… especially poignant in today’s world.
As with all short story collections, I enjoyed some more than others, but each one had a powerful underlying message and I highly recommend giving this collection a read.
Self-Portrait With Ghost is a collect of short stories focusing on the complexities of women and how they adapt and change themselves to fit into societies definitions of normal and acceptable. Stories navigating how to get through life’s trials and tribulations… isolation vs. intimacy. Tales of love and the exploration of new and old relationships, also the discovery of one’s self and how it’s okay to not be okay. A rhythmic, dynamic collection of stories sharing how powerful and also how powerless women are in this world… especially poignant in today’s world.
As with all short story collections, I enjoyed some more than others, but each one had a powerful underlying message and I highly recommend giving this collection a read.
themythicalbookshelf's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I received this as an ARC from Netgalley and Mariner Books.
I was thoroughly in love, so much so that all I could think about day in and day out was what love meant, why it existed, what it was good for. I didn't like being in love.
This was such a poignant and heart-wrenching set of short stories, each as insightful and wonderful as the last. I really enjoyed how each story had its own individuality, yet it fit in well with the overall theme of the book. Each character and story were well-thought out, and the writing was great.
"You don't look like yourself." How did they know what she looked like, when she herself had no idea?
Some of the stories revolved around deep topics, but I think that it's still relatable to the reader. The feelings of the characters and their emotions aren't feelings and emotions that are foreign to readers, despite the situations that the characters found themselves in, and it was portrayed beautifully. Overall a 4.5 star read for me.
I was thoroughly in love, so much so that all I could think about day in and day out was what love meant, why it existed, what it was good for. I didn't like being in love.
This was such a poignant and heart-wrenching set of short stories, each as insightful and wonderful as the last. I really enjoyed how each story had its own individuality, yet it fit in well with the overall theme of the book. Each character and story were well-thought out, and the writing was great.
"You don't look like yourself." How did they know what she looked like, when she herself had no idea?
Some of the stories revolved around deep topics, but I think that it's still relatable to the reader. The feelings of the characters and their emotions aren't feelings and emotions that are foreign to readers, despite the situations that the characters found themselves in, and it was portrayed beautifully. Overall a 4.5 star read for me.
wilsonkayla's review against another edition
4.0
Received advanced readers copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
I loved this story collection. Could not get enough of Meng Jin's voice and really enjoyed spending time with the women in her stories.
Often, I have a hard time finishing short story collections. Without an overarching plot to anchor me, I find myself reading one story and then I'm ready to move onto something different. I did not have that issue with this collection, which I simply could not put down. The stories are not interconnected, but they feel related as the women in each story struggle with identity on some level, and what it means to them. Who am I? Who was I and who will I become? How does my identity, my feeling of self, change in relation to other people, and do they, too, feel their whole notion of who they are changing, dependent on the perception of others?
Each story was so distinct, the collection slipping into and around genres. The last story was sci-fi!
Just as overall wonderful colection of beautifully written stories.
I loved this story collection. Could not get enough of Meng Jin's voice and really enjoyed spending time with the women in her stories.
Often, I have a hard time finishing short story collections. Without an overarching plot to anchor me, I find myself reading one story and then I'm ready to move onto something different. I did not have that issue with this collection, which I simply could not put down. The stories are not interconnected, but they feel related as the women in each story struggle with identity on some level, and what it means to them. Who am I? Who was I and who will I become? How does my identity, my feeling of self, change in relation to other people, and do they, too, feel their whole notion of who they are changing, dependent on the perception of others?
Each story was so distinct, the collection slipping into and around genres. The last story was sci-fi!
Just as overall wonderful colection of beautifully written stories.
yukiscribbles's review against another edition
4.0
First, thank you for sending me the Advance Reader's Edition, it was a read I'll not forget for a while! I've always said that a good book is the kind that when you leave it, you think of the characters later and their stories, what would become of them if the story was still going on today. This book hit that mark. Some themes in it are things that you'll need to know about the culture to understand, other things are just purely human. This book had charm and trauma both wrapped in a little purple bow, announced to the world with a voice that can reach very far. Far it did.
If you're easily triggered by darker topics such as mental health, harm to self/others mentally and physically, I'd say pace yourself with this book. It is so, so worth the read. It asks the ugly questions people don't even like asking themselves and shows wounds to the world that are crying to be seen. This book demands attention. I predict it's going to be one of those books that divide the reading community down the middle on love or hate it. That's SO good for a book like this to do, because that means people are talking about it. They're addressing situations, stigmas, racism and the dark parts of mental health we tend to ignore.
No one tells you that healing opens wounds so they will heal right the next time, sometimes healing is ugly. No one tells you exactly what growing pains are. This book holds no punches. It's a needed book. I can't wait to see the conversations sparked by it.
If you're easily triggered by darker topics such as mental health, harm to self/others mentally and physically, I'd say pace yourself with this book. It is so, so worth the read. It asks the ugly questions people don't even like asking themselves and shows wounds to the world that are crying to be seen. This book demands attention. I predict it's going to be one of those books that divide the reading community down the middle on love or hate it. That's SO good for a book like this to do, because that means people are talking about it. They're addressing situations, stigmas, racism and the dark parts of mental health we tend to ignore.
No one tells you that healing opens wounds so they will heal right the next time, sometimes healing is ugly. No one tells you exactly what growing pains are. This book holds no punches. It's a needed book. I can't wait to see the conversations sparked by it.
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